GRIZZLY

A U.S. national park plunges into panic when two campers are brutally massacred. County ranger Michael Kelly begins investigating and discovers that a huge, hungry grizzly bear is roaming the woods in search of prey to satisfy its insatiable hunger. Helped by two friends, Michael embarks on a bear hunt that turns out to be more dangerous than expected. Released in 1976, this "Grizzly – The Killer Bear" (also known as "Killer Grizzly" for the American TV adaptation) was undoubtedly born on the wave of success of Spielberg's film "Jaws" which, as we can remember, had smashed box office records the previous year, in 1975. "Grizzly – The Killer Bear" can therefore be considered without too many doubts the mountain version of Spielberg's film since there are many similarities found in the two films. A first common element in the two films lies in the figure of the protagonist, Michael Kelly, who tends to recall, in many aspects, Roy Scheider's performance (the Brody of "Jaws"); another common element is the way the genre is approached, that is, not giving too much relevance to pure horror but contaminating and softening it with different genres just as Spielberg had found a way, innovative in some aspects, to mix horror with drama and adventure, in "Grizzly" they also try to follow the same path creating a product that attempts to mix various genres; another analogy between the two films is found in the skillful use of music that contributes to highlighting the desire to treat various genres (how not to notice the evident little tunes characteristic of family adventure films from the 60s and 70s?) and the narrative construction is the same (first victims, suspicion about the "monster", hunt for the "monster"). But after this brief comparison between the two films, useful for giving the reader an idea of what to expect from the film, let's move on to the film in question. The film, directed by William Girdler ("Manitu – The Evil Spirit"), offers a simple and effective plot that, although not standing out for its originality, could certainly not be considered predictable and obvious for its time. What might question the work, however, is the script that seems a bit too unsure, at times, about the path to follow since it does not always manage to perfectly blend the various genres (which have been discussed earlier) thus creating a product that sometimes wallows in pure beast movie but that, in other points, gives the impression of a simple family adventure film (in some scenes the viewer might believe they are watching a special episode of the TV series "Lessie"). But setting aside the not very relevant flaws of the screenplay, one can notice and appreciate the high level of gore, which in some points tends to turn into splatter, giving life to scenes of rare cruelty, capable of leaving the viewer stunned (how not to mention the cruel scene in which the bear mauls a poor defenseless child). Good also is the performance offered by all the actors, including the protagonist Christopher George (as Ranger Kelly) who is not unfamiliar with the horror genre as he has appeared in other genre films such as "Mortuary," "Pieces," and our "City of the Living Dead." In conclusion, this "Grizzly – The Killer Bear" is an interesting film that could certainly have offered more, but, overall, it remains a fascinating beast movie whose viewing is recommended at least once. Recommended especially to lovers of old-style beast movies.