'Roar' (1981) Movie Review

Noel Marshall in Roar
Photo: Drafthouse Films

Often times people watch a movie and wonder to themselves, "Who thought this was a good idea?" Usually, this thought is given to films that are incompetently put together or just dumb plot ideas. Rarely does that thought come up because of the safety of the entire cast and crew. This brings me to Roar, a movie where husband/wife duo of Noel Marshall and Tippi Hedren set out to make a film showcasing the plight and beauty of African big cats, and things... went a little awry.

The cast and crew had to endure over seventy bloody attacks from the animals, which resulted in injuries ranging from director of photography Jan de Bont being scalped (resulting in 120 stitches) and Melanie Griffith needing facial reconstructive surgery. The film itself wants to have a light touch, but the entire time you are on edge knowing all of these people are really getting hurt. Roar is not a good movie at all, but you cannot take your eyes off it.

Marshall, who also wrote and directed the film, plays Hank, who lives on a compound with an absurd amount of lions, some tigers, and a couple of other big cats in Africa. His wife (Hedren) and three children are coming to visit him. However, Hank's car breaks down on the way to pick them up, so the family gets another ride to the house. They are then terrorized by all of these big cats for the rest of the movie.

I'm not kidding when I say that is the rest of the film. We spend about an hour watching this family run from room to room, hide in various spaces, and just doing everything they can to stay away from these lions. Remember, this movie intended to showcase the beauty of these animals. So, we are given a scene of Tippi Hedren hiding in a cabinet that a lion is pounding on to get at her.This is the majesty.

Roar, originally released in 1981, is not particularly interesting without the back-story and message. It's a chase movie where the chase is in a confined space. By the time they circle back around into a bedroom for the third time, you are wanting for something else to happen. You want them to run out into nature for a new setting. Instead, we get them hiding in water barrels on the roof. It could make for an exciting chase film had the chase elements been narrowed down to a small time frame.

However, Roar consistently remains interesting because of the fear you have for everyone involved. You know all of these people are really in danger and it places you on the edge of your seat. It has nothing to do with story or characters, but what we know about the production. Had these been trained animals where we know nothing went wrong, this movie would be an insufferable bore, but thankfully, it is not. "Thankfully" is probably the wrong word to use at the expense of these people's injuries, but it is the only thing to say to explain my enjoyment.

The final minutes are truly baffling. This is when they shove the "animals are wonderful" message down your throat. After the bloodbath of the last ninety minutes, how they come to this conclusion makes absolutely no sense, both in terms of the production and the story. This family is now curling up next to these lions that just fifteen minutes ago wanted to rip off their faces, and in real life did. The irony of it all can't help but make you laugh out of sheer disbelief.

You will notice I did not give this film a grade, because I have absolutely no idea how I would gauge that grade. Do I grade it based on the quality of the movie? Do I grade it based on the absurd enjoyment I got out of watching it? I have no clue. All I can say is this is a terrible movie, but it is a must-see. I have not seen anything like it, and you can't believe anyone signed off on anything happening on screen. It is not a good-bad movie in the vein of Miami Connection, another Drafthouse Films acquisition so incompetent it's hilarious. It's a good-bad movie in that you're left to marvel at the stupidity of everyone involved.