Grizzly

MOVIE #1,437 • 🍿🍿 • 03.13.24 You know a movie is crap when the best part — by far — is the baffling decision to show a kid getting mutilated (see below, and stay for the park ranger’s postscript that he survived — well “part of him did”). This was not on my watchlist but it’s LONG-delayed sequel (Grizzly II: Revenge, filmed in ‘83 but not released until 2020) was, so when the latter came up first when I hit shuffle, I thought, certainly I must see the original before diving into these waters. And, boy, was that a mistake. This is widely considered a Jaws rip-off, and many of the same tricks are deployed, most prominently the idea that it’s scarier if we DON’T see the shark, or bear in this case. While Stephen Spielberg transcended the technical issues on set and made a classic, the ace directing duo of William Girdler and David Sheldon, umm… they did not.

This is a painfully boring movie. All of the action with the bear is few and far between (and, honestly, not that good), and that “in between” is nothing but a lifeless slog. It’s a competently made film that looks alright, but is essentially nothing past the idea: Jaws, but bear. No thank you.

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Grizzly (also known as Killer Grizzly on U.S. television) is a 1976 American horror thriller film directed by William Girdler, about a park ranger's attempts to halt the wild rampage of an 18 ft (5.5 m) tall, 2,000 lb (910 kg) man-eating grizzly bear that terrorizes a National Forest, having developed a taste for human flesh. However, a drunken hunting party complicates matters. It stars Christopher George, Andrew Prine and Richard Jaeckel. Widely considered a Jaws rip-off, Grizzly used many of the same plot devices as its shark predecessor, which had been a huge box office success during the previous year. The giant grizzly bear in the film was portrayed by a Kodiak bear named Teddy, who was 11 ft (3.4 m) tall. It was released on May 16, 1976.