FROGS (1972)

Okay. This isn't SQUIRM, but it's fun enough. Ray Milland is an old jerk who hates nature and poisons everything that moves on his little private island. Sam Elliott (who doesn't look ANYTHING like the moustached cowboy from THE BIG LEBOWSKI) is a wildlife photographer who winds up on the island after Milland's son nearly runs him down in a speedboat. Elliott must've picked the wrong weekend to go canoeing, because this happens to be the weekend that nature decides that it's had enough of Ray Milland's dickery. Everyone gets attacked by snakes, lizards, tarantulas, leeches, alligators, and, of course, frogs.

My only problem with this is that it takes itself a little too seriously. I mean, it's called FROGS, for crying out loud. (On the other hand, maybe it was supposed to be called something else originally. Frogs aren't the only thing attacking these idiots.) Then there's a big cartoon frog that hops out after the credits and slurps down a cartoon hand, so I don't know what these people were thinking. It's got a "message," which is basically "don't screw around with Mother Nature's plans, or you could get eaten by frogs," but all of these "nature turns on mankind" things have that kind of message (THEM! = "atomic radiation probably has some side effects that you might want to avoid, like giant ants"...SQUIRM = "downed power lines can make earthworms eat your face"). But it being so serious also kind of works in its favor, like a 1950s Big Bug On The Loose movie.

All in all, though, it's got a nice swampy summer vibe going on, and makes for some fun July movie viewing. Dad watched this one with me, said he remembered seeing it on TV way back when. According to him, stuff like this was on TV all the time back then. They even had made-for-TV horror movies just like this. He got off on a rant about how all the TV horror stuff was so great back when he was a kid, and nothing like the stupid CGI "Mega Octo-Python vs. The Sharkinator" stuff that Syfy shows these days, and how the next time he took me and Jack to one of those comic book conventions that we were going to find some of these things. And he wonders where I get it!!!