Frogs (film)

Frogs is a 1972 American horror film directed by George McCowan. The film falls into the "eco-horror" category, telling the story of a wildlife photographer who meets an upper-class U.S. Southern family who are victimized by several different animal species, including snakes, birds, lizards, and butterflies. The movie suggests nature may be justified in exacting revenge on this family because of its patriarch's abuse of the local ecology. The film was theatrically released on March 23, 1972.

Plot
Wildlife photographer Pickett Smith is taking photographs of the local flora and fauna as he canoes through a swamp surrounding the island mansion estate of the wealthy and influential Crockett family. Through the swamp are numerous indicators of pollution, which Smith believes are connected to pesticide use on the island plantation. After Clint Crockett accidentally tips over Smith's canoe while hot-rodding in his speedboat, he and his sister, Karen, escort Smith to a mansion where he meets the entire family. The family's grouchy, wheelchair-using patriarch, Jason, intends to spend the next day enjoying both the Fourth of July and his birthday celebrations uninterrupted. Smith tries to call out with the household phone, but it is now dead. Then, Jason sends Grover to eliminate the overpopulating frogs. Smith later discovers Grover's corpse covered in snake bites in a nearby swamp not far from Jason's house. Jason orders him not to mention it to anyone else. Early the next morning, Jason's grandson, Michael Martindale, sets out to check on a downed power line. Distracted by an impromptu hunting session, he accidentally shoots himself in the calf and is rendered immobile by strange Spanish moss, which comes to life and strangles him. Tarantulas descend from branches and bite him to death.

Back at Jason's house, Jason's daughter and Michael's mother, Iris, sends her other son, Ken, into a greenhouse to collect white daisies for a centerpiece. As he gathers the flowers, dozens of tokay gecko and tegu enter and knock over poison, whose toxic gas asphyxiates Michael. Seeing the danger posed by the animals, Smith suggests that everyone leave the island, but Jason is adamant that nothing will ruin his birthday.

While chasing a butterfly, Iris is frightened by snakes and baby alligators, and in a panic, falls into a puddle, where leeches latch on to her. Tired and badly injured, she falls near a sleeping rattlesnake, which bites and kills her. Her husband, Stuart, comes looking for her, falls into a mud pit, and is eaten by two alligators.

On Smith's advice, family butler Charles and maid Maybelle decide to leave, along with Kenneth's fiancée, Bella Garrington. Clint takes them across the lake in his speedboat. As Clint investigates the abandoned dock, a flock of golden eagles attack Charles, Maybelle, and Bella, forcing them to flee. Clint discovers his boat is adrift and swims to reach it, but a cottonmouth bites him to death in the water. His wife Jenny tries to rescue him but gets stuck in the river bank, only to be attacked and killed by an alligator snapping turtle.

Karen and Smith decide to leave with Clint and Jenny's children; Jason refuses to join them. They cross the lake in Smith's canoe, encountering an alligator and water snakes, which Smith dispatches with a boat paddle and a shotgun. They make it to shore, where they discover Charles, Maybelle, and Bella's bloodied belongings. They reach the road and hitch a ride with a woman and her son. As they head towards Jefferson City, the son shows them a huge frog he took from summer camp.

That night, now alone in his mansion (with his dog, Colonel), Jason witnesses hundreds of frogs breaking into the house and staring at him. The phone rings, but the line is still dead when he answers it. As the atmosphere intensifies, he collapses and dies as the frogs swarm him. Every light in the mansion goes out.

In the ending credits, an animated frog appears with a human hand in its mouth. The frog swallows the hand before hopping away.

Production notes
The film was shot in Walton County, Florida, on the Emerald Coast in and around Wesley House, an old Southern mansion located in Eden Gardens State Park in the town of Point Washington, situated on Tucker Bayou off Choctawhatchee Bay.

In pre-release prints, Iris (Holly Irving) died by being pulled into quicksand by a giant butterfly, rather than by snakebite. The deleted scene can still be glimpsed in the trailer.

Release
The film had its world premiere at the Florida Theatre in Panama City, Florida on March 23, 1972. After 17 days it had grossed $458,392 from 38 theatres.

Reception
Frogs has a score of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

A reviewer from HorrorNews.net found it odd for a horror film to be titled Frogs when all the killings in the film are done by animals other than frogs and discussed the acting: "Sam Elliott is good as always. He manages to feel like the outsider while also feeling like part of the group. It makes his role work in ways that it might not work in someone else's control. Ray Milland is also fairly good as the patriarch of the Crockett family. He personifies that bullheaded 'you listen to me because I'm always right' attitude in such a believable manner that you think he is that guy. The rest of the cast isn't as great as these two, but their lack of good performance only helps to make their deaths more fun to watch. They overact or underact in the perfect ways to make the movie priceless."

Frogs was shown on the MeTV show Svengoolie on January 8, 2022, and September 3, 2022.