DAY OF THE ANIMALS

Directed by William Girdler. Written by Eleanor Norton and William W. Norton.
Starring Christopher George, Lynda Day George, Richard Jaeckel, Michael Ansara, Paul Mantee, Andrew Stevens, Susan Backlinie and Leslie Nielsen.
1977, 97 minutes, Rated PG, 2.35:1

A very good example of the "nature against man" genre that was popular in the 1970's, DAY OF THE ANIMALS tells the story of a group of hikers trapped on a mountain when the animals, all of the animals, band together to attack man. The idea is that the depleted ozone layer has let too much harmful radiation in and that affects the animals.

DAY OF THE ANIMALS was filmed in TODD-AO 35, or standard 35mm using the TODD-AO wide angle lens. Apparently the only decent material DVD distributor Shriek Show had to work with was a full screen master. Rather than releasing it full screen they cropped it and released it in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen . When you take into account the fact that it was cropped for pan and scan to begin with the additional cropping is pretty bad. Not totally unwatchable, but bad. Also included on the disc is a horrible 2.35 version of the film. (There are two versions of the film on one disc.) And when I say horrible, I mean HORRIBLE. Scratches run throughout, color shifts constantly--one second the sky is blue, the next it's purple, the next it's blue, the next it's gray... There are a couple of entire reels that are fuzzy. Almost unwatchable. I mean, I watched it, but I'm a fan. Others should beware.

As for the movie itself, I love it. It is firmly in the 'B' movie range, but it still has some great aspects.  I have strong memories of watching this on pay cable around 1979 or so.  The cinematography is effectively used to build a suitable atmosphere for the proceedings. The film generates a great apocalyptic feel considering its budget and somewhat variable acting. It ultimately doesn't make much sense, but while you're in the thick of it you don't notice.  GRIZZLY is generally considered to be a better film, but I prefer this one due to its bigger scope.

The director, William Girdler would go on to make THE MANITOU, which is many things but it isn't boring.  He would then die in a helicopter accident while scouting locations for his next film.

There is also a novelization that expands the scope of the disaster a bit by including more of how the town is affected, but is otherwise identical to the film.

TV master version:


Theatrical version:


2013 Blu-Ray:










Comparison of OOP Shriek Show DVD and Scorpion Blu-Ray. DVD images are first, Blu-Ray images are second:

Minor editing done 12/01/11. Original post was 07/2009