Grizzly

Director - William Girdler (Three on a Meathook, Day of the Animals)

Starring - Christopher George (Whiskey Mountain, Pieces), Andrew Prine (The Lords of Salem, Weird Science), and Richard Jaekel (Starman, Airplane II: The Sequel)

Release Date - 1976

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "The most dangerous jaws in the land"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I was growing up I remember watching a lot of movies with my grandmother and that's where my love for sci-fi and horror originates from.  A lot of the movies I watched with here were on the original Sci-Fi Channel before the rebranding along with the movies I would rent.  Looking back I can't remember if some of these were movies we watched on cable or rented but I do remember watching them with her.  I loved watching movies with her and some of my favorite movie memories were shared with her.  On one of our movie binges I watched the 1976 nature runs amok feature Grizzly with her.  I had never seen this one before but I fucking loved it.  Sadly I never got to revisit it until now.  A few weeks ago Severin announced the blu release of two William Girdler classics with one of them being Grizzly.  I reached out to MVD and they were kind enough to send a copy my way for review.

     The film follows a park ranger at a state park who is tasked with dealing with tourists, campers, and hunters but that task takes a deadly turn when a giant grizzly bear invades the park shredding anyone it crosses paths with.

     Horror fans and fans of schlocky cinema have laughed and mocked this film for as long as I can remember and I'm sure it was going on for years before.  However, I really enjoy this one.  It is a bit campy and doesn't hold back on the cheese but the films entertains.  The acting in this one is solid but the cast is very uneven.   I really enjoy Christopher George's performance and the character he delivers fits the film so well.  For me, he makes this film.  With that being said, some of the supporting cast is not as fun to watch.  Some of the cast delivers some lackluster performances while other's try to match George.  It's very uneven but I wouldn't call it bad.  The story for this one is a typical nature killing people that was made popular by the film Jaws.  Having animals, especially big animals, attacking and killing people has always been fun and I would have loved to live through the Jaws fame of the mid to late 70s where these Jaws clones were playing in every drive-in across the country.  Grizzly is a fun Jaws clone where the fins were traded in for paws but features a very similar story.  A tourist area is under attack by an animal.  The officials are reluctant to do anything at first but as more bodies pile up they are tasked with stopping it before more blood can be shed.  A Jaws clone, sure, but it's still fucking fun.  Finally, the film has plenty of blood and campy deaths but don't expect to see some great kills.  The deaths are funny and I'm sure this is where a lot of the community's issue with the film comes from but I enjoyed it.  Overall, Grizzly is a fantastic mid-70s horror film that was quick to cash in on the Jaws' craze.  It is a bit campy and restricted but it's a great for a late night horror viewing.  The blu from Severin is gorgeous and deserves to be seen by genre fans.  I highly recommend checking this one out.