AP Film Studies: When Animals Attack

Except Roar is one of the most horrific things ever put to film. The nearly 10-year shoot became one of the most dangerous productions ever, with untrained big cats mauling the ever-loving shit out of everyone. It's 90 hilariously unsettling and ridiculously dangerous minutes of flying bodies tossed like rag dolls and giant cats chasing dirt bikes like balls of yarn. Fleshy, meaty yarn.

"Honestly, I am shocked no one died making this movie," says Laura Weiner, senior keeper of African predators at the Oregon Zoo.

Roar was never released in North America. Jan de Bont, the director of photography (who went on to direct Speed), was partially scalped. Marshall was mauled so many times he got gangrene. Griffith had to get massive facial reconstruction.

It was such madness, in fact, that Drafthouse Films—that glorious purveyor of garbage revival—had to bring it back. Twenty-four years after its completion, Roar is hitting the Hollywood and Kiggins theaters in all its eviscerating glory (Hollywood: 7 pm Saturday-Sunday, May 2-3; Kiggins: May 1-5). 

It's impossible to take your eyes off the flick, which is essentially what would happen if Werner Herzog decided to shoot Grizzly Man as a family comedy. Characters will be talking, and a lion pops into frame and tackles them. Ever the auteur, Marshall refuses to call cut, forcing actors to awkwardly continue scenes even as gigantic fangs pierce their bodies. It appears he felt genuinely connected to the untrained cats, calling them by name and baby-talking to them even as they pounce on him and pin him to the ground. 

"Forging a safe relationship with a full-grown lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, etc., is extremely difficult," says Weiner, who herself has raised two giant tigers. "Just look at Siegfried and Roy. Those men worked with those cats for many years, and then one day one of the tigers just decided to grab on. You are taking a risk every time you interact with a large animal in a free-contact situation."

Watching the film, you wonder whether the terror wrought on the film's crew and hubristic director might be some sort of karmic retribution for Hollywood's historic mistreatment of animals.

"Although karma is an interesting proposition, I do believe that the filmmakers took major risks with that many large cats," says Weiner. "Hollywood aside, their choices were unsafe and probably stressed the animals (and humans) to unnatural levels."

Also Showing: 

1. In celebration of Orson Welles’ 100th birthday, the Hollywood is screening his second- and third-best movies, Touch of Evil (May 1-3) and Citizen Kane (May 2-3). No word yet on his best, The Muppet Movie. See hollywoodtheatre.org for full listings.

1. David Bowie and his horrifying bulge return to the screen in Labyrinth. Hollywood Theatre. 9:30 pm Friday, May 1. 

1. This summer, Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as a saggier version of The Terminator. We’ll go out on a limb and recommend just watching the original this weekend. Academy Theater. May 1-7.

1. Before becoming synonymous with cinematic schmaltz, Frank Capra visited Shangri-La in the 1937 dramatic adventure Lost Horizon. Laurelhurst Theater. May 1-7.

1. If you can get through Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant without welling up, you’ve got less soul than the titular robot of this overlooked gem. 5th Avenue Cinema. 7 and 9:30 pm Friday-Saturday and 3 pm Sunday, May 1-3.

WWeek 2015