Kicking off October the right way with a new-to-me movie—GRIZZY II: REVENGE! As you might have guessed from the title, this is a sequel to GRIZZLY, one of the better “JAWS but…” movies to come out following the release of that aquatic blockbuster. The sequel was greenlit a year later and filmed but was never completed or released until 2020 due to issues with the producer. As you might have guessed from that factoid, it’s certainly a doozy of a film.
The opening is probably the most competent part of the movie, with three campers played by Charlie Sheen, George Clooney and Laura Dern heading into the woods for some fun when they are attacked an enraged bear whose cub was killed by a poacher. Then we’re drawn into the main story, where Yellowstone National Park is getting ready for a music festival that will bring in 100,000 people. As you might imagine, not having a killer grizzly on the loose would be beneficial to making sure that goes of without a hitch.
Ranger Nick (Steven Inwood) and his co-ranger Pete (Edward Meeks) found a dead poacher and realize they have a problem on their hands. Of course the Superintendent of Summit (Louise Fletcher) doesn’t want to scuttle the show, so she orders them to keep quiet and go hunt the bear. It’s a race against time and poachers to stop the grizzly before it gets to the concert and makes a meal out of all of the concertgoers.
GRIZZLY II is definitely not up to the mediocre standards set by its predecessor. Some of that is the plot, but most of its weakness comes from being a 40-year-old film that tries to blend new footage with the old and make a complete movie. There are scenes that are almost incoherent because we’re clearly missing footage that showed events that are being talked about. Then there’s random drone and nature shots that are just there to pad the runtime, putting the brakes on what momentum the movie has.
Clearly filmed in Europe (Hungary to be precise), the bands that show up are a mixed bag of German new-wave and the footage of them ranges from bits that were shot for the movie and others cribbed from different performances. There’s even one of a newer band that is clearly done like a music video in a warehouse somewhere. The music isn’t really my bag but most of it is inoffensive enough and I do like Toto Coelo. Just not what I would expect to be a draw for 100k people to a park. Apparently Nazareth was there but never made the actual movie, which would help explain the draw.
The actors do the best with what they have, but the trio in the opening get off the easiest as they are killed. We do get an appearance by a young Deborah Foreman as Nick’s daughter, Chrissy. But she basically signs on to the concert to be a gofer and pops in an out as if her scenes were left on the cutting room floor or just never filmed in the first place. John Rhys-Davies shows up as a French-Canadian bear trapper that has to be seen to be believed and is probably the highlight of the movie.
Most of the kills are offscreen but there are a few times when the effects get to shine. Not enough to recommend it to anyone.
It’s not a great movie, but it’s a short one, with a 74 minute runtime. And I would say ten minutes of that is end credits that you don’t need to stick around for. Definitely more of a curiosity and I applaud them for finishing it and finally releasing it, even if I don’t know why outside of a sense of completion.
If you are looking for a fast fix this October, check it out.
