Day of the Animals (1977)

A recent internet discussion has been whether or not a woman should choose a man or a bear to be alone with in the forst.  There is a scene in Day of the Animals that makes that choice rather obvious, although it's pretty atypical as the animals seem to be attacking indiscriminately.  William Girdler, hot off of the big success of Grizzly the year before, gathered some of the stars - and the bear - from that movie for another film about animals attacking, one that has garnered a bit of a cult status by being weird, campy, ridiculous and somewhat effective all at the same time.

Steve Buckner (Christoper George) is about to take a group of hikers up a mountain for a two-week hike back to the town of Murphy.  Along with him is a Native American guide named Daniel Santee (Michael Ansara), a reporter named Terry (Lynda Day George) and a number of others.  Both Buckner and Santee feel that something is off, and it turns out they are right.  A weakening in the Earth's ozone layer has caused dangerous conditions for anyone over 5000 feet of altitude.  Only, an argument between John Goodwyn (Bobby Porter) and his mother (Ruth Roman) results in the loss of the radio that could tell them more.

What they don't know is that the atmospheric problems have resulted in the animals behaving in a strange manner.  Instead of all doing their own thing they have come together to stalk and kill the hikers, with the birds serving as generals and the rest of the animals their army.  As they soon realize their food depot has been raided and they are being watched every step, Buckner and Santee work to find a way to safety, while advertising exec Paul Jenson (Leslie Nielsen) tries to handle things his own way. 

Although the science is non-existent, other than the loss of the ozone being a real threat at the time, the story itself is still interesting.  There are a number of slow scenes where Girdler builds up to things happening and, indeed, most of it pays off, and much better than it did in Grizzly.  He's not hamstrung by making this a Jaws clone but instead goes for about every cliche from a '70s disaster film.  This is also Leslie Nielsen pre-Airplane!, so expect a character more like the one he played in Creepshow and not out of his comedy films, even though his overacting in this is amusing at times.  

Christopher George and Richard Jaeckel were the main stars in Grizzly, and they both return.  Buckner isn't too far off from the role George played previously, while Jaeckel plays a professor.  Susan Backlinie, who was the famous skinny-dipping victim in Jaws, also gets an early demise in this film.  It also splits into different plots, with the town Sheriff (Andrew Stevens) dealing with animal attacks in town, martial law and an evacuation, Buckner trying to lead his people to safety, Jenson going off on his tangent and a lawyer named Frank (Jon Cedar) trying to get a little girl (Michelle Stacy) to safety amongst all the chaos.

Girdler had most of this filmed in a bright, overexposed way to get forth the idea of the ozone layer's protection being gone, and the environmental point is driven home again and again.  There is a lot in Day of the Animals to laugh at, but there is also much that makes this a much better movie in this genre than many of the others that came before or after it.  It ends too abruptly and too safely, but there is some genuine tension and a lot more to recommend this than one would think.

Day of the Animals (1977)

Time: 97 minutes

Starring: Christopher George, Lynda Day George, Michael Ansara, Leslie Nielsen, Andrew Stevens

Director: William Girdler