Day of the Animals

Director - William Girdler (Grizzly, Abby)

Starring - Christopher George (Graduation Day, Mortuary), Leslie Nielson (Stan Helsing, Dracula: Dead and Loving It), and Lynda Day George (Pieces. Wonder Woman)

Release Date - 1977

Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi

Tagline - "The terrifying movie of a world gone mad!"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Williams Girdler was taken from us way too soon.  He was only 30 years young when he perished in a helicopter accident but he was able to deliver 9 films to the world.  When I was younger I watched Grizzly with my grandmother and really enjoyed it.  Over the years I've seen a few more of his films but one I never got the chance to check out his 1976 film Day of the Animals.  Recently Severin released Girdler's Grizzly and Day of the Animals on blu and MVD was kind enough to send it my way.  After revisiting Grizzly it was time to finally watch Day of the Animals.

     The film follows a group of hikers going on a hiking trip deep into the woods.  What should be a typical outdoor adventure turns deadly when solar flares from the sun hit the Earth's depleted ozone causing animals that are above 5000 feet to become bloodthirsty and crazed forcing the hikers to fight for their lives.

     I fucking love post-apocalyptic tales and I've always been fond of when nature attacks stories so when I heard about Day of the Animals when I was younger I was all about it.  Sadly, I never had the chance to see it until now.  With that being said, I fucking loved it and I can see myself revisiting this one several more times.  Don't get me wrong, it's cheesy as fuck but it's so much fun.  The acting in this one is extremely fun.  We once again get a great performance from Christopher George who delivers a much more different character than we saw in Grizzly.  I really liked his performance and seeing him out act most of the cast in this one really makes me want to dig out more of his films to watch.  The surprise performance of this film comes from legendary funny man Leslie Nielson who had a wonderful and long career but was known for his comedic roles.  However, he delivers a much more intense and serious performance here that reminded me a lot of his character in Creepshow.  I'm not accustomed to seeing him take on these types of roles but he stole the show.  The supporting cast is just as great with no weak links in this chain.  The story for this one mixes nature run amok with sci-fi and I'm all for it.  We get a film that neatly fits into the mid-70s when nature attacks films that followed in the wake of Jaws before moving into the last portion of the film that has that same feel as The Crazies.  It was extremely fun, well paced, and a solid amount of action.  Finally, the film has some blood and a lot of animal attack but if you are looking for gore or great practical effects will be extremely disappointed.  Overall, Day of the Animals is an extremely entertaining and campy.  The film may have been a bit underwhelming at the time with the amount of other films like it but as someone who didn't live through the era I found myself thoroughly enjoying it.  I highly recommend grabbing this release from Severin.  The video and audio quality is fantastic which is how you would want to watch this film.