Grizzly II: Revenge

Grizzly II: Revenge(2020)

02/17/2020 (US)Horror, Music, Thriller1h 14m
3.0

"The Stage Is Set... And The Dinner Is Served."

Overview

All hell breaks loose when a giant grizzly, reacting to the slaughter of her cubs by poachers, attacks a massive rock concert in the National Park. [This sequel to "Grizzly" (1976) was left unfinished after production wrapped prematurely in 1983, and was not officially released until 2020, though a bootleg workprint version had been in circulation for some years prior to this.]

André Szöts

Director

Joan McCall

Writer

David Sheldon

Writer

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Part of the Grizzly Collection

Grizzly is a 1976 American thriller film directed by William Girdler, about a 15-foot-tall, man-eating grizzly bear that terrorizes a National Forest. It stars Christopher George, Andrew Prine and Richard Jaeckel. Widely considered a Jaws rip-off, Grizzly used many of the same plot devices as its shark predecessor, which had been a huge box-office success during the previous year. The giant grizzly bear in the film was portrayed by a bear named Teddy, who was 11 feet tall. A sequel, Grizzly II: The Concert, was filmed in 1983 in Hungary by director André Szöts, but was never released to theaters. Sheldon, the co-producer and writer of Grizzly, wrote the screenplay with his screenwriter wife, McCall, who also reprised her role from the original film. The stars were Louise Fletcher, Steve Inwood, John Rhys-Davies, Deborah Raffin and Deborah Foreman; the cast also included Charlie Sheen, George Clooney and Laura Dern, who were unknown at the time.

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GrizzlyII: Revenge Official Trailer

GrizzlyII: Revenge Official Trailer

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A review by Wuchak
6.0

Written on May 7, 2022

_**Lost sequel from 1983 finally released in 2020-2021**_

At Yellowstone National Park a colossal mother grizzly is enraged by the slaying of her cub by poachers. She goes on a killing spree, but the timing is bad because a highly publicized rock concert is scheduled and can’t be cancelled just because of a rogue bear. Steve Inwood plays the chief ranger, Deborah Foreman his daughter, Deborah Raffin a bruin expert, John Rhys-Davies a grizzly hunter and Louise Fletcher a politician.

"Grizzly II: Revenge" is the sequel to the “Jaws” knockoff “Grizzly” (1976) shot in 45 days in Hungary in 1983. Unfortunately post-production was never completed due to financial troubles and the movie was forgotten by 1988. Its very existence was questioned until a workprint manifested in 2007. The only reason the film exists and was finally released in 2020-2021 is because of the dedication of producer Suzanne Nagy.

Whilst George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen are emphasized in the cast they are actually only featured in the first six minutes. But it is interesting seeing these iconic actors when they were so young and before they made it. I was never big on Laura but, wow, she’s stunning here and immediately changed my opinion of her. Meanwhile Sheen turned down the starring role in “Karate Kid” (1984) for this gig (of course he had no way of knowing that “Karate Kid” was going to be a megahit).

The flick has the concept of the original movie but the look & tone of “Prophecy” (1979) mixed with a lot of energetic concert footage. Speaking of which, you’ll see the kinetic performances of several early 80’s acts, like Toto Coelo, The Predator, Set the Tone and KFT, but also a couple songs by the modern band The Dayz, which were added in post-production to beef-up the concert scenes and runtime.

I thought the original “Grizzly” was too prosaic as a “Jaws”-in-the-forest flick. It was okay, but nothing more. This one also contains the basic “Jaws” plot yet it’s more dynamic with several highlights, including its fascinating history. Sure, its troubled production is obvious, especially at the end, and it’s just another creature-on-the-loose flick, but there’s enough good here to entertain those interested.

The film is streamlined at 1 hour, 14 minutes, and was shot in the area of Pilisvörösvár, Hungary, which is just northwest of Budapest. The concert scenes were filmed after a performance of Nazareth wherein the crowd wasn’t aware a movie was being shot. It was the largest gathering in Hungary since the revolution in 1956. The sets were built on a Russian military base.

GRADE: B-