Scott LeBrun Human beings, take note: all the aerosol cans you're using are having a huge impact on the Earths' ozone layer. Now there's a big hole in it and the suns' radiation is driving the animals that live at high altitudes into a crazed state. A group of back packers going on a hike in the High Sierras find this out the hard way. Led by hard-nosed, practical mountain guide Steve Buckner (the always engaging Christopher George), they must deal with attacks by mountain lions, wolves, and birds of prey.Sadly, this was the penultimate movie for cult director Girdler; who knows how many more cool movies he might have had in him? Here he works with some of the same cast and crew members from "Grizzly", his "Jaws on land" killer bear flick, and creates what is one of the best entries in the "nature strikes back" genre that flourished in the 1970s. It's genuinely harrowing at times, delivering a lot of good thrills. The animal action, supervised by Lou Schumacher and stunt coordinator Monty Cox, is first rate. Lalo Schifrins' score is magnificent, as you would expect from the talented composer. And the gorgeous rural scenery is very well photographed in widescreen by Robert Sorrentino. There's one obvious ropey green screen sequence along the way.George is well supported by his wife and frequent co-star Lynda Day George (as an anchorwoman), Richard Jaeckel (as a professor), Michael Ansara (as Georges' fellow guide), and Ruth Roman (as a city woman taking the trip with her son). Jon Cedar, Paul Mantee, Walter Barnes, Andrew Stevens, Kathleen Bracken, Bobby Porter, Susan Backlinie, and Michelle Stacy co-star, but the person who steals the show is a scenery devouring Leslie Nielsen, as a macho advertising man who starts out being a major jerk (baiting George by repeatedly calling him "hotshot", and addressing Ansaras' Indian character as "Kemo Sabe") and ends up becoming a full blown lunatic, as much a victim of the radiation as the animals. You'll want to see his memorable scene with a bear.Some B movie watchers regard "Day of the Animals" as so-bad-it's-good, or merely bad, but this viewer found it well made overall and worthwhile.Eight out of 10.

Boba_Fett1138 You might expect lots of fun from a movie called "Day of the Animals", that features a story about animals turning against humans, due to a sudden discovered problem with the ozone-layer (yeah don't ask, still not sure how that works in this movie). But the movie is a bit of a disappointment, since very little is actually happening in it. It's a real lackluster, that only becomes mildly interesting when the Leslie Nielsen character for some reason suddenly becomes crazy mad.Seriously, Leslie Nielsen's role in this movie is more hilarious than any of the movies he did in the last couple of years. And he is not even playing his character in this movie in a comedy-like way but he's playing it completely straight and serious, which really makes it all the more hilarious.But other than that, this is a really uninteresting genre movie to watch, that absolutely has nothing special in it. It's not the worst movie in its genre but that is because it is not being the most ridicules one. There is just far too little happening for that to become so.It really takes a long time before there is finally something happening in the movie and when it does, it's over before you know it. Surely they could had done far more interesting with its concept of all kinds of animals attacking humans, despite of its obvious low budget. The moments in which the animals attack in this movie are not done well at all and absolutely do not work out and are often more laughable than anything else really. So perhaps it after all is not such a bad thing at all that there are actually being very little moments in which the animals attack.The story really doesn't ever makes much sense but you just have to go along with it and don't think too much about anything that is happening, or else you will most likely be never able to finish watching this movie.Really not much good about this movie, though it obviously could had all still been a lot worse.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

garyldibert TITLE: DAY OF THE ANIMALS, Release Date: 5/13/1977, Runtime: 97 Minutes STARRING: Lynda Day George, Christopher George, and Leslie Nielsen The Day of the Animals is a 1977 American horror film thriller directed by William Girdler and based on a story written by Edward L. Montoro. Premiering on May 13, 1977, the movie reunited stars Christopher George and Richard Jaeckel, director Girdler and producer Montoro from the previous year's hit film Grizzly.SUMMARY: A nature-loving group of hikers set out on a two-week survival mission in the Sonora Pass area of California's High Sierras. As the group begins its trek, the animal population of the Sierras slowly congregates around them. One of them hears a news bulletin that scientists believe the earth's ozone layer has been depleted to a critical level with a warning of possible danger at higher altitudes. Therefore, begins the pursuit by the animals of the humans. The high drama and frightful tension will have you on the edge of your sea.QUESTION: Can anyone survive The Day of the Animals? MY THOUGHTS: The high drama and frightful tension will have you on the edge of your sit, asking yourself can anyone survive the Day of the Animals. I remember this movie because of Lynda Day George. However I was disappointed that she didn't play a bigger role. I did luck the scenery of the Sierra Mountains so I give this Picture 6 Weasel stars.

Woodyanders Man's foolish, environmentally unsound overuse of aerosol spray cans causes the ozone layer to deplete; this in turn makes all the animals in the High Sierras go totally crazy and become nastily aggressive, brutally assaulting and, yes, even killing numerous hapless homo sapiens. A motley bunch of campers led by macho expert trail guide Chris George get jumped by the assorted righteously ticked-off wildlife, who have declared open season on us unfortunate humans.Directed with commendable assurance and competence by late, great seasoned 70's schlock movie maven William ("Abby," "Grizzly") Girdler, further enhanced by Bob Sorrentino's pretty, polished cinematography and Lalo Schifrin's eerie, understated score, "Day of the Animals" passes muster as a reasonably creepy, fast-paced, and hence way above average eco-fright item. The top-notch all-star junk picture cast includes Chris George's hot blonde wife Lynda Day, a nicely cast against type Richard Jaeckel as a nerdy, jolly, bespectacled outdoors loving scientist, Ruth Roman as a stressed-out single mom trying to bond with her estranged teenage son, Michael Ansara as a proud and dignified Native American, Andrew Stevens as some goofball young guy, Paul Mantee as a tough jock pro football player who's dying of cancer, Susan Backlinie (the sexy skinny-dipper who gets munched by the great white shark in "Jaws") as an early victim, Michelle ("Demon Seed") Stacy as a traumatized mute little girl who's rescued and protected by Jon Cedar, and, best of all, Leslie Nielsen, who gloriously overplays his ripe hammy part as a hateful racist advertising executive who goes completely bonkers (Leslie roughs up a young lady, impales Stevens with a tree branch, and even wrestles a bear during a raging thunderous storm!). One especially juicy animal attack occurs when a folksy small town sheriff gets pounced in his kitchen by cute, yet lethal rats. Overall, this baby sizes up as loads of highly diverting and entertaining low-budget drive-in horror fun.