Horror Movie Review: Frogs (1972)

When you see a horror movie not only titled ‘Frogs’ but with one of the amphibian’s front and centre on the box art, your imagination is likely to go wild. Would it be mutant frogs that grow to the size of a house? Or maybe they have a taste for human flesh? Hell, we’d settle for them swarming over their victims and suffocating them.

Sadly, Frogs doesn’t have much in the way of imagination instead taking the very serious and dour tone of an eco-horror. The frogs in question never kill a person. Instead just hope around and stare bug-eyed. All the deaths come from other creatures such as snakes, alligators, lizards and birds.

This is a horror about nature taking its revenge on a rich family who have abused the local ecological system.

It’s pretty boring.

Our heroic lead is Pickett Smith played by Sam Elliot, one of the shining lights of the movie. While out taking wildlife photos he is knocked out of his canoe by Clint Crockett (Adam Roarke) and his sister Karen (Joan van Ark). Feeling bad they invite him back to their plantation where Pickett meets the head of the family, Jason (Ray Milland).

The old man hates the local wildlife and has had his workers spraying pesticide to deal with it. This is going to come back and bite him in the ass just in time for his birthday and July 4th celebrations.

Frogs isn’t a terrible movie, it’s just boring. For its time, it’s really well shot and the many creatures are used in inventive ways. Members of the main cast, namely Sam Elliot and Ray Milland, are really memorable too. The former being the no-nonsense hero and the latter being the uncaring and unbelieving cruel task-master.

They are very watchable but little else is. No scares, no excitement, no silliness and no real horror. Unless you count snake bites and alligator wrestling as horror.

When your horror movie is called frogs you kind of put yourself in the position to disappoint unless those hopping beasties are doing something of note.