Frog Dreaming (1986)

I have to say that growing up and watching movies like this has made me who i am i'm a dreamer and i'm all for finding how if it's true or if it's all made up and this movie has it all from not wanting to list to his dad to finding a truly fun thing to do with your day's and time...i'd say this movie was truly great of the best and i have been LOOKING for years for this movie i growing up watch more movies then anything and this one always stuck in my head only i forgot the name and we are now in the age of DVD's and very little VHS's and you can't find anything.... on VHS's anymore..... I truly hope this movie comes out on DVD for it's movie i want all my kids and Gran kids and so on...... to watch for it's truly a family fun movie.

It must take some kind of odd, abnormally brutal 'talent' to take a 90 minute film and make it seem at least an hour longer. I don't mind a slow-paced film at all but in most of them things happened. Almost nothing happens in this movie at all. Henry Thomas, the star, doesn't appear for the first 10 minutes of the film. The effects or lack thereof are awful, it's almost a joke and then in nearly MST3K style they incorporate their low-budget into the story making you wonder what the 'monster' really was. Ultimately, this film is a testament to how a cool one sheet can suck you in for a terrifying ride.

Cody Walpole (Henry Thomas) is a scientific, mechanically-minded, and ruggedly individualistic 14-year-old loner. He is also brave to the point of foolhardy, quite the daredevil-- except that he doesn't let anyone tell him what to do. Extremely inner-directed, what he dares and endures are come out of a quiet but fierce determination of his own prompting.He stumbles upon a seemingly haunted, God-forsaken spot in the Australian wilderness, a long-abandoned mine or quarry flooded with filthy brown water. He knows of an old hermit who spends his vacations living alone in the area. After seeing none-too-recent evidence of this man's presence, he calls out and searches for him and eventually finds his skeleton. It looks as though the man was literally scared to death. This place is not on any map and, after some further investigation, he hears that the local aborigines shun the spot as the legendary lair of a monster living in the murky pool, a being so horrible that the mere sight of it kills. The place seems to exude bad luck and gives everyone the creeps who goes near it. Cody believes that there must be a rational explanation for this phenomenon and becomes obsessed with the site and discovering the true nature of the creature in the water. This mission requires him to defy and disobey everyone in the local village, even his guardian, another individual so laconic and independent as to be a soul mate, who usually lets this resourceful boy do whatever he wants. Cody's steps in solving the mystery are breathtakingly lonely and dangerous. As much as I admire individualism and independence, it is difficult for me to sympathize with courage carried to such an extreme for no compelling reason. Although others have recommended this film for children, I can't agree. It is the stuff of which nightmares are made-- I think it could even give me some. And Cody's reckless behavior, despite his admirable traits, makes him something of an anti-hero.There is no denying, however, that the filmmakers have done a superb job with atmosphere and have captured some gorgeous wilderness scenery. I can understand this being among someone's favorite films. It is certainly different.

It's been a very long time since I saw this film. It was called "Frog Dreaming" in Australia. It has a simple, slow rhythm, like in "The Year my Voice Broke". It's not "ET" and its not "Close Encounters", and that's probably what bothers people who pick it up at the video store. Critics hated this film at when it came out at the cinema. I loved it.