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Frogs
MGM // PG // September 19, 2000
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"Grandfather, something terrible is happening!"
It's hard to talk cult classics with most people, who can only name "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" or "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" when the subject comes up. "Frogs" is one movie that nearly everyone seems to be familiar with when I mention it, due to a long, successful life on late night TV. One of the early "nature revenge" films (the second that I can think of; "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster" came a year earlier), "Frogs" features (surprise!) frogs and a bunch of other swampland creatures who attack the island home of a polluting, heartless millionaire and his family and guests. I'm kind of curious what spin the Crocketts' real estate agent used to sell the place...a palatial estate smack dab in the middle of a swamp teeming with poisonous snakes, alligators, leeches, and fun stuff like quicksand. Anyway, here's the basic outline:
Video: I'm always pleased when older, semi-obscure films sport anamorphic transfers, and the nearly thirty year old "Frogs" looks better than I've ever seen it. For some reason, trees end up looking the worst -- almost every shot that looks grainy or overly-compressed prominently features trees (particularly in the shadows between trees). The colors on a small number of shots also appear to have a slightly unusual tint to them, but this is likely a problem with the source material or the low-budget nature of the film itself. There's a considerable amount of grain in some scenes, but it's not a constant problem throughout. Surprising for a film of its age, the amount of dust and specks is minimal, although in the few instances when such flaws appear, there are an awful lot of them...when it rains, it pours. Also, the difference in quality between some of the shots is disappointing. Some look clear and pristine, and then next shot looks like it's upconverted from a worn-out twenty year old VHS copy. I believe the final version of the disc includes both full-frame and widescreen versions, but the test pressing reviewed here only featured the anamorphic side. It may sound as if I'm complaining about how I disappointed I was with the quality of the video, but it's not as bad as I may make it sound. For a film of its age and origins, this is about as nice as I could hope for. "Frogs" definitely wouldn't be a good choice to use to show off your system, but it's undoubtedly the best I've ever seen this film look. The late night television presentations I've seen have been soft and muddy, and this disc is a monstrous improvement over those. Fans of the film won't be disappointed.
Audio: The only audio mix is the original mono track. There's not much in the way of range -- even when firecrackers go off, for instance, there's practically zero bass. A flicker of distortion in the dialogue appears from time to time, but largely "Frogs" sounds just like most of the other mono films I've watched on DVD -- average.
Supplements: The only extra is a somewhat-battered full-frame trailer where the proportions seem way off. It almost looks like a 1.85:1 trailer that was horizontally-compressed.
Conclusion: "Frogs" has a certain charm about it. Despite being extremely slow-moving, "Frogs" is a definite cult classic and should absolutely be in the collection of any respectable schlock-connoisseur. Despite being part of MGM's Midnite Movies line, I wouldn't recommend watching it at that time of night unless you want to be put to sleep. As a Sunday afternoon movie, though, "Frogs" is hard to top. With a $19.99 MSRP (meaning you'll almost always find it for less), "Frogs" is recommended as a purchase.
It's hard to talk cult classics with most people, who can only name "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" or "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" when the subject comes up. "Frogs" is one movie that nearly everyone seems to be familiar with when I mention it, due to a long, successful life on late night TV. One of the early "nature revenge" films (the second that I can think of; "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster" came a year earlier), "Frogs" features (surprise!) frogs and a bunch of other swampland creatures who attack the island home of a polluting, heartless millionaire and his family and guests. I'm kind of curious what spin the Crocketts' real estate agent used to sell the place...a palatial estate smack dab in the middle of a swamp teeming with poisonous snakes, alligators, leeches, and fun stuff like quicksand. Anyway, here's the basic outline:
- Long stretch of dialogue
- Someone leaves and does something stupid, like venture three miles deep into the swamp
- Animals kill said person in an extremely long sequence
- Wash, rinse, repeat
Video: I'm always pleased when older, semi-obscure films sport anamorphic transfers, and the nearly thirty year old "Frogs" looks better than I've ever seen it. For some reason, trees end up looking the worst -- almost every shot that looks grainy or overly-compressed prominently features trees (particularly in the shadows between trees). The colors on a small number of shots also appear to have a slightly unusual tint to them, but this is likely a problem with the source material or the low-budget nature of the film itself. There's a considerable amount of grain in some scenes, but it's not a constant problem throughout. Surprising for a film of its age, the amount of dust and specks is minimal, although in the few instances when such flaws appear, there are an awful lot of them...when it rains, it pours. Also, the difference in quality between some of the shots is disappointing. Some look clear and pristine, and then next shot looks like it's upconverted from a worn-out twenty year old VHS copy. I believe the final version of the disc includes both full-frame and widescreen versions, but the test pressing reviewed here only featured the anamorphic side. It may sound as if I'm complaining about how I disappointed I was with the quality of the video, but it's not as bad as I may make it sound. For a film of its age and origins, this is about as nice as I could hope for. "Frogs" definitely wouldn't be a good choice to use to show off your system, but it's undoubtedly the best I've ever seen this film look. The late night television presentations I've seen have been soft and muddy, and this disc is a monstrous improvement over those. Fans of the film won't be disappointed.
Audio: The only audio mix is the original mono track. There's not much in the way of range -- even when firecrackers go off, for instance, there's practically zero bass. A flicker of distortion in the dialogue appears from time to time, but largely "Frogs" sounds just like most of the other mono films I've watched on DVD -- average.
Supplements: The only extra is a somewhat-battered full-frame trailer where the proportions seem way off. It almost looks like a 1.85:1 trailer that was horizontally-compressed.
Conclusion: "Frogs" has a certain charm about it. Despite being extremely slow-moving, "Frogs" is a definite cult classic and should absolutely be in the collection of any respectable schlock-connoisseur. Despite being part of MGM's Midnite Movies line, I wouldn't recommend watching it at that time of night unless you want to be put to sleep. As a Sunday afternoon movie, though, "Frogs" is hard to top. With a $19.99 MSRP (meaning you'll almost always find it for less), "Frogs" is recommended as a purchase.
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