The blockbuster success ofJawsfamously realise the wayforan explosion of animal - attack repugnance picture . One of the most vociferous riptide - offs is also one of the best rip - offs , and it ’s arriving on Shudder next hebdomad . Just when you thought it was safe togo back in the woods , behold the terror of Grizzly !
true , “ threat ” is a generous signifier . Unlike Jaws , in which Stephen Spielberg took the fourth dimension to ramp up suspense ( with a mighty assist fromJohn Williams ’ pulse - pounding score ) , 1978 ’s Grizzly seems well aware that everyone in the audience has seen Jaws and therefore know exactly what to expect . It gives usa freak - of - nature rogue predatorwho suddenly start attacking an unsuspecting human population . It also gives us an even more villainous fig in the form of a government official who selfishly / avariciously / diabolically sabotage early efforts to keep as many people safe as possible .
fundamentally , it succeeds by lifting full reference eccentric and story beats from Jaws — which mold so well for a reason — with a setting change that facilitates just enough newness to keep thing interesting . There ’s also the fact that Grizzly was made on a smaller budget with less honored talent behind the television camera . It ’s a gold mine for viewers primed to apprise the ( mostly unplanned ) humor compact into its dialogue , which is extremely 1978 and contains some absolute sidesplitter .
Screenshot: Film Ventures International/Columbia Pictures
While Jaws tied its legal action to a specific resort island community , Grizzly continue things far more faint , bringing us into a geographically unspecified “ National Park . ” ( A few local turning point snitch its shoot positioning as north Georgia , but it ’s never mentioned except in the end credits . ) We assemble head Park Ranger Michael Kelly ( Christopher George , whose other credits include Lucio Fulci ’s City of the Living Dead , slasher Greco-Roman Graduation Day , andthe immortal small-arm ) , a spite - tough - bozo character who drifted into the gig after a painful divorce . Characters in his compass include macho helicopter pilot Don ( The Town That Dreaded Sundown ’s Andrew Prine ) , who cry woman “ filly ” ( and utilise even more cringe - worthy language to describe the enemy soldiers he battle in Vietnam ) and gets the Quint mo where he spins a story of terrifying giant bear by ; kooky naturalist Scotty ( Richard Jaeckel , whose many deferred payment let in another Jaws Riffian , Mako : The Jaws of Death ) , who Kelly insists “ knows every bear in the forest personally ” ; and Allison ( Devil Times Five ’s Joan McCall ) , a photographer who ’s mostly there to exchange flirty barbs with Kelly but vanishes from the story once the legal action becomes strictly Man Versus Bear . We also get acquainted with Kittridge ( Joe Dorsey ) , the park ’s supervisor , who ’s somehow hoping to practice his position to further his political career ; he collide with Kelly from the start and their relationship largely consists of “ You listen ! ” “ No YOU listen ! ” sorts of argument .
And , then , of class , there ’s veridical star of Grizzly : the bear itself , aim to be 15 understructure tall and weighing 2,000 pound but represented mostly through lurking POV guesswork and a untiring squad of foley creative person , who load up the soundtrack with heavy respiration , snorts , grunt , and groans . Once in for a while we ’ll get a paw swiping at something , and as the motion-picture show enter its later portion , we ’re rewarded with actual bear footage , though very cautiously frame in shot that distance the ferocious beast from actual human actors . That ’s one way to debar Jaws - manner airplane propeller malfunctions , although cover with a live bear no doubt brought an alone different raiment of behind - the - scene woes .
Anyway , if you ’ve encounter Jaws — or are even just gently intimate with its plot — you know what awaits in Grizzly , which rally its menace in a strikingly memorable theatrical poster created bylate funny script legend Neal Adams . Once the bear starts snacking on campers , hikers , parking area rangers ( including one played by Penthouse model Vicki Johnson , whose fibre strips out of her ranger uniform for a bare-breasted play through a falls before being devour ) , and a small child and his female parent , it becomes a head - cigaret between Kelly and Kittridge to shut the beaches — uh , the parking lot — before the body count rise any higher . pick dialog along the way of life includes quotables like “ call back , we ’re probably not expect for a full body ” and “ That affair seems to know what we ’re thinking ! ” Grizzly also get it on what we ’re thinking , because it knows we ’re counter its every plot bend , but it strike briskly , and its conclusion is even more bleak ( though no less , shall we say , explosive ) than the ending of Jaws .
Image: Film Ventures International/Columbia Pictures
On the same day that it adds Grizzly to its cyclosis excerption , Shudder is also rolling outDay of the Animals , a 1977 thematic subsequence of form made by Grizzly conductor William Girdler and starring Grizzly ’s George and Jaeckel . It ’s also an animal - attack movie but it list much more smartly into sci - fi , imagining that brute ( include humans ) turn into violent maniacs at gamy elevation thanks to ozone - layer depletion . As a side note , Girdler was something of a Spielbergian wunderkind in his own right field — Spielberg was 27 years old when he made Jaws , and Girdler was 29 when Grizzly came out . lamentably , we never come a prospect to see what else he might ’ve done in his career ; his last film was1978 ’s The Manitou , released posthumously after his death at age 30 in a helicopter smash .
Grizzly and Day of the Animals hit Shudder on June 20 .
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