Wild Beasts

Drawing on his vast experience as a documentarian combined with his distinct sensationalism bent, the eccentric Franco Prosperi puts together a thriller with horror overtones that gets filed in the crowded category of eco-horror films featuring plots which focus on how mankind’s recklessness leads to “nature attack” scenarios.

The environmental or animal-rights awareness aspect of “Wild Beasts” turns out to be something of a bait and switch however, because the plot – broadly reminiscent of Arthur Machen’s 1917 milestone of horror fiction “The Terror” – quickly degenerates into just a pretext to film an endless series of imaginatively violent deaths (a blind man viciously mauled by his guide dog, a herd of livestock storming into a cafe, etc.). At least the special effects are acceptable, and you can’t deny that the scenes of “wild beasts” invading the streets of the German city still pack a decent punch today. Solidly mediocre actors.

The opening message stating that none of the animals shown in the film were harmed in any way forgets to specify that it only applies to the zoo animals. What about the cat ripped to shreds or the rats burned alive?