Wild Beasts

Director - Franco Prosperi (Goodbye Uncle Tom, Mondo Candido)
Starring - Lorraine De Selle (House on the Edge of the Park, Cannibal Ferox), John Aldrich, and Ugo Bologna (Nightmare City, Zombie)
Release Date - 1984
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "The wild beasts will get you"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     A few days ago I checked out the 1981 supernatural horror flick The Survivor that was recently released on blu by Severin.  I heard about the film back in high school but I was not really that interested in checking in out.  After some time and seeing the blu artwork by Severin I was quick to change my mind.  Sadly, the film fell very short.  It was worth a watch but holds no replay value.  I moved on to The Belko Exerpiment and fucking loved it.  As I looked for something to follow it up with I decided to give another Severin film a shot.  This time I tossed in the 1984 Italian horror film Wild Beasts.  The film seemed fitting considering I'm leaving tomorrow with my family to take our kids to the zoo.  I want to once again thank Severin for sending this one my way.  I truly enjoyed it.

     The film follows a group of employees working for a zoo nestled in a giant city.  However, their water source becomes contaminated with PCP which makes them all turn on their handlers and escape.  The zoo keepers and animal handlers must work together with the city officials to round up the escaped animals before the death toll rises.
    

     I've seen Italian zombies, cannibals, giallos, and slashers but I don't think I've ever laid eyes on an Italian killer animal flick before.  I actually enjoyed the film.  Sure, it had its fair share of problems but the overall film was very damn enjoyable.  I've glad I took the time to check it out.  The acting for this one is not the best I've seen.  In fact, there was times where the acting was pretty bad.  I was impressed by John Aldrich who does a solid job as the film's lead with no prior acting experience.  Sadly, that is about as far as I can give praise for the film's acting.  The story for this one is very simple but unique.  The animals in captivity becoming enraged by ingesting PCP and attacking an urban population is pretty fucking horrifying if you think about it.  What is even more impressive is how the film was able to work with all these dangerous animals and not get killed.  A lot of work and effort went into pulling it off.  The story does have a few hiccups here and there but leaves very little down time for the viewer.  Finally, the film has some on screen kills.  Due to the nature of working with dangerous animals some of the on screen kills are done using camera tricks where we look away.  The actually act is pretty boring.  We see the animal hug the actor and some fake blood and splattered on them before cutting away only to return and see the final product.  We do see some solid practical effects after the fact but the kills are still very boring.  Overall, Wild Beasts is a pretty entertaining Italian horror film that largely goes unnoticed.  Personally, I enjoyed it and recommend it to others with confidence.  Check it out.