Grizzly

Summary

Jaws with Claws

Severin Films recently released two films by William Girdler – Day of the Animals and Grizzly. Both were successful films for distributor Edward L. Montoro and his label Film Ventures International. Grizzly grossed $39 million dollars, and was the top grossing independently financed film of 1976. William Girdler did not receive his fair share of that money which led to lawsuits. Producer Edward L. Montoro eventually disappeared off the face of the earth in the Eighties after embezzling a million dollars from his company Film Ventures International. William Girdler’s career was sadly ended when he died prematurely in a helicopter crash. 

Over the course of his career Girdler only directed nine films, but considering his career only lasted for seven years he was pretty prolific. The biggest success of his career was Grizzly, but he is also well known for the films The Manitou and the Pam Grier starring Sheba, Baby. It is a shame that Girdler did not live long enough to continue making films. I would have loved to see what his output in the Eighties would have been like. Grizzly has remained a very popular film and has been released before on Blu-ray by Scorpion Releasing. Severin has given the film a brand new makeover from a 4K scan alongside some brand new special features that are very well done. Grizzly was a direct response to the success of Spielberg’s Jaws, and adapts aspects of that storyline to the forest. I recently watched the beloved cult film.

In a sprawling national park, Chief Ranger Michael Kelly (Christopher George) works with other rangers to make sure that everyone stays safe while hiking and camping in the forrest. When two female hikers are killed at a nearby camp, Michael investigates alongside photographer Allison Corwin (Joan McCall.) Allison is the daughter of the owner of the park’s restaurant. The death of the hikers is proven to have been caused by a bear. Park supervisor Charley Kittridge (Joe Dorsey) makes it clear that he blames Kelly and his rangers for not having fully moved bears off the property. Kelly refutes this and says that all of the bears were accounted for and that this is a bear that they have not seen before. He seeks out the help of Arthur Scott (Richard Jaeckel) – an expert on wildlife who lives amongst the animals in the outdoors for much of the year. Scott soon explains that the only bear that could have been capable of the attack was an extremely large grizzly. The grizzly attacks repeatedly inside the park, while Kelly and Scott try their best to track it down and defeat it.

Grizzly has been described by many as “Jaws with Claws.” That is a fairly accurate monicker when watching the film’s narrative structure, the POV shots for attack sequences, and some of the similarities between the characters in the two films. That said, Girdler brings some solid ingenuity to the filming of the picture. The cinematography is for the most part very nice to look at, and the attack sequences in the film are still jarring in their violence when viewed today. It’s somewhat amazing that this film was rated PG considering how harsh the grizzly attack sequences were. They are pretty rough (if not overly gory.) While the script of the film is fairly boilerplate, the plot is more than serviceable. The characters are likable and the actors are up to the task of playing the parts. I particularly enjoyed Richard Jaeckel in the role of Arthur Scott and the lead performance by Christopher George. Their performances carry the film along as Girdler stages intense attack sequences and some beautifully shot helicopter sequences. It is obvious watching this film and Day of the Animals, that Girdler was becoming more and more confident behind the camera. I wish that his life had not been cut short by that fateful helicopter crash in the Philippines. 

Grizzly is a well made natural horror film that has remained a cult favorite since its release in 1977. Fans of the natural horror genre will certainly want to check the film out.

Video

Severin Films has provided a very good looking transfer in 1080p of Grizzly in an aspect ratio of 2.38:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encode from a 2K scan of the interpositive. I was happy with the work that Severin put into the release. It definitely is a stronger presentation than the prior release from Scorpion Releasing. Fine detail for the most part is solid and the film stays well saturated. The cinematography in the film is striking and visually strong because the outdoor sequences that take up most of the film. I was impressed for the most part with the clarity of the picture and think fans will be pleased.

Audio

Severin Films has provided a well made DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track. The sound quality on the track is essentially reference quality, and the score by Bob Summers is very good. Clarity is solid and I had no difficulty understanding what was said onscreen. Obviously, immersion is limited, but the track is more bombastic than I had anticipated. This is a good track overall.

Supplements:

• Nightmare USA Author Stephen Thrower on the Career of William Girdler – Thrower discusses in great detail the life and career of William Girdler. Thrower is an excellent historian when he is passionate about a film figure, and his discussion of Girdler is honestly pretty incredible and in-depth. This is an excellent piece (and the companion piece on the Severin release of Day of the Animals is wonderful as well.)
• Making Movies with Girdler – this audio interview with Girdler’s business partner and friend J. Patrick Kelly III is paired with recently unearthed 8MM footage of Girdler working on his films Sheba, Baby and Grizzly.
• The Towering Fury – an interview with actor Tom Arcuragi.
• The Grizzly Details – an interview with producer David Sheldon and actress Joan McCall.
• Movie Making in the Wilderness – an archival making-of featurette.
• Jaws With Claws – another archival featurette.
• Radio Spots
• Trailers
• Audio Commentary with Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson and film writer Troy Howarth – I always enjoy commentaries that feature Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson. As per usual, the track is full of good information and enjoyable banter.
• Audio Commentary with Producer David Sheldon and Actress Joan McCall

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Grizzly is a capably made natural horror film from director William Girdler. It was an extremely successful film upon its release. It was one of the first Jaws ripoffs that took some of the strongest elements of Jaws and adapted it towards a different setting with good results. While the film was critically attacked at the time, it has remained a cult favorite for over forty years, and the attack sequences in the film are vicious and startling. Severin’s new release of the film features improved technical specs from prior releases and some excellent new supplements. The overall package is really well thought out. Fans of the film or the genre will enjoy this release from Severin!