Nature Run Amok – Grizzly II: Revenge (2021)

The stage is set and the dinner is served.

Grizzly II: Revenge
Release Date: January 8, 2021

Cast:
Louise Fletcher as Eileene Draygon
John Rhys-Davies as Bouchard
Steve Inwood as Nick Hollister
Dick Anthony Williams as Charlie Hill
Deborah Raffin as Samantha Owens
George Clooney as Ron
Laura Dern as Tina
Charlie Sheen as Lance

Written by Joan McCall & David Sheldon
Directed by Andre Szots

Plot
A giant grizzly seeks revenge against poachers and a nearby rock concert is the perfect location for mayhem. 

My first experience with the film
This was my first and last time watching this turkey!

I’ll just start this off by saying that Grizzly II: Revenge is a bad film. It’s bad in so many ways but, unfortunately, it never crosses that coveted line into “so bad it’s good” territory. It’s definitely not a sequel to the original but it had a decent story idea with a grizzly seeking revenge after a mother and her cubs are killed by poachers. The summer season at the park idea is replaced here with a rock concert and the park supervisor is now a superintendent hell-bent on having the concert to raise money and secure her future out of the park and back into high society. Louise Fletcher did the best she could in that role and often offers up some of the best moments in the film.

Unfortunately, the film suffers on so many levels. Aside from Fletcher, the acting is generally poor and the dialogue is amateurish. I’m not even sure what John Rhys-Davies was trying to pull off with his performance. The whole rock concert sub-plot is odd with a lot of footage of unknown rock bands filmed during a real Nazareth concert. The special effects are almost laughable at times. Don’t expect a lot of bear footage as a lot of that was never even completed. Apparently, animatronic bears can be problematic. However, the film has become a thing of legend due to the fact that it was never finished in 1983. The original producer had no money to pay the crew in Hungary and even after a Japanese investor came forward and the principal photography was finished, it was never released. It turns out the Hungarian government seized most of the equipment because they were never paid. Cannon Group bought the film in 1987 and planned to finish and release it but when they had financial troubles, it got “lost” in the vaults. An unauthorized work print from a VHS copy surfaced in 2007 and work eventually went into finally finishing the film and releasing it in 2021. Seriously, the story behind Grizzly II: Revenge is more interesting than the movie itself.

Despite George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen getting top billing now, they were unknown actors in 1983 and would certainly have not been top-billed had the film been released back then. It’s an obvious ploy to capitalize on their success now but don’t expect to see much of them. They’re killed off in the opening minutes of the film and then they’re gone. However, credit to them for actually helping behind the scenes once the production was in financial trouble back in 1983.

Grizzly II: Revenge is a classic example of something lost being rediscovered but failing to live up to the hype. I’m not even sure it would classify as a cult classic. Even with a running time of only 74 minutes, it suffers from a lot of padding. There just isn’t much of a film here. The current 2.8 rating on IMDb is well-earned. Sometimes, there’s a reason that a film has become lost. It’s definitely a couple of servings of really dry turkey without the benefit of any of grandma’s gravy or some sweet cranberry sauce to help it go down.        

Did you know?
The big electrical death scene actually contains two brief shots from Jaws 2 (1978), zoomed in to eliminate the shark and focus only on the fire.

Grizzly II: Revenge was originally titled The Predator some four years before that other little film with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Availability
Grizzly II: Revenge is available on Blu-ray and is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Classic Horrors Club – Day of the Frogs

In episode 74 of the Clasic Horrors Club Podcast, Jeff and I descend into the sub-sub-genre of “eco-horror,” which falls beneath the umbrella of “natural horror,” a popular sub-genre of the 1970s. These two films in particular make a great double feature because there not about just birds or rats or snakes or bats taking revenge on humans… all of nature is cranky.

In Frogs (1972), the titular amphibians don’t really kill anyone… or do they? And in Day of the Animals (1977), the most damage is done by our canine friends. Yeah, the movies are flawed. But, man, are they fun!

Don’t forget to check out the video companion on our YouTube channel. Put images to the voices… if you dare!

Call us at (616) 649-2582 (CLUB), email at classichorrors.club@gmail.com or join us in our clubhouse at https://www.facebook.com/groups/classichorrors.club/!

We’d also appreciate if you’d give us an honest rating on Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud. Thank you!

You can find Jeff at:

• Classic Horrors Club
• DC Comics Guy

Coming up next month, we enter a world of shadows as only Val Lewton could bring to life. We’ll talk about the legendary producer and all of his classic films from the 40s, including The Leopard Man (1943) and Curse of the Cat People (1944)!

Nature Run Amok – Grizzly (1976)

If ya feel a wet snout in yer face, whatever you do, don’t move.
And don’t kiss it back, ‘cause it ain’t me.
Don Stober

Grizzly
Release Date: May 21, 1976

Cast:
Christopher George as Michael Kelly
Andrew Prine as Don Stober
Richard Jaeckel as Arthur Scott
Joan McCall as Allison Corwin
Joe Dorsey as Charley Kittridge

Written by Harvey Flaxman & David Sheldon
Directed by William Girdler

Plot
A 15 foot high grizzly bear weighing 3,000 lbs is on the rampage in a national park. Without terrifying the campers, a ranger and two others must hunt down the grizzly before it kills again.  

My first experience with the film
I feel like I should have seen this before but I believe this is my first time watching Grizzly.

Richard’s Review
If upon your first viewing of Grizzly you feel like you’ve seen this story before, you probably have as it borrows heavily from Jaws, which was released the previous year. In a blatant attempt to capitalize on the renewed interest in natural horror films, the rampaging beast is changed from a shark to a grizzly and the setting is moved from the beach to the forest. We trade in Roy Scheider for Christopher George as the park ranger who is arguing with the park supervisor over how to handle a rampaging killer grizzly without closing the park during the tourist season.

While Jaws ultimately works better because of superior production values, Grizzly is still a fun romp through the woods. It lacks the tension of Jaws and suffered greatly at the time because it was clearly a rip-off. I never felt the fear for those in the forest as I did for the swimmers in the ocean. Perhaps it’s because there is the perception that you are more helpless in the water. After all, you can only swim so fast. Granted, you aren’t going to outrun a bear but the threat level seemed lower. However, dare I say that using a real bear helped make this film a little more realistic at times, just not nearly as cinematic.  

Christopher George may not be on the same acting level as Roy Scheider but I always enjoy his films and he didn’t disappoint here. That said, I prefer Day of the Animals over Grizzly. Sure, it needed a greater variety of animals but it embraces it’s B-level roots while Grizzly suffers from trying to be something more than it ultimately is. I’d definitely watch it again but it’s not necessarily something I need to add to my collection.    

Did you know?
Grizzly was the most financially successful independent film of 1976 and the 1970s overall, earning $39,000,000 at the box office. It held those honors until Halloween (1978) broke the record.

The late, great comic book artist Neal Adams created the film poster.

Availability
Grizzly is available on Blu-ray from Severin Films and is streaming on Shudder and Amazon Prime.

Nature Run Amok – Old Time Radio Classics

Natural horror is not just a genre for movies as it’s also existed in literature for a long time. So, it’s only…natural (I couldn’t resist) that you’ll find examples of humans against nature as far back as the glory days of old time radio!

Leiningen Versus the Ants was a short story written by Carl Stephenson and was published in the December 1938 issue of Escquire, a translation of an original German publication from that same year. It tells the tale of Leiningen, a plantation owner in the Brazilian forest who is facing an army of aggressive and organized soldier ants. It was first adapted for radio on January 14, 1948 on Escape with William Conrad in the lead role. It was adapted two more times on Suspense, in 1957 and 1959, as well as a feature film in 1954, The Naked Jungle, starring Charlton Heston.

Perhaps even more well-known is Three Skeleton Key, a short story written by French author Georges-Gustave Toudouze in 1927. It was first published in English in the January 1937 edition of Esquire. It tells the tale of three men on a lighthouse battling an army of ferocious rats after an abandoned ship crashes on the shores of the same island. It was adapted for radio a total of five times. The first was in November 1949 on Escape with William Conrad. It aired again in 1950 and 1953, both times with a different cast. Finally, it aired twice on Suspense, in 1956 and 1958, both times with the legendary Vincent Price, reprising his role of Jean, which he had originated in the 1950 version on Escape.

You can listen to the 1948 version of Leiningen Versus the Ants and the 1950 broadcast of Three Skeleton Key on my Monster Movie Kid playlist on my YouTube channel. I personally feel these are the two best versions of each story. Both men are true legends in the world of old time radio and, let’s be honest, you can never wrong with Vincent Price.

So, turn out the lights, nestle up near the fire and let the imagination theatre take you to two tales from decades past that are just as terrifying today as they were not so long ago.

Nature Run Amok – Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

Back in 2012, I was a guest on the B-Movie Cast when Vince Rotolo invited me on to talk about Kingdom of the Spiders, the 1977 classic starring William Shatner. This movie has always been one of my personal favorites. You might have to throw logic out the window, as is often the case with natural horror films, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun along the way.

Enjoy a blast from the past and tune into episode 225 of the B-Movie Cast. We recorded it in anticipation of one of Vince’s nuclear shutdowns. Just hearing Vince’s voice is sure to bring a smile to your face as I know it did mine. Sadly, Mary didn’t join us as she is not into insect movies. And who is this Richard from Wichita guy?

Want a more recent take on Kingdom of the Spiders? Tune into episode 60 of the Classic Horrors Club Podcast when Jeff and I traveled back to 1977 and visited the Riviera Drive-In in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Check out the trailer on the Monster Movie Kid playlist on my YouTube channel and enjoy!

Nature Run Amok – Night of the Lepus (1972)

November is Nature Run Amok Month here at Monster Movie Kid and the Classic Horrors Club Podcast. We’re focusing on what some call “natural horror”, which essentially is when animals or plants strike back at humans for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes, the animals have a reason for what they’re doing, such as the destruction of the ozone layer causing radiation to be unshielded, resulting in a form of madness. Sometimes they’re genetically mutated due to typical mad scientist mauhem. Other times, it’s as simple as a disease like rabies. No matter what the cause, the results are almost always the same. The animals are upset with humans and it becomes a classic “us vs. them” scenario of survival of the fittest.

Back in 2019, I took a look at Night of the Lepus (1972) on the Dread Media Podcast. Based on Russell Bradon’s 1964 novel The Year of the Angry Rabbit, the movie starts with a test serum being injected into a rabbit that ends up escaping, joins up with some fellow rabbits and, as the humans begin hunting them, things start to go…well, amok! The rabbits retaliate and, as Bugs Bunny would say, “Of course, you realize this means war!”

Since that episode of the Dread Media Podcast is no longer available, I’ve created a special video with the audio from my original review. It’s available on my YouTube channel. Let me know what you think as there could be more in the future!