You know a movie people love to riff and is unbearable without anyone talking over it? Birdemic. That movie has characters with zero chemistry, no charisma, horrible acting and even worse editing and special effects. The whole point of that movie is to warn people about global warming and the effects it would have on the environment and the inhabitants of this planet. Why am I mentioning such a movie? Well, because in 1977, a movie called Day of the Animals was released in theaters and it also deals with animals and the environment also. The main difference is that this movie was done so much better with a better budget, “good” actors and it also has a plot that actually is easy to decipher without any monologue scientific babble going on that comes out of nowhere and delays the movie from finishing. With that being said, comparing the two movies isn’t fair and should not the best reference to go on. The one question to ask is this movie enjoyable to watch? We’ll be breaking down the movie based on plot, the suspense/animal attacks that are frequent throughout the movie and the overall message of the movie. Let’s roll up our sleeves and put on plenty of sunblock as we take a dive into the mountains and explore Day of the Animals.
We open the movie with a text scroll. It warns us about aerosol canisters and its harm on the ozone layer and what it can do to the environment. It sets the mood for the movie. The movie is about a bunch of weekend hikers who go into the woods with a guide to get away from the city life and get back in touch with nature. We have a bunch of characters including a professor, former football player, two young lovers, a couple going through a rough patch, an ad executive, mother and her son, an anchorwoman, a Native American and the tour guide. So, it’s a great turn out. They take helicopters and go into the woods where they start to hike but notice that it is very quiet out there. They don’t hear any animals except for a lone screech/caw of a hawk. As they get further and further into the woods, they notice the animals stalking them. The birds are gathered together on the branches and just stare at them. It only becomes a problem when a woman (the one in the rough patch) gets attacked by a lone wolf. After the wolf retreats, the rough patch couple split from the group to get help while the rest of the tour continue. This is when the audience will start to know this is the beginning of the end for many of these characters. We just don’t know yet who will die and who will survive. The plot has a nice beat of the drum with the movie. It doesn’t really try to hurry up the action and the animal attack scenes but rather have the tension of the people grow and start to splinter as they start to lose hope that they will make it out alive. Though the pacing in the beginning could be a little contrived and not too interesting, it does make up for it with exposition of different characters just so we know a little bit more about them and give some sort of humanity to them so they don’t feel like a cardboard cutout of stock characters. I do enjoy each character has some sort of personality and even if it is annoying or racist, they still have their defining characteristic as well as a defining moment in the movie whether its a fight scene, a death scene or just for surviving.
From the beginning of the movie, we get lots of different scenes with animals and reptiles in their habitat doing their thing. It it shot very nice with just a nice hint of that 1970’s grainy film that we often associate with this time period. It would be nice having Morgan Freeman narrating the nature shots for how frequent they were using them but I digress. The animal attack scenes are done very well. The protagonists have their uneasiness in the wild and the animals are constantly stalking them throughout with a lone hawk seemingly being the boss/lookout. It’s when the music builds to that uneasy sound or the dead silence is when the animals will attack. Though they don’t get graphic with the blood and the final cue de grace, the shots being implemented show the animals attacking with some angles of the animals mouths, humans screaming and the rest of the characters reacting to the attack. It creates the uncomfortable image of an animal attacking and what it will look like if you were on the other end. In the pack attack sequences, there is so much going on and all you see are swarms of the animals and a lonely body on the ground squirming and the fighting. I enjoy the scenes with the animals because it offers us variety. We get a chance with swarm of hawks, mountain lions, wolves, rats, rattlesnakes, and even German shepherds’. I think the suspense of the animals and what they can actually do to a human offers us a glimpse of what to do and not to do when confronted by animals in the woods or even on your own street.
With the action sequences and the animals going crazy and attacking people, what is the message the director is trying to tell us? Is this supposed to have a profound impact on the consumers daily life or is the movie a cash grab to incite the same kind of uneasiness and fear like The Birds did with Hitchcock? I think with the text scroll, it has a little bit of both. The director, lead actor and producer of the movie did Grizzly the year before to much success. That movie was compared to a knockoff of Jaws. This movie is I guess the knockoff of The Birds. I don’t really think the director was trying to give a profound message about the environment but rather used the ozone depletion as a way to give a reason to why the animals are attacking the people.
Though the director might not have given us his reason, it does offer questions about the ozone layer in general. With all the devastation happening currently right now in America with the hurricanes and a giant earthquake hitting Mexico, how has ozone depletion really affect the planet? I’m not going to go Al Gore on anyone talking about the polar ice caps melting and sea levels rising and the temperature on the planet continually rising (Oh snap, I did say that. Oops). Either or, the radiation that protects us is in the ozone layer and with it constantly decreasing, would radiation poison be a factor in animals natural behavior? Could this be a precursor for things to come? Will we expose enough animals to radiation that they can mutate and there could be an actual Planet of the Apes where humans becomes the endangered species? Maybe? I doubt it. Or, do I?…
Overall, this movie was fun. It tells a concise story and the action and suspense keeps me interested in who will come out on top and who will become the next victim. Some of the acting is a little hokey and it can have extra exposition at the times we don’t really want it, but, it does give the characters a background and some personality instead of stock characters who we don’t know much about and are just scene fillers. The animals are trained very well in the movie and it is nice to have a variety instead of just bears and wolves. If you want to see a movie that is about animals attacking humans caused by poor environment, watch this and avoid Birdemic.
“Day of the Animals” is available on Amazon Prime.
Written by Leon Rudzin
Admittedly I am late to this , I didn’t discover Stan Against Evil until earlier this year. If you like supernatural dark comedies, you better grab your shovel (or pipe, or a series of pipes) because you are in for a fun ride!
Stan Miller (John C McGinley) loses his job as Sherrif to a small New Hampshire town named Willard’s Mill. As it turns out Willard’s Mill was the site of a mass witch burning hundreds of years previous. This has caused the unsuspecting town to be cursed by a myriad of witches, demons, and ghosts. This paranormal blight particularly has it out for the current Sheriff. Its up to newly ‘retired’ Stan and the new female Sheriff Evie Barret (Janet Varney) to the save the town with their own brand of sarcasm and extreme gut-busting violence!
In no particular order here is Seven Reasons YOU should watch Stan Against Evil:
#1 John C McGinley
For anyone who has watched Scrubs I don’t need to tell you what a charismatic actor McGinley is. As we find out Stan likes his coffee black (and his whisky neat and bed at three as well probably). Only he doesn’t really, we find out he takes the sugars from the donut shop to secretly sweeten the coffee in his car. This perfectly sums up the character of Stan; appears macho and crotchety, but is secretly very sweet. McGinley himself describes Stan as “wonderfully damaged” (BUILD Series, 2017) and how he is attracted to playing damaged characters. Stan is understandably damaged by the untimely death of his wife. In episode one (Dig Me Up, Dig Me Down) we see Stan avoiding sleeping in his house after his loss. The little bed made up on his office couch would tug on anyone’s chordae tendinae .
This vulnerability topped with McGinley’s energetic and extremely articulate line delivery with fun gesticulations, makes Stan yet another iconic character to add to McGinley’s roster.
#2 Janet Varney
They may seem an unlikely duo, but Varney and McGinley have amazing chemistry onscreen. Those who know Varney from The Legend of Korra know how she devotes herself to a role. Sheriff Evie Barret is no different. Varney is completely believable as the single mother juggling a demanding job and a town full of (literal) demons. Her verbal sparring with Stan is comedic gold. Varney was even willing to do her own stunts and be drenched in various special effects ‘goo’s’ in the name of art!
Also, as respectfully as possible, how beautiful is she?
#3 The Humour
This might be a little redundant, but the show is incredibly funny! Created by Dana Gould who honed his comedy writing skills while writing for shows such as; The Simpsons. Gould created a fantastical world of magic and dimensions filled with people who are worried about the hand-drawn pentagram messing up their floor.
I could give the show the greatest compliment and say the humor is incredibly British in its satirical brilliance (sorry to my friends across the pond). Think the self-awareness of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with more swearing. Like, a lot more. The Miller family and co are aware of the ridiculousness of the situations they find themselves in and will make you very aware of it too. Whether it’s an ex-husband slowly turning into Mothra (complete with chrysalis) or a bargain bin Scully and Mulder, all you can do is laugh at the specifically tailored insults!
#4 The Costumes
Dana Gould quipped about the show having a good budget for a “birthday party” (BUILD Series, 2017) but not so great for a TV show. However, this turned out to be beneficial as the show’s set designers and prop makers needed to be extra creative. In a world of bizarre and often nightmarish CGI (2020 CATS anyone?) the visceral joy of seeing actual puppets and costumes benefits the overall vibe. You can tell that a lot of love, time, and creative energy went into crafting this universe. Special mention goes to The Walking Dead’s; Steven Ogg transforming into the ‘werepony’ (S2 E3 Curse of the Werepony). And the demonic baby of S2 E5 Hex Marks the Tot binding his prey, spider-like, in blankies.
#5 The Quotes
Stan Against Evil is just so sublimely quotable (trust me I’ve been doing it for months).
Here is a few good’uns;
Evie: Well I’m not Stan. Jesus.
“Stan never gave me a fine. Stan used to let me hunt without a license. Stan never used a breathalyzer”
Stan: There is a super-snazzy Red Roof Inn just down the road.
Kenny: You said that burned down.
Stan: Not all of it.
Stan: Sweetheart go ahead and get the door. Step outside, I’ll lock it, and then everything will be great.
Stan: Do you trust me Leon?
Leon: No. But I’m afraid of you.
Stan: That’s just as good.
#6 The Demons
The generational curse on Willard’s Mill has released a whole host of demons (172 to be exact). Each demon has its own unique style and paranormal superpowers. Whether it’s the manipulative powers of the bloodthirsty werepony or the subtle maliciousness of the original Sheriff of Willard’s Mill responsible for the witch burnings; Constable Eccles (Randall Newsome). Danger manifests in many for the Miller family and co. An ornate mirror, won in a competition, could be a portal to a world inhabited by vampires with shaved chests preying on unsuspecting teenage girls (and Stan). You just never know!
#7 The Emotional Moments
Yes Stan Against Evil is a ridiculous (at times) dark comedy but it’s the moments of surprising emotional weight that make this series so fantastic. Like in S1 E4 Life Orr Death, when Stan is so happy he saved Evie by sacrificing a possession that meant a lot to him. Or Stan using time travel to say a touching final goodbye to his late wife. Varney and McGinley are both such superb actors that they don’t need a lot of dialogue to nail an emotional scene.
In a broader sense, the current media landscape is filled with movies and TV shows designed by committee and motivated solely by money. Its nice to watch something that is clearly a work of passion. The writers, cast, and crew have put a lot of soul and individuality into the three seasons. This makes Stan Against Evil such a satisfying watch and you will grow attached to this quirky gang of characters.
The rich cultural, spiritual, and philosophical traditions of Hinduism have long influenced Indian cinema. From stories rooted in mythology to modern-day explorations of faith, these films provide an insightful look into Hindu beliefs, practices, and history. As a fan of movies about Hinduism, I’ve curated a list of the top five Indian films on Netflix that explore this ancient religion. Whether you’re a spiritual seeker or a fan of Indian culture, these films offer a unique cinematic experience.
1. PK (2014)
PK, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, is a satirical take on religion, belief systems, and blind faith. The story revolves around an alien named PK (played by Aamir Khan) who lands on Earth and finds himself confused by the various religious customs and practices. In his quest to find his lost communication device, PK asks fundamental questions about the nature of God, challenging societal norms. Through humor and thought-provoking dialogue, the film explores how people interact with religion and the commercialization of faith.
PK is a lighthearted yet meaningful exploration of religious practices in India, questioning dogma and rituals through an outsider’s perspective.
2. OMG: Oh My God! (2012)
OMG: Oh My God! is another thought-provoking film that tackles religious beliefs and the commercialization of faith. The story follows Kanji Lalji Mehta (Paresh Rawal), an atheist shopkeeper whose shop is destroyed by an earthquake. When his insurance company refuses to compensate him, citing an “act of God,” Kanji sues God in court. The film brings into question the roles of religious leaders and organized religion while also delving into spiritual interpretations of Hindu deities.
The film is a blend of comedy and drama that sparks conversations about blind faith, rituals, and the essence of spirituality.
3. Tumbbad (2018)
Tumbbad is a dark and eerie period horror film rooted in Hindu mythology. Set in the 1910s, the film tells the story of a family that discovers the secret of a mythical creature named Hastar, the forgotten son of the Goddess of Prosperity. The film masterfully explores themes of greed, wealth, and the consequences of defying divine order. Tumbbad delves into the relationship between man and the gods, with visuals that bring ancient folklore to life.
For fans of horror and mythology, Tumbbad offers a chilling and visually stunning experience, blending horror with Hindu mythological elements.
4. Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) & Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017)
The Baahubali series, directed by S.S. Rajamouli, is a grand epic rooted in themes of ancient Indian kingdoms, power struggles, and divine intervention. Although not directly about Hinduism, the films are steeped in mythological symbolism, drawing parallels to stories from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. The story follows the journey of Mahendra Baahubali and his rise to power as he battles to reclaim his rightful place in the kingdom of Mahishmati. With larger-than-life visuals, powerful deities, and references to dharma and karma, Baahubali feels like a modern-day myth.
Baahubali is perfect for fans of epic storytelling, heroism, and visuals that echo India’s rich mythological past.
5. Swades (2004)
Swades, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, tells the story of an Indian scientist, Mohan Bhargava (Shah Rukh Khan), who returns to India from NASA to find his childhood nanny. As he reconnects with his roots, Mohan experiences the complex intersections of tradition, faith, and modernization in rural India. While not directly centered on Hinduism, the film delves into the influence of religion and community in shaping India’s cultural landscape. Themes of karma, duty (dharma), and the importance of contributing to society are central to the story.
Why Watch: For those interested in how Hindu values like karma and community are woven into daily life, Swades is an inspiring and emotional journey.
Indian cinema, particularly Bollywood, has long explored themes from Hinduism, including mythology, karma, dharma, and the relationship between gods and humans. These films serve as both entertainment and philosophical exploration, offering viewers a window into India’s rich spiritual traditions. Whether you’re looking for action-packed epics, thought-provoking satire, or deep philosophical narratives, these top five films on Netflix offer an insightful and engaging look at Hindu culture.
From Aamir Khan’s comedic yet poignant critique of religion in PK to the eerie mythological horrors of Tumbbad, these films are sure to captivate anyone interested in the intersection of cinema and spirituality.
Disclaimer on Apple TV+ delivers a gripping psychological thriller, blending mystery with moral complexity. Created by acclaimed director Alfonso Cuarón, this series is based on the novel by Renée Knight, and stars Cate Blanchett as Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful documentary filmmaker whose life is upended when a disturbing novel appears, revealing her darkest secrets.
The series centers around Catherine, who stumbles upon a novel that eerily mirrors events from her past that she believed were long buried. As the book’s existence begins to unravel her personal and professional life, she must confront disturbing truths about herself. What makes Disclaimer intriguing is its delicate balance between psychological suspense and character-driven drama, allowing the viewers to feel empathy, even for morally ambiguous characters.
Cate Blanchett’s performance is nothing short of mesmerizing. She portrays Catherine as having a complex mix of strength, vulnerability, and guilt. Kevin Kline, who plays her estranged husband, adds further depth to the story, making their fractured relationship a compelling subplot.
Alfonso Cuarón’s direction is both atmospheric and tense. The series often uses flashbacks, slow reveals, and intricate camera work to keep the audience on edge. The mood is constantly one of unease, leaving you questioning what’s real and what’s imagined.
The disclaimer explores themes of guilt, memory, and the consequences of the past. It dives into the gray areas of moral responsibility, showing how events can be perceived differently by those involved. The series also delves into issues of privacy and identity in the digital age, where our pasts are never truly erased.
Visually, Disclaimer excels in creating a sense of looming dread. From its dark, muted color palette to its sharp contrasts in lighting, every frame adds to the psychological tension. The soundtrack complements the eerie mood, with haunting melodies that amplify the sense of paranoia.
Disclaimer is a masterclass in slow-burn suspense, elevated by outstanding performances and a director who knows how to manipulate tension. It may not be a show for those who prefer fast-paced thrillers, but if you enjoy character-driven narratives that challenge your perception of truth, this is a must-watch.
Final Rating: 4.5/5
Seven Reasons to Watch Stan Against Evil
Top 5 Indian Films on Netflix That Explore Hinduism: A Must-Watch Guide for Movie Lovers
Disclaimer on Apple TV+ A Psychological Thriller with Layers
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