Grizzly (1976) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Grizzly (1976) |
| Original Title | Grizzly |
| Also Known As | Killer Grizzly |
| Director | William Girdler |
| Screenplay Writer | Harvey Flaxman, David Sheldon |
| Story By | Harvey Flaxman |
| Based on Novel by | — (Original screenplay) |
| Producer(s) | Edward L. Montoro |
| Executive Producer(s) | — |
| Lead Actors | Christopher George, Andrew Prine |
| Cast | Christopher George, Andrew Prine, Richard Jaeckel, Joan McCall |
| Genre | Horror, Thriller |
| Subgenre | Animal Attack, Nature Horror |
| Release Date | May 1976 (United States) |
| Runtime / Duration | 1h 31m (91 minutes) |
| Budget | ~$750,000 |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | ~$39 million |
| Language | English |
| Country | United States |
| Production Company | Film Ventures International |
| Distributor | Film Ventures International |
| Filming Locations | Georgia, USA |
| Music By | Robert O. Ragland |
| Cinematography | Tom McGowan |
| Edited By | Bub Asman |
| Production Design | — |
| Costume Design | — |
| Special Effects | Live bear footage, practical effects |
| MPAA Rating | PG |
| Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 |
| Sound Mix | Mono |
| Format | Color |
| Themes | Survival, nature’s revenge, wilderness terror |
| Setting | National park wilderness |
| Notable Trivia | Often described as a low-budget exploitation response to Jaws |
| Critical Reception | Negative critical reviews but major commercial success |
| Home Media | VHS, DVD, Blu-ray |
| Sequels / Franchise | Followed by Grizzly II: Revenge |
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A twenty foot tall, two thousand pound, man-eating grizzly bear with a bloodlust is on the loose in a state park. The park ranger is trying to stop the beast while the park official is trying to cover it up. As the body count rises and the scenic green forest begins to turn blood red, our ranger hero, Michael Kelly turns to his friend and naturalist Arthur Scott for help. With Scott’s wisdom and a rocket launcher, Ranger Kelly will stop the grizzly’s path of rage!
Where as the 1966 movie Night of the Grizzly, may have inspired some of the ideas in Jaws, this 1976 film, a year after Jaws, is an honest to god rip off, nearly scene for scene.
The story is exactly the same, large critter goes on a rampage for some reason and kills everything in sight, local law official with help from a scientist try and stop the shark, er bear, while corrupt mayor, I mean park official hides the facts from the public to keep his beach, damn it, campground open over the holiday weekend. Well I guess if I look back, Grizzly doesn’t rip off Jaws that much, oops I forgot to mention, get this, that the first victim to get ripped apart by the bear is Susan Backline, yup she is the blonde actress who plays the first victim in Jaws, I know they same that imitation is flattery, but c’mon. I mean why not just stick a fin on the back of the bear for great white’s sake.
They even mentioned Jaws in two of the taglines for this flick: Not since JAWS has the terror been like this! and The most dangerous jaws on land!
All the copying aside, they even steal the tree effect from the King Kong remake, you know where they show Kong coming through the woods? Grizzly does have one thing going for it, BLOOD! This film is full of some great kills, well maybe not great but at least brutal. I mean the bear knocks the heads off horses and in a scene that really surprised me, the bear kills an entire family! They don’t show the little kid dying, but they do show his severed leg, if ya wanna get the audience to hate the villain kill the kid or the family dog, it works every time.
Grizzly is definitely Jaws with claws, but it is still an excellent animal flick and the effects are pretty good, even when it is just a man in a bear suit, good flick to watch while camping if you can’t find a copy of Deliverance, know what I mean, Payne? Also the ending just has to be seen to believed.
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