Day of the Animals (1977)

Director: William Girdler

Starring: Christopher George, Leslie Nielsen, Richard Jaeckel

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: For centuries they were hunted for bounty, fun and food...NOW IT'S THEIR TURN!

Plot: The depletion of the earth's ozone layer causes animals above the altitude of 5000 feet to run amok, which is very unfortunate for a group of hikers who get dropped off up there by helicopter just before the quarantine is announced.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Would I watch it again? Hells, yeah!

#25 on Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

If you took the two seconds to read the plot synopsis, I'm sure you get the idea of how flimsy of a plot device it is. But that's OK because it really doesn't matter as the animal attacks are some of the best (if not THE best) I've ever seen...hands down!


As far as the actors go, this is a by-the-numbers cast of characters that are typically all over the map in personalities. If you can get past that, as you have in countless films before, you'll survive. You've got the burned-out-just-doing-another-job leader of the hikers, Steve (George),


your asshole advertising executive that thinks he's better than everyone else and doesn't miss a chance to call people derogatory names, Paul (Nielsen), your attractive (not so much to my eyes) and confident TV reporter who spurns Steve's advances (George's real-life wife, Lynda Day George), your nerdy college professor who knows all about wildlife and plants, MacGregor (Jaeckel),


and some others like a young, attractive married couple who don't get along but are using this trip to try and patch things up (Frank & Mandy played by Jon Cedar & Susan "chick that gets eaten first in JAWS" Backlinie, a stereotypical New York Jewish mother trying to bond with her tweenie son,

Who the hell dresses like this for a hiking/camping trip?

an American Indian whose aware of his surroundings and is constantly picked on by Paul, and a couple of others who escape me at the moment.

By the way, a lot of people under the age of 40 don't realize that most roles Leslie Nielsen did prior to 1980's AIRPLANE were dramatic. After AIRPLANE nearly all of his output has been comedy. Go figure. He makes a GREAT leading asshole, though!

"I am serious... and don't call me Shirley."

So there you have it. These people without food (it's supposed to be air dropped to them at the nightly camps) or weapons in the mountains are left alone to survive. Tempers flare and in-fighting ensues culminating with Paul breaking off and taking some of the trekkers with him in the opposite direction ending not-so-good for just about everyone.

A few people escape and it has a somewhat happy ending as some do survive but man, oh, man! The animal attacks and human kills are fucking great! I commend all of the animal trainers and handlers (as well as the director and editor) on a fantastic job. One of my favorites...the leaping rat attack!



Outside of all that, the film plays out as you would expect but with a difference; it's entertaining. No joke, it left me wanting to go hiking in the Rocky Mountains. Damn, I miss them. Fucked up on no ozone animals or not...I'd go.