Day of the Animals
Steve Buckner lets himself be dropped off in the wilderness with a group of wannabe adventurers with deep pockets. They are swiftly attacked by animals who have grown rather aggressive due to the strong heat and the depleted ozone layer. William Girdler, who passed on much too soon, had already made a masterpiece with his previous film, Grizzly. With the quasi-follow-up Day of the Animals, he went all out, impressing audiences with brilliantly staged animal attacks—among them a pretty legendary brawl between man and grizzly. (mk)
O P E N E R
THE BLACK BEAR (L’OURS NOIR)
Méryl Fortunat-Rossi and Xavier Seron | BE/FR 2015 | 15′
There are several rules one should follow when coming face to face with a black bear. What if someone decided to break all of them?
Girdler, William (1947–1978) made an impressive nine films in his all-too short career. Shooting his first films on extremely tight budgets, the Kentucky native grabbed the attention of David Sheldon and Samuel Z. Arkoff at American International Pictures, where he made the successful blaxploitation movies The Zebra Killer, Sheba, Baby, and Abby. The latter’s similarities with The Exorcist garnered him a lawsuit from Warner Bros.—which he eventually won. Jumping on the bandwagon of yet another blockbuster, Jaws, his man-eating bear shocker Grizzly was the highest-grossing independent film of 1976. After following it up with Day of the Animals and the campy supernatural horror flick The Manitou, he died in a helicopter crash while scouting locations for a project titled The Overlords, which was to capitalize on the Star Wars mania.
Screenings
