GRIZZLY

In 2005, a rare theatrical screening of the 1976 drive in hit GRIZZLY took place in Los Angeles. The film had been recently dumped on DVD for a no frills release and has recently been reissued in a 2 DVD special edition. In a way, GRIZZLY is the bad film that will never die!

Originally made thirty years ago, the film was in development as a studio production under the banner or Warner Bros. Films. However, there was an issue with the rights to the screenplay and the film was eventually made as an independent film. While most people assume that with the recent success of JAWS and the success of the JAWS rip-off film MAKO: JAWS OF DEATH, beasts on the loose rip offs of Spielberg's classic were cranked out regularly until the end of the 1970's.

GRIZZLY made money and it made more money than anyone ever imagined possible. Budgeted at under $900,000 GRIZZLY would go on to make $39 Million (!) dollars by the close of 1976. That would be around $150 Million in today's dollars when adjusted for inflation. (Imagine SAW if it cost 1/3 less than what it cost to produce and then made $50 million dollars more at the box office than it did and you get a reasonable comparison)

GRIZZLY was the highest grossing independent film of all time and held that rank until 1978 when HALLOWEEN would break its record. While HALLOWEEN is remembered as a classic today, GRIZZLY was simply dropped down a black hole and forgotten about. Sure, it is a really bad film, but there have been many really bad films that people still watch today. (Think of the FRIDAY THE 13th sequels)

Sadly, many huge Drive In hits have been forgotten about such as LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK ($28 Million in 1972), PRIVATE LESSONS ($20 Million in 1981) and many others. GRIZZLY has fallen into this unfortunate category. Yes, it is a silly bad film, but its financial accomplishments are nothing short of astounding.

GRIZZLY aired on ABC Network TV as a Movie of the Week in the early 1980's and then into syndication quickly thereafter. Upon watching the film today, you really have to shake your head that ABC aired this Drive In nonsense on their network no matter how much money it raked in. This is one of the goofier animals on the loose films to ever be made.

GRIZZLY is a scene for scene remake of JAWS where a Grizzly Bear (surprise) lays siege to a National Park (surprise) and the people running the park try to cover it up so as not to loose tourist revenue (surprise, surprise surprise!) Christopher George essays the role of the park ranger who believes that a Grizzly Bear is behind a rash of killings (despite the fact that Grizzly Bears became extinct in Georgia WAY before 1976) and Richard Jaeckal is the bear scientist who wants to capture the beast. (Good luck).

Oh, not to give away the ending, but the Park Rangers in this film own, for some reason, a BAZOOKA! Then again, the film was made during the Cold War era so the need for an anti-tank defense weapon may have been required. Ok, that is a stretch, but this whole film is a stretch to take serious.

GRIZZLY is not much of a fun film as it is pretty mean spirited and the bear attack scenes are incredibly violent. (The film originally was rated R, but cut to a PG rating before theatrical release) There is very little levity to this film except for the unintentional hilarity of some of the cheesy special effects and over the top scenes.

Christopher George looks really awful in this film. The one time star of THE RAT PATROL and the short lived, but excellent THE IMMORTAL saw his star fall greatly and he was doing guest star spots on LOVE BOAT and FANTASY ISLAND and appearing in low budget schlock such as PIECES, GATES OF HELL and the underrated THE EXTERMINATOR before passing away from a heart attack in 1984. In many ways, George was a highly underrated actor who should have been a major star. In a way, he did stay gainfully employed on TV for decades, but his cinema leading roles were virtually all low budget affairs.

Bottom Line: GRIZZLY is an ok diversion for rainy afternoon viewings.