FROGS is an entertaining entry in the sub-genre of Nature Strikes Back environmental horror films popularized during the 1970s. It draws part of its inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"(1963)- though in Hitchcock's film the motive and reason for the bird attacks is not clearly defined, whereas in FROGS the viewer comes to understand why the local wildlife has it in for people. The film starts out slowly and quietly as ecologist and free-lance photographer Pickett Smith(SAM ELLIOTT), doing a photo spread on the despoliation of the environment for an ecology magazine, makes his way along a Florida waterway by canoe. The canoe overturns when it gets caught in the wake of a speedboat that passes too close. Smith is rescued by the occupants of the other craft, Clint Crockett(ADAM ROARKE) and his sister Karen(JOAN VAN ARK) and invited back to the family estate to clean up, dry out and meet the other family members. The choice of watercraft used by these two men serves to help define their character- Smith's boat is environmentally friendly whereas Clint's is loud, noisy, and polluting. Smith is taken back to the family estate which exists on a privately-owned, secluded island in Florida swamp country. Smith has arrived at an auspicious time- it's the annual family gathering to celebrate both the Fourth of July and Grandpa's birthday. Grandpa is family patriarch Jason Crockett, played by RAY MILLAND, who turns in an outstanding, tour de force performance as the wheelchair-bound, cantankerous millionaire industrialist who personifies the ugly rich at its worst. He has a mean streak in him as evidenced by his high-handed authoritarian manner and disdain for the natural environment. He believes that Man was put here as the Master of the Earth and all life forms must bow before him. When his handyman does not return from a poison-spraying mission in the swamp to kill the frogs whose incessant croaking is driving his family nuts, he asks Pickett Smith to look for him. Smith finds him alright- lying in a swampy pool, dead from venomous snakebite. It's here that the film's Dark Tone of Ominous Portent manifests- as one by one the various family members find themselves isolated and targeted by the denizens of the swamp. There is not a whole lot of gore in this film. To achieve its desired effect, it relies more on creating an unsettled mood and an atmosphere of quiet doom in a low-key understated manner. It's our stalwart hero Pickett Smith who speculates that maybe Nature is getting back at us for what we've done to the Earth. Crockett dismisses this as rubbish and stubbornly refuses to heed any warnings. These swamp creatures are going to show him the proper respect- or else. The title creatures of the film do not kill anybody, because they can't. They're depicted as the brains behind the operation, like generals getting their troops in position and waiting for the enemy to walk into an ambush. Long before the movie is over, we have a pretty good idea who is going to survive and who isn't. Though the Good People make it off the island intact, in spite of some close calls, for them the Horror may be just beginning. This movie is quite effective in an understated way. It benefits from beautiful location photography (it was filmed in Florida's Eden State Park), strong performances, good editing and the creation of a sense of claustrophobic horror. This is one of my favorite Nature Revenge movies and I give it an 8 out of 10.