MovieChat Forums > Day of the Animals (1977) Discussion > What scenes from this movie have 'Stuck'...

What scenes from this movie have 'Stuck' with you all??

posted 16 years ago by JSouth1
18 replies | jump to latest

For me--TWO scenes have stuck with me since I first saw this over 30 years ago on TV.

(spoilers within).

(1--the scene near the end with the guy, the girl and the dog--where that stupid little dog keeps following that guy around, snarling and growling at him, but NOT trying to attack him, as the guy frantically tries to get help for him and the girl he found. He then tries to get one of the cars he finds to run, but the first one will not start. Then, with that dog STILL hanging around, he goes to a VW, all the while, keeping an eye on that dog, which follows him snarling all the way. The guy, watching the dog and holding a hammer for protection, opens the door of the VW, reaches in WITHOUT looking inside..there must be FIFTY snakes in the front seat--and at least 3 of the attack him!! Then as he jerks him arm out of the car, with at least one snake still hanging on it, the dog THEN attacks him!! I have NEVER forgotten that scene!! It stuck in my mind even MORE than the OTHER, more-well-known scene I remember.

(2--Leslie Nielsen and the " bear attack". I have NEVER seen ANYTHING like that one ANY movie or show before!! A man goes somewhat crazy, starts acting savagely, kills a woman's boyfriend, mocks God and THEN--JUST as he is going to rape that woman, a big, angry grizzly bear comes towards him. Does he "slowly" back away, like a normal person would?? NO!! he ATTACKS the bear, tries to wrestle it and bite it, and of course...the bear wins, as the girl and the other 2 hikers who were there safely escape. Personally I thought he "got what was coming to him" in the movie!!

BTW --BOTH scenes, and lots of others from this movie--are on Youtube right now.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (1688273) 16 years ago

No question, Leslie playing the heavy as he did so well in his pre Naked Gun days, his character accosting that girl and grappling with the bear. That's not something you see every day!

[–] humility 16 years ago

For the record, Day of the Animals was made on a shoestring budget by a director who, a few years later was killed in a helicopter crash in the Philippines scouting locations for his first big budget film. I have no doubt that, had he lived, he would be a household name today. I base this opinion on the fact that I got to know Mr. Girdler quite well during the production. He took a big chance in letting me play a 15 year old when I was actually a 24 year old father! The experiences of that production will remain among the best of my 37 year career.

Respectfully,

Bobby Porter

[–] !!!deleted!!! (1688273) 16 years ago

Wow! So cool of you to post. I loved the show Quark- too bad it was cancelled, it was funny as anything! What was it like working with Jan Michael Vincent in Damnation Alley?

[–] MikeAnsaraFan 16 years ago

Lucky you working with Michael Ansara......what was he like to work with?

[–] Tabbycat (748) 2 years ago

Agreed.

He was obviously talented, maybe even a shade of brilliant. All things considered, this was his best film. Had he learned to direct actors, his career might well have soared.

[–] Dr Wily 13 years ago

Two scenes stuck with me. The scene where Nielsen kills that guy. Something about the way the victim screams, underscored by Schiffrin's great music, has always been my first memory of this flick seeing it on TBS in the late 80's/early 90's. The other is when that guy is attacked by the snakes and the dog after he leaves the girl alone in that truck. His screams are really convincing. :)

[–] Nakrophile 13 years ago

Apart from the snake scene, and of course every moment when Leslie is in the rain with no shirt on, I love the huge bird staring inquisitively at the kid, and the normal dogs at the end when they couldn't get any wolves. Also, "Come here, baby!"

The Christopher George / Leslie stand-offs are also great. "Whadaya say, hot shot?"

Emily? Who's Emily?

[–] nvasapper 13 years ago

To JSouth:
I agree with you 100%. Those two sequences really stand out. Obviously that dog was biding his time, waiting for the right moment to go for Jon Cedar and when the rattlers hit him, that was it. Having received a megadose of snake venom which would have finished him off very quickly anyway, Cedar was in no state to defend himself against that mangy mutt. The VW was his. He told the little girl that was his car and he was going to start it up and bring it back to where she was so they could escape.

That scene with Leslie Neilsen and the bear was hilarious. You're right- a normal person would exercise prudence and try to back away instead of going mano a mano. But by that point, Neilsen was like the other animals- angry, crazed and psychotic. The film implies that he was transformed by the solar radiation from the ozone depletion like the animals were. And yet none of the other characters were affected in this way. I think it's because Neilsen was depicted as a more bestial type of human than the others. He was rude, nasty, arrogant, bigoted, contemptuous and violent. So he was perhaps more susceptible to the effects of the ultraviolet rays since his predilection was already there.

[–] Isnam777 11 years ago

Personally I thought some of the dialogue was awesome. The script stood out for me. I love the little exchange near the end when the professor, the cancer-ridden NFL star and the Native American are in an abandoned mine and talking about accepting things in life even if they suck. That last little part where the former NFL star says, "Why don't we just kill ourselves and be done with it?" and the professor closes with, "Maybe we will... maybe we already have." That's always stayed with me.

Peace is not the absence of affliction, but the presence of God. ~Author Unknown

[–] semsox 10 years ago

I like the nicknames Nielsen's character gives to some of the other characters.
calls the Indian "Kemosabe" Steve's character "Hot Shot" Lynda Day George "Pretty Lady" The little kid "little Cockroach" His mom he refers to as "The Beverly Hills bitch" And calls Andrew Stevenson's character a "lilly Livered punk" LOL, good stuff man. To keep a straight face, while delivering that dialogue deserves some kind of award.

[–] mcnam999 10 years ago

The snake scene definitely, I was only 14 at the time & it scared the life out of me. Its the only thing I remember from the film! It was showing as a double-feature(who remembers them?) with The Car.

[–] Woodyanders 8 years ago

The scene with the ranger getting attacked in the kitchen by the rats really made a strong lasting impression on me the first time I saw this film.

I've been chasing grace/ But grace ain't easy to find

[–] prbronx5 8 years ago

For me it's when the rats are jumping on that guy's face.

The snakes scene.

The dogs chasing the survivors at the climax.

[–] PaladinNJ (20310) 5 years ago

Leslie Nielsen and the bear is the scene that always come to mind for me.