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Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Day of the Animals
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $17.99
Your Save: $ 1.96 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Shriek Show
Starring: Christopher George, Leslie Nielsen, Lynda Day George, Richard Jaeckel, Michael Ansara
Directed By: William Girdler
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Media Blasters
EAN: 0631595061390
Format: Color
Label: Shriek Show
Manufacturer: Shriek Show
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Shriek Show
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-04-25
Running Time: 97
Studio: Shriek Show
Theatrical Release Date: 1977-05-13
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Editorial Reviews:
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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.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Comment: This movie is as thought provoking today, as when it was made with the air pllution and those CFC being pumped into the air. The depleting ozone layer, has affected the animals, even one animal in this movie known as man. It's a B movie, but a B movie at it's best. If you like action, suspense and a good storyline, this is a movie to watch.
Customer Rating:
Summary: My opinion on the "Day of the Animals" DVD
Comment: I gotta tell ya, the reason I purchased this dvd is because I love movies where animals attack people. If you don't enjoy these kinds of movies, this one's not for you. The extras were pretty entertaining, but during the commentary, everyone seemed to talk about everything other than the movie. You would probably get just as much out of the movie itself watching it on one of the cable channels that have commercials since there's hardly anything that would be cut out. The actors, actresses, and animal trainers did a marvelous job in the making of this film. You might get a kick out of Leslie Nielsen's character. I sure did.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all!
Comment: As far as "when animals attack"-type movies go, this one's actually pretty good. If "Grizzly" was William Girdler's "Jaws", this is probably his "The Birds". There are probably more shots of staring owls and vultures and other birds of prey in this film than any other in memory. But wait, there's more: a generous serving of tarantulas, snakes, big cats, bears, wild dogs, rats ... basically this film is Dr Doolittle's worst nightmare.
The plot (animals driven crazy by cosmic rays attack hikers) may sound simplistic, but at least Girdler cross-cuts between the different disaster-movie-type characters and their various subplots to maintain interest. (There's even a Shelley Winters clone.) He even manages to give a SLIGHTLY post-apocalyptic scope to the film, which is quite cool, with scenes of an abandoned town a la "The Andromeda Strain" and a deserted campsite whose occupants have obviously become lunch.
Media Blasters have done a very nice job with this DVD. While it lacks a commentary, it does at least offer a "making of" doco featuring interviews with surviving cast members (including Susan Backlinie, who became fish food at the start of "Jaws"), an original trailer, and TWO versions of the same film, one a 1.85:1 television master, and the other a 2.35:1 theatrical reissue under the title "Something Is Out There." The latter version is a fairly beaten-up print, but there's a kind of grindhouse beauty to its dust, scratches and splotches, and the aspect ratio is my personal pick over the cleaner, yet cropped 1.85:1 version. Which version you choose to watch comes down to whether you prefer a cleaner print or the proper OAR. However, the 2.35:1 version is missing some snippets of dialogue in which Leslie Nielsen's character insults a Native American character, one of which seems to have been edited out with a chainsaw, so jarring is the jump cut.
William Girdler's composition and widescreen camerawork are excellent, and the editing's pretty good, too, especially in the frenzied animal attack scenes. The wilderness scenery is beautiful, too. Girdler could have gone on to become a solid genre director like Peter Hyams if he'd lived past 30. We can only imagine what he could have done with modern filmmaking equipment and visual effects, but alas, his career was snuffed out just as he was starting to hit his straps.
The acting is adequate for a film like this and while the dialogue is not exactly William Goldman, it's serviceable.
* Spoilers *
There are some pretty wild scenes in this film that you probably wouldn't see if a similar film was made today. Without giving too much away, expect leaping rats, Leslie Nielsen going "Lord of the Flies" and turning into a homicidal rapist/bear wrestler (an UNFORGETTABLE scene), and a scene in which several characters are being attacked by savage German Shepherds WHILST ON A RAFT FLOATING DOWN WHITEWATER RAPIDS. I watched that sequence wondering how on earth they filmed it. One poor character is attacked by wild dogs AND rattlesnakes SIMULTANEOUSLY. When you see stuff like that, you can't quite believe what you're seeing, but it's very entertaining nonetheless.
Gore-wise, this film is nowhere near Eli Roth-level, but it does have some claret splashed around here and there. Young kids probably wouldn't cope with it too well, but anyone over about 13 should be fine.
Overall, a good effort, and a movie worthy of sharing shelf space with other '70s/'80s creature features like "Squirm", "Piranha", "Alligator" and so on.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yet another 70's late night flashback!
Comment: The first time I saw this one I was 11 and "The Night Stalker" had just gone off on the C.B.S. late night movie and this was next. At the time, the movie was fresh and seemed like it could happen(the 70's were a very negative time when things like the future were brought up) and I really enjoyed this cheesy film.
Now almost 40(and proud to have made it past the atomic wars, bio-hazards, alien invasions,and the attack of the Bee Gees) I find that this little slice of environmental nightmare still holds a strange hold on me. Christopher George(the poor man's Charlton Heston) never looked tougher than he did here leading hikers down a mountain as the missing ozone(remember that) allowed cosmic rays to fry animals and human brains if you were to high up(talk about a rocky mountain high). Long before his rebirth as everyone's favorite goofy actor Leslie Nielsen gives us his turn as the jerk who wants to take over and becomes power mad(he even fights a bear)and it's so over the top that you can see why they cast him in "Airplane". The movie is like an old friend, it doesn't surprise you,it's not Shakespeare, it's drive-in movie making at it's glory(If you don't know about drive-in's then you have missed a prime piece of Americana). Not for all taste, but if you are over 35 you will feel a little tug at the old memory watching this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lions and Leslies and Bears.....Oh My!
Comment: The intro to this film says that this is a scenario that COULD happen if we continue to mess with the ozone layer. I'm no man of science, but I seriously doubt this scenario would actually happen regardless of how much we junk the ozone layer. That's not the point though, the point is to make a scare film. A group of hikers in the mountains have to fight to survive against the ozone crazed wildlife. This time it's not just one species of animal that's pissed off(Frogs, The Swarm, Squirm, etc.), all the animals are pissed off! Disney's Animal Kingdom's got nothing on this mountain for the true hardcore animal experience, though to it's credit, Disney does have gorillas and the Dinosaur ride. Unlike most films that feature a cast of annoying folks you'd love to see eaten by animals, there are actually a few characters here you grow to like. Alot of them are familiar faces. Richard Jaeckel from the Dirty Dozen, and of course, The Green Slime, Christopher George(who keeps his brains inside his head this time), Andrew Davis(the guy who's always screwing around with Shannon Tweed in those Night Eyes movies), and Leslie Nielsen. What's cool is that the director gets live animals in the shot with the actors for the attack scenes instead of the old trick of animal stock footage intercut with an actor screaming. One of the highlights is Nielsen. This guy's been typecast since 1988, and it's nearly impossible to picture him as anything but a zany klutz. The man can act when he wants to though. It's a trip to see him as a psychopath and all around jerk. He's actually convincing. Of course anyone who's seen Creepshow knows that Leslie can be serious as a heart attack when he wants to. I actually liked this movie more than I probably should have, so my high rating of the film might be a bit exaggerated. I did find it rather fun, plus I've always had a soft spot for the whole "nature strikes back" thing. If that's also your thing, it wouldn't hurt to check this out.
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