Day Of The Animals (1977)

In a northern California alpine village, a mountain guide (Christopher George) takes a small group of hikers on a "survival" tour. But it isn't long before they realize something is very wrong as aggressive mountain lions, bears, wolves, snakes and birds begin to attack them. Directed by William Girdler (THE MANITOU), this is a cheesy "animals gone wild" horror film that's developed a cult following (mostly from those who saw it at an easily impressed young age). The suspense level is weak, the acting indifferent except for Leslie Nielsen whose over the top performance should be legendary in the annals of bad acting. It's derivative of films like THE BIRDS, FROGS, WILLARD etc. It's been done better though this one has some unintentionally amusing moments. The large cast includes Ruth Roman, Lynda Day George, Richard Jaeckel, Michael Ansara, Andrew Stevens, Paul Mantee, Jon Cedar, Susan Backlinie (JAWS first victim) and Bobby Porter, 18 years old but convincingly playing a 10 year old.