Director: Franco Prosperi
Year: 1984
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Wild beasts - Belve feroci; Savage Beasts
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
In a northern European city, the staff at a major zoo find that the recent surge in unusual antics by their animals is related to a strange deposit of PCP into the water supply and infected the animals causing them to run wild throughout the area, forcing them to defend the city against the creatures.
Review:
Overall, this was a generally fun nature-run-amok genre effort. Among the more likable features here is the rather fun and cheesy setup to getting the creatures unleashed on the city, which is quite well-handled here. The concept of the drug supply getting into the water supply and contaminating it to allow the infected animals to get loose is a rather goofy premise that’s rather sloppy in concept but is given enough here to justify the later rampage. Given that this is accomplished with the scenes of the random animals going crazy and attacking before getting to the zoo to escape part of the rampage with the eventual discovery of this late in the film, everything comes together and features a lot to like about it. This chaos and confusion about everything features a lot to like, much like the somewhat intriguing bit of science required to figure out what’s happening
With this in place, there’s a lot to like with the unrelenting chaos of the animals being freed and sent on the loose. From the opening shot of the elephants breaking free from the zoo walls and sending the herd of tigers out to kill the workers at the zoo, this creates quite a fun starting point to the eventual chaos on the city streets with the animals getting freed and causing all sorts of havoc. The rat attack on the couple in the car, the tiger ambush on the police officers investigating the zoo outbreak, the elephants just generally rampaging through the area, the cheetah chasing the n in the car, and the broken-down train being attacked are some of the fun scenes here that are made all the more impressive by utilizing the real on-set animals in the situations which is all part of the fun. The creatures actively being involved in the scene make for a more intense and suspenseful time here with the spectacle of the concept giving this all a highly enjoyable time here. These, combined with the cheesy gore effects integrated into the action, give this one plenty of likable features.
There isn’t a whole lot to dislike here but it does have some issues. One of the biggest issues here is the films’ use of real animals makes for some highly un-politically correct scenes that make for a generally uncomfortable experience at times. Seeing the inserts of the rats being blasted with the flamethrowers and them running around on fire while squealing in pain really don’t need to be there as the idea would’ve been clear without seeing the clear view of the poor creatures trying to put the fire out. Likewise, the sequence of the wild animals attacking a slaughterhouse that features the killer cats and hyenas attacking cows and pigs with the obvious shots of the creatures in distress and pain feels rather unnecessary and sleazy for no purpose as we already know they’re wild and out-of-control which makes this something that could’ve been taken out. As well, there’s also the somewhat confusing and underwhelming finale which is slightly confusing and feels somewhat rushed here, making for a few flaws that hold it back.
Overview: ***/5
A generally fun creature-on-the-loose effort with only a few flaws, the fact that the majority of the flaws here make this one somewhat tough to sit through for animal lovers especially but most other views as well. Eurohorrror fans or those willing to handle the negative aspects here will have a lot of fun with this one while most others, especially those who are unwilling to see animals in peril should avoid it at all costs.
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