Trog (1970)

User Rating:

2.8/10   

Director:

Freddie Francis

Writers:

Peter Bryan (story)
John Gilling (story)

Release Date:

24 October 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

From a million years back...Horror explodes into today!

Plot:

A sympathetic anthropologists uses drugs and surgery to try to communicate with a primitive troglodyte who is found living in a local cave.

Plot Keywords:

Troglodyte | Anthropologist | Land Developer | Cave | Missing Link

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Dr. Brockton
Michael Gough	...	Sam Murdock
Bernard Kay	...	Inspector Greenham
Kim Braden	...	Anne Brockton
David Griffin	...	Malcolm Travers
John Hamill	...	Cliff
Thorley Walters	...	Magistrate
Jack May	...	Dr. Selbourne
Geoffrey Case	...	Bill
Robert Hutton	...	Dr. Richard Warren
Simon Lack	...	Colonel Vickers
David Warbeck	...	Alan Davis
Chloe Franks	...	Little Girl
Maurice Good	...	Reporter
Joe Cornelius	...	Trog

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Australia:M | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Herman Cohen Productions

Trivia:

After seeing this film, Joan Crawford supposedly joked that if it hadn't been for her end-of-life conversion to Christian Science, she might have committed suicide due to her embarrassment at having been in it.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Dr Brockton throws Trog a lizard,it is clearly made of rubber.

Quotes:

Dr. Brockton: This could be the one chance in a lifetime. Who knows? An opportunity to lift the veil from the past.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: Berserk!/Trog (#1.23)" (2007)

This movie is SO cheap and silly it is the stuff of legend!

'Trog'. I almost have to stifle my giggles just typing the title! This movie, Hollywood Golden Age Superstar Joan Crawford's final big screen role, is so cheap and silly it is the stuff of legend. Crawford plays it straight, which makes it even more ludicrous. She plays an anthropologist who tries to educate a "missing link" (Joe Cornelius), affectionately nicknamed Trog, much against the wishes of the local townsfolk led by legendary character actor Michael Gough (Hammer's 'Dracula', 'Horrors Of The Black Museum', 'Konga', 'The Legend Of Hell House', 'Venom',etc.etc.) Of course Trog escapes and goes on a rampage, and it all ends in tears. This movie is an absolute hoot! I can't decide which is my favourite bit - the ridiculous scenes where Crawford tries to teach Trog to play with toy robots and dolls, Trog's agitated reaction to hearing rock'n'roll, or Trog battling with a German Shepherd. Each of these sequences is absolutely unforgettable. The silliest bit is probably an excruciatingly long and cheesy animated dinosaur battle which makes Gumby look like 'Jurassic Park'! The most amazing thing is that 'Trog's director went on to make the excellent Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee classic 'The Creeping Flesh', and it was co-written by John Gilling who made the excellent 'The Plague Of Zombies' and 'The Reptile' for Hammer. What went wrong here is anybody's guess! 'Trog' is a really bad movie, but a really enjoyable one. Highly recommended fun.

P.S. Keep an eye out for an early appearance by cult actor David Warbeck, who went on to Hammer's 'Twins Of Evil', Russ Meyer's 'Blacksnake!' and Fulci's 'The Beyond'.