Review: Frogs (1972)

It's weird seeing Sam Elliott without his mustache.

Frogs finds a very-young Sam Elliott, playing photographer Pickett Smith, as he finds himself spending an evening and day with the wealthy Crockett family after one of their clan almost runs over his canoe with their boat.  Apologetic, they offer to let him dry off and spend the evening with them on their island.  An island that is teeming with frogs (or, toads that we are meant to believe are frogs).  Those frogs, and the various other wildlife on the island, have plans for the Crockett family and their visitors...

I think whether or not you enjoy this movie is heavily dependent on whether or not you can roll with the combination of a silly premise and serious acting.  While there is a certain level of campiness to a few of the performances, most of the actors play the dialogue dead serious.  It works for the film - I don't think the movie would work if there was any sort of leaning into the ridiculous premise - but if the viewer can't get into it, they will not enjoy this film.

I was able to get into it.  It's always interesting to see a before-they-were-famous performance and it is easy to see the easy charisma of Sam Elliott in this performance.  Several of the female characters are instantly in lust with him, and the viewer can actually see why they are into him so quickly - not an easy feat to accomplish.

Because of the large cast - there are a grand total of 10 members of the Crockett family, plus two servants and a guest in addition to Pickett - the deaths happen early and frequently.  While precious few of them are caused by frogs - I'll let future viewers be surprised at the actual total - all of them are caused by wildlife of some sort.  A few of them, while lacking realism, are still gross to watch, including one poor soul who ends up with a tarantula in their mouth - and not a fake one.

I'd almost like to watch a making-of this movie.  A man wrestles a live alligator in one scene, the trailer shows a woman dropped into quicksand by a giant butterfly (this does not make the final cut of the film), there is an extended sequence with animal sounds coming from stuffed animals where most do not match: I willing to bet the making of the film is just as if not more interesting than the finished product.

Overall, I'd say the film is enjoyable.  It could probably do with a few less scenes of frogs menacingly staring at the camera, but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, though I can definitely see opinions varying wildly on this one.

6 out of 10