NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino (Cult) Blu-ray (August 2024): Kino Cult have transferred the 12th title of their sub-label to Blu-ray; 1972's Frogs, directed by George McCowan. In 2015 we reviewed the Shout! Factory Blu-ray HERE, that was paired with Bert I. Gordon's The Food of the Gods on a single disc. The Kino provides the film with its own dual-layer housed transfer with a sub substantial rise in bitrate over the older Shout! Factory. Like Empire of the Ants there is another uptick in image quality improving with richer, deeper colors (see Elliott's canoe) and more subtly defined contrast (see the sun on Milland's head.) The Shout! transfer was 1.78:1 while the Kino is the accurate 1.85:1. A case could, likewise, be made that it has also improved in-motion but all of this superiority would be dependant on your system. Bottom line is that it is better, if not dramatically apparent. Purists will prefer the Kino's original aspect ratio. 

NOTE: We have added 60 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English language. Frogs has surprisingly little direct violence and only modest, post-killing, gore. The score was by AIP-regular Les Baxter (Black Sabbath, The Dunwich Horror, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, Switchblade Sisters, The Man With the X-Ray Eyes, The Comedy of Terrors, Dagmar's Hot Pants Inc., Panic in Year Zero, The Beast Within, the US version of Baron Blood, etc.) adding drama via the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by David Del Valle (author of Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign) and film historian / producer Dan Marino (son of NFL legend!) Dan has read many of, fervent conservationist, Jim Corbett's books and they discussed the film as a guilty pleasure, the party game of having a shot every time you see a frog on the screen, the poster art, the film being in a triple Drive-In feature, AIP marketing, developing the plot around the title, cliché dialogue, and judging the film as The Birds meets Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It's fun and informative. Repeated from the Shout! Factory Blu-ray is the 10-minute interview with actress Joan Van Ark, plus 4 TV spots, 3 radio spots and a theatrical trailer. The package has alternative artwork via a reversible cover (see below.) 

There is a strong 'camp' reflection (cheesy dialogue and over-the-top performances) to George McCowan's Frogs. It has the distinction of having the titular creatures not do any of the direct killing - which is mostly achieved by Tarantulas, geckos, snakes, baby alligators, a rattlesnake etc.. This would be contrary to the poster art enticement with a human hand in a frog's mouth (never close to happening.) This was kind of common place in marketing this 70's genre including Night of the Lepus etc. Frogs has gorgeous outdoor / wildlife cinematography (Mario Tosi - Report to the Commissioner, Carrie, Sybil, etc.) a southern gothic mansion, cranky toupee'd Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend,) hunky 28-year old Sam Elliott (The Big Lebowski, The Man Who Killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot,) sexy, 29-year old Joan Van Ark (Knots Landing,) occasional blaxploitation beauty Judy Pace, and an eco commentary evoking the Ozploitation shocker Long Weekend. It was Canadian film and television director, George McCowan's first theatrical feature. He worked fairly extensively in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Even though Frogs does not make a ton of sense - it is appealing from a "so bad it's good" and nostalgia standpoint. The Kino Blu-ray is the best it's been on digital and an amusing shocker-horror for your digital library. Enjoy!

Gary Tooze