Endangered Species

Robert Urich is a retired cop from New York City on vacation with his daughter. While traveling on vacation, a flat tire enables him to get involved investigating a series of mysterious cattle mutilations. JoBeth Williams is the local sheriff having trouble convincing authorities of her ideas about the cause of the killings. Gailard Sartain plays an anxious mayor. Visuals are not so graphic, but the suspense keeps you interested. Providing fine support are: Hoyt Axton, Peter Coyote and Harry Carey, Jr.

Ruben Castle (Robert Urich, "The Ice Pirates") is a recovering alcoholic and burnt-out former NYC cop who relocates to a small community in Colorado, with his bratty, rebellious daughter (Marin Kanter, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains") in tow. With the help of the local sheriff (JoBeth Williams, "Poltergeist") and his old pal, newspaperman Joe Hiatt (Paul Dooley, "Breaking Away"), Ruben gets caught up in a bizarre local story: cattle are repeatedly, mysteriously being mutilated by some shadowy force. Could it be the work of human, or alien, perpetrators?

While this is no classic waiting to be re-discovered, or the debacle some people may lead you to believe it is, I found it to be a reasonably engrossing conspiracy thriller, decently directed by cult favorite Alan Rudolph ("Choose Me", "Trouble in Mind"). It is true that it's not all that suspenseful, or surprising, but I did like the story, and the nefarious, ruthless nature of the antagonists. I also liked the fact that our heroes didn't have a definitive plan of action for a while, given that they weren't sure HOW to proceed. The lovely Williams is engaging right from the start, but it takes a long time (until the second half) to warm up to Urichs' Castle character; he's a surly jerk who doesn't try very hard to stay on the wagon.

But the two of them ARE very well supported by a solid cast of familiar faces: Peter Coyote ("Jagged Edge"), Hoyt Axton ("Gremlins"), Gailard Sartain ("Mississippi Burning"), Dan Hedaya ("Blood Simple"), Harry Carey Jr. ("The Searchers"), John Considine (a regular in Rudolphs' films), Patrick Houser ("Hot Dog...The Movie"), etc. Actor turned softcore auteur / executive producer of this film Zalman King ("Wild Orchid") has a cameo at the outset, Urichs' wife Heather Menzies ("Piranha") has the small role of Susan, and Bill Moseley ("The Devils' Rejects") made his film debut here as a cabbie.

With an amusing electronic score by Gary Wright (yeah, the Gary Wright who did the song "Dream Weaver"), this entertains sufficiently, working its way towards a decent, atmospheric finale - albeit one that may not completely satisfy some viewers. Location shooting in Wyoming and Colorado is a definite asset.

Seven out of 10.

this is a fascinating film. I remember it vividly as my father took me to see it when I was about 12. Come to think of it, my parents took me to see some really odd films when I was growing up in the early 80s. Before I was even thirteen my parents took me to see such films as "Heavy Metal", "Eating Raoul", and "Blow Out". What the hell were they thinking? lol.

Anyways, this film is about cattle mutilation and delves into the world of conspiracy theories involving black helicopters, satanic underground networks, and all that other stuff people were starting to get worked up about in the early 80s.

Robert Urich plays an investigator from the big city who comes to the rural town where the mutilations are happening. With him is his delinquent teenage daughter (who is quite good. whatever happened to that young actress??). Urich also becomes romantically entangled with the local female sheriff played by JoBeth Williams.

I have to give special mention to a couple of things. This film (in my opinion) is easily the best that Alan Rudolph has ever done. He's always been somewhat of a cult director but I never found his films very impressive. But "Endangered Species" is just superb. If you're going to create a film about conspiracy theories, this is the way to do it, folks. By NOT spelling everything out for the audience. But suggesting a great deal. By NOT treating the audience as though they are idiots. The cinematography is also very impressive, as is the droning, disturbing score. A definite winner! I used to have a copy of this on VHS and I gave it away a few years back. I'm still kicking myself for doing that!

I recall seeing Endangered Species on a late night movie channel when I was very young. Actually, it seemed to come on late night movie channels quite frequently from about 1985-1987. I remembered the film being mysterious, dark, and a little bit unsettling. I remembered strange parts of the film, especially the scene where germ warfare is put on a man's toothbrush, and the gruesome effects afterwards. Just recently I was remembering this film and could not recall the title. I asked numerous friends and co-workers and they offered no help. So, I spent about 2 hours, just for the sake of completion, trying to recall the name of this movie! I really had nothing to go on, because I could not remember any of the actors who were in it. Finally, thanks to the IMDB, I was able to do a complex search and eventually found the title to this elusive film. Of course I had to see it again. Trying to find this film to rent or buy was nearly impossible. I DID find a local video store who had an ancient copy. I rented it and was a little less than impressed. Still, Endangered Species seemed to retain its mysterious and disturbing effect on me. I think I over-hyped my expectations due to all the research I conducted. Anyway, The acting is sub-par, and the film quality is pretty bad. Robert Urich plays up his part pretty well, but comes off as a male chauvinist pig. Hey, this is the early 80's, they didn't give a S#*! about being "PC" then. Peter Coyote (from E.T. fame) is also in this movie. His plays a sneaky, sinister para-military type character. Endangered Species definitely conjures up some X-Files type conspiracy theories. The pacing is good, and it really does have a suspense ridden feel throughout. Supposedly Endangered Species is loosely based on real events. I kind of feel that I have wasted my time researching and re-watching this film. But like I said earlier, I just wanted to remember the title! I didn't think I would go so far as watching it again. Ah, well. At least now I can put it out of my head.

They filmed the part of the missile silos in Longmont. Colo and I got to go there and watch them film the segment where the father (Urich( and his daughter ran down this hallway. It took them all day to do it and in the movie the segment only took a few seconds.

I was pretty disappointed but I did get to shake hands with Jobeth Williams and Robert Urich and he gave me an Oreo cookie for a snack. Of course I kept it. ha ha

I liked the movie just because of this event in my life. I especially liked the part of the effects of the toothbrush. I would like to know where to get a copy of this movie.