One of several grindhouse roughies directed by the late Lee Frost, whose output included over-the-toppers like MONDO BIZARRO (1966), THE SCAVENGERS (1969) and THE BLACK GESTAPO (1975). THE ANIMAL (1968) is an especially intriguing entry in Frost’s oeuvre, combining period-specific sexploitation with HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER-esque psycho-horror.
Allegedly based on fact, THE ANIMAL is about Ted (future porno mainstay John Alderman), a migraine-prone, mother-hating loner. In the opening sequence he’s seen driving a car at dangerous speeds down a rural Southern California road and nodding off. He crashes the car and dies (or at least appears to), followed by opening credits underscored by a desolate breeze heard whistling on the road. We then get an extended flashback depicting Ted’s employment as a film editor, his habit of (gasp!) smoking marijuana, and his most unfortunate evening routine: making obscene phone calls to unsuspecting women.
The following day, Ted purchases a telescope so he can take his pervy proclivities to a new level. He also solicits a prostitute, which does nothing to lessen his malaise.
He sets his sights on Joan (Virginia Gordon), a young single mother residing across the street from Ted’s residence. Combining his two major perversions, Ted calls Joan and threatens to kill her son if she doesn’t agree to leave her blinds open and strip. She complies, but this doesn’t satisfy him—although around this point Ted drops some acid, which causes the remainder of this formerly black-and-white film to unfold in full color. What follows is an increasingly twisted succession of events that include the murder of a prostitute, and which conclude with the fateful drive of the opening scene.
As was his custom, Lee Frost makes sure to accentuate the film’s many exploitable elements. Nearly all the women cast members are called upon to perform protracted stripteases that serve only to pause the narrative and pad the runtime. Yes, THE ANIMAL hails from a time when it was possible to get away with underplotted films whose major selling point was gratuitous nudity.
Yet the film has a genuinely dark, brooding aura that’s entirely appropriate to the subject matter. As a study in erotic psychosis, bolstered by a better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be performance by John Alderman, THE ANIMAL excels, far outstripping the PSYCHO wannabe it appears to have been intended as. It’s just too bad about the switch from black-and-white to color, which may have been intended as innovative but merely annoys given that Frost does so little with the gambit.
Vital Statistics
THE ANIMAL
RLF Productions
Director/Producer: “R.L. Frost” (Lee Frost)
Screenplay: Bob Cresse
Cinematography: Charles Langdon
Editing: Thomas L. Myers
Cast: “David Holmes” (John Alderman), Virginia Gordon, Armand Atam, Jay Fineberg, Janis Rhodes, Francie Hyde, Sharon Wells, Linda Stiles, Inez Coup, Capri