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Review

One of the first and most successful of the “nature runs amuck” shockers that would follow in the wake of Stephen Spielberg’s classic blockbuster Jaws. Directed by the tragic William Girdler, who having cut his horror teeth with the low rent Three On A Meathook(1972) carved out a niche for himself in the field of horror and exploitation. Arguably Girdler above all others would be best credited as the most prominent purveyor of the “nature strikes back”Jaws clone, directing both Grizzlyand the decidedly more bizarre Day Of The Animals (1977) in quick succession. Striking while the popular thirst amongst mainstream audiences – both domestically and abroad – was in full force thanks to the success of the aforementioned Spielberg film, Grizzly would prove a surprise hit taking a hefty $39,000,000 at the international box-office. This was, for the time, a record for an independent film and would stand until John Carpenter’s Halloween came along two years later.

The fairly basic premise of Grizzly sees the picturesque peace and tranquillity of a national park destroyed when a giant, marauding grizzly bear claims the area as its hunting ground and goes on the rampage. At eighteen feet tall and tipping the scales at around two thousand pounds this brutal bruin soon makes its presence felt by killing and dismembering two hapless female campers.

Ranger Michael Kelly (George) wishes to track down and kill the bear before it can claim any more lives, but his efforts to this end are thwarted by his asshole boss Charley (Dorsey) who causes chaos by permitting a drunken mob of freelancing hunters to flood the park in order to hunt down the bear.

Things do not go according to plan and the bear rapidly begins to claim more victims. When several of his colleagues fall victim to the monster Kelly opts to take matters into his own hands. Enlisting the help of his naturalist friend Arthur Scott (Jaeckel) and helicopter pilot Don Strober (Prine), Kelly sets out to track down the bear and kill it. This however, proves to be no small task as the gigantic beast turns out to be a far more formidable and terrifying opponent than Kelly had counted on.

Prior to his untimely death in 1978 aged just 30 years old (helicopter crash) William Girdler had proved a prolific talent, delivering a number of satisfactory horror and exploitation films across a fairly short space of time. Sentiment cast aside, few who have subjected themselves to his head-scratching Graham Masterton adaptation The Manitou (1978) would argue that Girdler, while certainly a capable hand, was really an auteur so to speak. However, Grizzly is proof that even a merely competent filmmaker can deliver a proficient and entertaining exercise in shock when they keep their feet firmly on the ground.

Unlike John Frankenheimer’s comparable but bigger-budgeted Prophecy (1979), which also features a gigantic grizzly on the rampage, Grizzly never makes any pretence that it is anything other than a straightforward exploitation/horror hybrid. Whereas the ecological moralising and false piety of Frankenheimer’s film rendered it more of an unintentional comedy, Grizzly benefits immensely from its straightforward slant.

Indeed Girdlers by the numbers approach works minor wonders. Wisely the script rarely keeps the titular grizzly bear off-screen for too long thus sidestepping the wordy padding and scientific mumbo jumbo that normally hamstrings such films and allowing the brutal bruin to rack up an impressive body count. Girdler conveys the bears presence through constant bears eve POV shots of its soon to be victims replete with the sound of the monsters heavy breathing (which rather amusingly at times sounds more like its stomach rumbling). Yes it’s simplistic, yes it’s blunt, yes it’s familiar but what does any of that matter? The point is it proves effective in grabbing the viewer’s attention and creates the appropriate sense of apprehension down to a tee.

The killings themselves are plentiful and well-executed, utilising rapidly edited montage shots of fearsome swiping claws interspersed with flying limbs and close-ups of the bloodied, claw-marked victims. Although not a gorefest the bloody viciousness of the mauling’s and impressive number of detached limbs on display leads one to wonder how the MPAA ever awarded Grizzly a mere PG certificate (with only minor cuts) for its original US theatrical release back in 76. One scene in particular where the bear launches an assault upon a small boy and his mother is jaw-dropping, brutal stuff including a brief but graphic shot of the bear tearing one of the boys legs off. The attack scenes are made all the more powerful buy the fact that the makers utilised a real grizzly bear instead of a mechanised creation, which they shot from behind an electrified barrier to ensure the safety of cast and crew. Of course for the mauling’s a more traditional man in a monster suit is called upon to lend his services but Girdler fortunately has the savvy to shoot them in such a way that this fakery is never exposed.

Grizzly also benefits from the good lead performance of Christopher George – one of genre cinema’s most prolific journeymen who never seemed to stop for breath during this period. In the years shortly prior to his death by heart attack in 1983 (no doubt hastened by his hectic career) George seemed to be becoming visibly weary and jaded with his roles in cheapjack horror and exploitation efforts. Fortunately Grizzly features George at a time where he still gave a damn and he gives both a strong leading turn and demonstrates a good chemistry with his co-stars Andrew Prine and Richard Jaeckel, who both give similarly commendable performances. In addition Grizzly makes fine use of its majestic Georgia shooting locations. William Asman’s lush cinematography does a fine job of capturing the naturalistic beauty of the locations, coupled with Robert Ragland’s rousing score (for which he utilised London’s National Philharmonic Orchestra) this gives Grizzly a definite big-budget feel belying its more humble estimated budget of just $750,000.

While Grizzly itself was a fairly opportunistic (and successful) bid to steal the thunder of Jaws it is interesting and a little amusing to note that its surprising impact at the box office led to Grizzly itself proving a minor “inspiration” to at least two other filmmakers. Co-directed by Richard Bansbach and R.E Pierson 1977’s Claws was a blatant knock-off of Girdler’s film, presenting a rather familiar story of a killer grizzly bear on the rampage only this time in Alaska as opposed to Georgia. So blatant is Claws in its plagiarism that some have mistakenly gone so far as to credit it as a direct sequel to Grizzly. Needless to say Claws would not prove one tenth of the success artistically or commercially that Grizzly was and neither Bansbach nor Pierson would ever direct another feature. Additionally Grizzly itself would be subject to rather dubious, belated sequel treatment. Filmed in 1984 Grizzly II: The Predator would sit on the shelf due to myriad issues until 1987 and even then was only briefly shown on television and is officially regarded as an “unreleased” feature as it was never exhibited in cinema’s. Today Grizzly II is mainly name checked in “before they were famous” discussions due to it featuring both George Clooney and Charlie Sheen in very early roles.

In conclusion Grizzly only really suffers due to the fact that bears, no matter how big and ferocious, simply do not inspire in people the same sort of base terror that sharks do. Otherwise, judged purely for what it is, Grizzly makes for more or less infallible, popcorn fare. Grizzly might not fully succeed in doing for picnic areas what Jaws did for the ocean, but while no more than the sum of its parts it certainly makes for one of the most purely entertaining films to emerge from the whole “nature on the rampage” cycle of the mid to late seventies. High art it most certainly aint and those seeking more cerebral or challenging fare can forget it but as a disposable horror flick with well-staged shocks and a welter of blood (best enjoyed in the company of a few alcoholic beverages) you can’t go too far wrong with Grizzly.

Also Try… Day Of The Animals / Prophecy / Claws / Grizzly II: The Predator / Frogs / Snowbeast / Jaws.

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Piczo