A World Gone Mad!

Tom Regan writes in his wonderful Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights that "being kind to animals is not enough. Avoiding cruelty is not enough. Housing animals in more comfortable, larger cages is not enough. Whether we exploit animals to eat, to wear, to entertain us, or to learn, the truth of animal rights requires empty cages, not larger cages."

Imagine that there are no cages left on Earth... Or, that all the cages have been left empty. The animals are free. Roaming the Earth. What will they do? What happens if they decide ... to strike back?

Is this the horrible reality that awaits humankind when all cages are left empty?

WHAT WILL BECOME OF US HUMANS IF ANIMALS ATTAIN THE BASIC RIGHTS TO LIFE, FREEDOM AND WELL-BEING?

Surely not this...



This late '70s piece of horror trash cinema is an interesting piece of work that taps into a fear of animal freedom... How easily would the animals be able to take revenge, if the opportunity arose...?
As the promotional poster so dramatically proclaims:
FOR CENTURIES THEY WERE HUNTED FOR BOUNTY, FUN AND FOOD ... NOW IT'S THEIR TURN.

However, the basic plot has nothing to do with animals freed from the tyranny of man, but takes place in a possible future where the gap in the ozone layer has become so large that ultraviolet rays are starting to mess with the minds of creatures living at a certain altitude. For a group of people hiking in the mountains, all the surrounding animals go berserk and try to KILL ALL HUMANS in sight. Indeed, it also affects some humans who become violent (Leslie Nielsen - of all people - goes on a homicidal rampage and even tries to rape a woman...), so the idea of the "animal revolution" implied in the title and the whole promotional campaign is just balls.

That said, the film remains very bad, even though it has its funny moments (...crazy Leslie Nielsen!), but still remains recommended for anyone interested in the presentation of animals in low-budget horror flicks and the whole "nature-run-amok!" sub-genre.

The idea of liberated animals ganging up against their oppressors is much more interesting in Derek Jensen's graphic novel, As The World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Stay In Denial, which deals with the true meaning of living "green". It's illustrated by Stephanie McMillan.

Jensen vividly describes the terrifying truth about the state of our planet and gives an important reminder that the simple solutions are only distracting us from the root of the problems . . . Finally, it's the animal kingdom that rises up against the ones killing our planet and starts the revolution us humans are too weak-willed to begin ourselves, all led by a one-eyed, vivisected, terrorist bunny. It's an all-out War of the World. Really inspiring stuff. This is a book that - hopefully - will truly destroy all your illusions about eco-friendly living.


Conveniently enough, someone was nice enough to scan and upload the whole book, which can be read HERE.

And if you happen to like it, you can buy the book directly from the author HERE.