"Lynda knows something is out there" but it's not a slasher or a demon, its nature striking back in William Girdler's DAY OF THE ANIMALS, back on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

Fluorocarbons have eroded the ozone layer causing animals at high elevations to go berserk. This is unfortunate for the "disaster movie" cross section of humanity populating the survival hike run by Steve Buckner (Christopher George, MORTUARY): bickering Frank (Jon Cedar, THE MANITOU) and Mandy (Susan Backlinie, JAWS' first victim), headstrong anchorwoman Terry Marsh (Lynda Day George, PIECES), studious professor MacGregor (Richard Jaeckel, WALKING TALL PART II), Native American character who senses something unnatural right away Santee (Michael Ansara, THE DOLL SQUAD), corporate alpha male jerk Jenson (Leslie Nielsen, PROM NIGHT), young lovers Bob (Andrew Stevens, THE FURY) and Beth (Kathleen Bracken, THE MAN WITH BOGART'S FACE), benched jock secretly dying of cancer Roy (Paul Mantee, ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS), and bellyaching divorcee Mrs. Goodwyn (Ruth Roman, THE BABY) and long-suffering son John (Bobby Porter, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES).

Under the watchful eyes of eagles, vultures, mountain lions, bears, and wolves, the subplot dramas of the various members of the party unfold until the animals get hungry and take a chomp out of poor Mandy. When the attacks get fiercer, Steve decides they should hike back down to civilization; but Jenson tries to rally support in favor of getting up to the ranger's station and a helicopter back to town. The group splits with Steve's party braving more attacks while Jenson's party is at his mercy as the degraded ozone layer seems to be increasing his aggression to dangerous extremes. Unbeknownst to both groups, civilization is already under attack by the more local beasts.

The second "animals attack" film of William Girdler – who sadly died in a helicopter crash at age thirty while scouting locations following THE MANITOU – DAY OF THE ANIMALS is as technically slick as GRIZZLY (which also featured George and Jaeckel) but the better effort. Although sketchily scripted, Girdler builds up an effective atmosphere photographically – apart from a back projection death fall that was laughable in older, cropped, soft, washed out transfers and is even more so in high definition – with the animals believably "collaborating" across species in their stalking of the hikers (the film's second unit photography was the work of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE's Daniel Pearl and Disney nature cameraman Tom McHugh). The score of Lalo Schiffrin (THE AMITYVILLE HORROR) is a tense blend of orchestra and electronic sounds. Although the animal attacks are vicious and some twists mean-spirited, the film stays within the bounds of a 1970s PG rating. The climax sort of peters out, but it matters little after spending ninety minutes with a fine 1970s exploitation cast (particularly Nielsen going "ape" and wrestling a bear).

A late night TV broadcast after its successful theatrical run, DAY OF THE ANIMALS turned up on horrendously-cropped VHS through Media Home Entertainment and its first original DVD issue on the "DVD Video" label – a bottom of the barrel label that also released Film Ventures' THE GRIM REAPER and KILL AND KILL AGAIN – was derived from the same washed out master. When Media Blasters' released the film on DVD in 2-disc set in 2006, sourcing a good master proved problematic with the company electing to present both a scratchy, splicy anamorphically-enhanced 2.35:1 version under the SOMETHING IS OUT THERE reissue title and a 16:9-cropped fullscreen TV master; however it did include an audio commentary with Lynda Day George and Cedar, as well as a twenty-minute retrospective featurette. Scorpion Releasing had access to the film's original IP for their HD master – issued on Blu-ray and DVD in 2013 – which was also the source for Severin's new 2K master, and the results are stunning.

What looked like an indifferently-shot, low budget exploitation film in its cropped version reveals just how much Girdler improved in terms of his visuals over his earlier films including GRIZZLY (you can definitely see the progression towards THE MANITOU in terms of technical slickness). Not only are the compositions beautifully composed and lit (with a few crane shots that must have taken a chunk out of the shooting schedule as well as close-ups of the animal co-stars that could rival just about any nature film from the period), but the IP was lovingly preserved with nary a hint of damage. While Scorpion included a 5.1 remix, Severin sticks to the original mono mix for an impressive DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that boasts clear dialogue and effectively conveys Schifrin's tense score. Optional English SDH subtitles are also provided.

Severin has ported over the audio commentary by actress George and actor Cedar, moderated by filmmaker Scott Spiegel – in which co-moderator William Olsen of Code Red seems to have been edited out – in which they fondly reminisce their fellow cast members (Roman was "a kick in the pants"), discuss working with the animals and trainer Cox and his wife Blacklinie, a pre-AIRPLANE Nielsen's comic antics, Christopher George's RAT PATROL fame, Cedar recalls falling and ripping open his thumb to the joint, and what amounted to an overall pleasant shoot in spite of the animals and weather. Film critic Lee Gambin – author of “Massacred by Mother Nature: Exploring the Natural Horror Film” – who had previously provided a commentary track for Scorpion's second Blu-ray release of GRIZZLY – provide a new commentary track in the vein of the one he did for Eureka's British Blu-ray of NIGHWING, discussing the film's genre blend of eco-horror and disaster movie, noting that Girdler does indeed not repeat himself with the film in that GRIZZLY was a JAWS-style man versus nature film while DAY OF THE ANIMALS is almost pro-animal in emphasizing the damage man has wrought on the environment. His research into his book on CUJO included discussions with Hollywood animal trainers, and he includes here information about the techniques of working with animals on film.

In "NIGHTMARE USA author Stephen Thrower on Edward L. Montoro" (20:38), Thrower provides much lesser-known background on Montoro who was roughly twenty years old when he was first arrested for printing counterfeit twenty dollar bills, served jail time, and was then recuperating from a single-engine airplane accident when he decided to go into the movies, directing a crime film called THE LOSERS which was then augmented with softcore sex and sold as PLATINUM PUSSYCAT. This was followed by GETTING INTO HEAVEN with Uschi Digard and a third unfinished softcore effort before he founded Film Ventures International and turned a huge profit on the spaghetti western BOOT HILL. Thrower then discusses the highlights of the company with BEYOND THE DOOR and the Girdler films, noting the pushback from Warner (and Universal on THE GREAT WHITE), Montoro's knack for promoting his films, and the downswing in the company's returns and his impending divorce which might have been the impetus for him to withdraw $900,000 from the company accounts and vanish into thin air (there were also rumors that he was mixed up with the Korean mafia). Much of the information Thrower was able to gather came from Montoro associate Donn Davison (HONEY BRITCHES).

Also ported over from the Shriek Show release is "Something Was Out There: Day of the Animals 30 Years Later" (21:43) with actors Cedar, Mantee and actress/animal trainer Backlinie in which they rehash some of the same stories from the commentary while Mantee recalls friction with the locals and Blackline recalls some of the mishaps on set with the animals (with Cox taking the brunt of the injuries). New to the disc is "Animal Boy" (17:49), an interview with actor Porter who recalls that the reason for hiring him was because he was over eighteen but looked younger so he could work at night. He also recalls forming friendships with the cast, including Roman and Steven (having previously appeared with the latter's mother in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE). In "Against Nature" (12:55), Stevens has vague memories of the film but recalls working with Girdler and his fight scene with Nielsen.