Watch Grizzly
- PG
- 1976
- 1 hr 31 min
-
5.2 (5,900)
Grizzly is a 1976 horror thriller directed by William Girdler and starring Christopher George, Andrew Prine, and Richard Jaeckel. The plot follows park ranger Michael Kelly and naturalist Arthur Scott as they team up to track down a giant man-eating grizzly bear that's been terrorizing a national park in the Pacific Northwest. The film opens with a ranger station receiving a distress call from two female hikers who are being attacked by a grizzly bear. Despite their efforts to save them, the bear kills both women. Michael Kelly, the park ranger in charge of the area, takes over the investigation and enlists the help of Arthur Scott, a naturalist who specializes in bears. Their first clue is the killer bear's enormous size - this is no ordinary grizzly.
As they explore deeper into the wilderness, the tension builds as they encounter more clues - abandoned camps, mangled bodies, and destroyed vehicles. But the bear always seems to be one step ahead of them, eluding their efforts to capture or kill it. Arthur becomes particularly obsessed with the animal, believing that it is an intelligent animal that is actively seeking out its victims.
Meanwhile, the park is preparing for a holiday weekend that will see a large influx of tourists. Michael warns the park superintendent that there's a killer bear on the loose, but his warnings fall on deaf ears. Despite Michael's efforts to close down certain parts of the park, the tourists arrive en masse. The bear takes advantage of this and starts attacking campers and picnickers in broad daylight, resulting in a bloody massacre. Michael and Arthur must race to stop the bear before it wreaks more havoc, all while avoiding the negligent officials who are more interested in keeping the park open than keeping their visitors safe.
One of the most striking aspects of Grizzly is the bear itself. The film uses an actual trained bear in most shots, as well as a large mechanical bear for up-close attacks. The result is terrifying - the bear is enormous, heavily scarred, and completely relentless in its pursuit of human prey. The special effects used to create the bear attacks are quite effective for the time period, with plenty of gore and grisly maulings.
The film is also notable for its excellent cast. Christopher George delivers a solid performance as Michael Kelly, the rugged and dependable park ranger who is forced to take charge of the situation. Andrew Prine is great as the obsessive Arthur Scott, whose determination to stop the bear borders on madness. Richard Jaeckel provides some excellent comic relief as the bumbling helicopter pilot who is sent in to help Michael and Arthur.
Overall, Grizzly is an exciting and tense horror thriller that is sure to satisfy fans of the genre. Although it follows the standard 'animal attack' formula, it does so with enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. The film's massive killer bear is a memorable creation, and the cast is excellent throughout. If you're looking for a classic '70s horror flick, Grizzly is definitely worth checking out.
Grizzly is a 1976 horror movie with a runtime of 1 hour and 31 minutes. It has received poor reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.2 and a MetaScore of 25.