Grizzly

1976 bear movie

Rating: 8/20

Plot: It's like Jaws but with a really big bear.

Imagine Jaws, but replace the shark with an 18-foot bear and, since 18-foot bears aren't usually found in the ocean, place all the action in the woods. You've just made the movie Grizzly in your head, so congratulations, you budding genius director!  Coming just a year after Spielberg's blockbuster, this is one of the more blatant rip-offs you'll ever see. Google Damon Packard's remixed Grizzly trailer if you don't believe me which cleverly combines the visuals of the bear movie with the voiceover of the Jaws trailer. You can barely tell.

Speaking of Packard, I actually watched his "redux" of Grizzly where he humorously adds exaggerated sound effects, really juicing things up with demonic bear grunts and growls, big action movie helicopter sounds, and general thrashing; hilarious off-screen voices; footage of confused-looking extras and even himself as a clumsy auxiliary character; and lots more gore. It's unclear what the point was, but it was entertaining.