The Beasts Are on the Streets

This is one of those over-the-top type of 70's disaster-ish stories with a preposterous plot scenario: a truck hits one outer chain-link fence of a wild animal park and somehow all manner of animals escape through the fence - never mind that such parks carefully segregate dangerous animals and have multiple fences and living areas to prevent escape. Somehow, though, this cheaply made TV movie is fun to watch - if anything just to see the lion cub run through a hospital, the stereotype "hick" life as portrayed by the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, and the mindless extras screaming in raw panic whenever an animal appears. (I personally enjoy seeing myself tackled by the bear as it breaks through the crowd watching the juggler. It really scared the bear's trainer when that happened!)

Carol Lynley does the best she can with the script, and the film overall is a fun if forgettable piece.