The premise for Franco E. Prosperi’s film Wild Beasts is a simple one that might turn a few people off looking for something a little deeper but sometimes simple is best and in this particular case, it works perfectly.

It all begins at the Frankfurt Zoo where the animals drink some contaminated water. Once congenial or as agreeable as animals trapped in cages can be, they are now rabid and wild and looking to do what they would normally do except at an elevated level. For most in the city, they are unaware that there are wild beasts out on the streets one night and many of them pay the ultimate price. Prosperi does not stop there though as there was a moment when he was writing this script and decided that the threat of wild animals was not enough and decided to throw in some killer kids towards the end just to keep his audience on their toes.

There is a lot to love about this picture, mainly due to the balance that Prosperi strikes between the action, the horror and the suspenseful drama that runs through it all. One cannot really go wrong with films about wild animal attacks. They are easy to make for the plot is usually fairly easy to come by, most of them usually involving the animals going rabid by one means or another and it then falls to the local scientist or doctor or what have one to save the day or even better, solve the problem. The main thing that is required is seeing the animals; there is a bit of blood and teeth and a little tragedy to really drive it all home. Prosperi has all of that included, the man understanding what his audience wants to see and even better, the man does not limit himself to one animal as he has an entire zoo to work with. The elephants stampede, the lions and tigers do what they do best and there is a really tense moment in the subway that mixes the threat of giant cats and one’s fear of the dark and it may be the most terrifying moment in the entire movie. Things are turned up a notch when Prosperi throws in a chase scene between a woman in a car and a leopard who will not quit, having decided upon its prey and meaning to get it no matter the opposition.

There is little in the way of special effects, and nothing really is needed aside from a steady hand with the camera, some close-ups of the animals and their snarling faces, and a decent story. There is a little animal cruelty which is awful to see and seems to be a hallmark of Italian cinema, at least in the horror and exploitation genre but it is there and gone before one can linger on it. Of course, there are people in this movie such as Lorraine De Selle but when one decides to make a film about animals, they usually take center stage even if they should be the villains.

Wild Beasts stands as one among many in the animal attack genre and it is a lot of fun with that crazy ending that came out of nowhere, it only makes it that much better. For something a little different than the norm, this movie is not the greatest but it does have a lot going for it and will suffice in a pinch.

3 out of 5