Day of the Animals

Director: William Girdler William Girdler

Overview

An interesting low-budget entry in the post-Jaws animals-run-amok genre (which also owes more than a little to Hitchcock's The Birds), this noisy, violent thriller features the prophetic premise of a widening gap in the ozone layer (thanks to human indulgences in hairspray and other aerosol products) which unleashes brain-frying radiation and causes assorted woodland creatures to go for the throats of unsuspecting Sierra backpackers. As if that weren't horrific enough, the poor kids are also placed in the position of defending themselves against a rampaging Leslie Nielsen -- whose hammy performance will probably have fans of the Naked Gun series and their ilk waiting for a punch line that never arrives. Perennial B-movie couple Christopher George and Lynda Day George round out the cast. Day of the Animals is also known as Something Is out There.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/18/2021
UPC:	0760137489597
Original Release:	1977
Rating:	NR
Source:	Severin
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:38:00
Sales rank:	21,705

Special Features

[CC]; Trailer; English SDH Subtitles; 2K scan from the internegative

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Christopher George	Steve Buckner
Leslie Nielsen	Paul Jenson
Lynda Day George	Terry Marsh
Richard Jaeckel	Prof. Taylor MacGregor
Michael Ansara	Santee
Ruth Roman	Shirley
Jon Cedar	Frank
Paul Mantee	Roy
Walter Barnes	Ranger Tucker
Susan Backlinie	Mrs. Young
Andrew Stevens	Bob Denning
Kathleen Bracken	Beth Hughes
Bobby Porter	Jon Goodwyn
Michelle Stacy	Little Girl
Garrison True	Newscaster
Michael Rougas	Military Officer
Gil Lamb	Old Man in Restaurant
Jan Andrew Scott	Helicopter Pilot
Gertrude Lee	Ranger's Wife
Walt Gorney	Actor
Bob Porter	Jon Goodwyn
Lalo Schifrin	Composer

Technical Credits

William Norton

Eleanor E. Norton

William Girdler	Director
Edward E. Montoro	Producer,Producer
William Norton	Screenwriter
Eleanor E. Norton	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

This intriguing entry into the revenge-of-nature cycle of the 1970s shouldn't work, but it does. The script has some problems that would seem insurmountable under normal circumstances: the scientific explanation for the animals' sudden psychosis isn't ever put forth in a credible manner, the characterizations are pretty basic, and some of the subplots, namely the one with Leslie Nielsen's character suddenly going crazy, are a bit too goofy to really work. That said, Day of the Animals works quite effectively at a visceral B-movie level thanks to plenty of technical polish on both sides of the camera. Veteran B-auteur William Girdler directs with a considerable amount of style, using the scope format to give the visuals a grand look and handling the animal-attack scenes with vigor and solid timing. He also uses a fantastic B-movie cast that adds some much-needed heft to the characterizations; Christopher George and Michael Ansara make good square-jawed heroes and Leslie Nielsen turns in a delirious, over-the-top villainous performance that is hard to forget. In short, Day of the Animals is definitely a B-movie, but it's a very entertaining and viewer-friendly one for fans of the form. Anyone who enjoyed Frogs or Kingdom of the Spiders will definitely get a kick out of this film.