-------------------------------------------------------------------
In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated
1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going
to review every single movie I see. I’m
going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the
rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings
for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses
under the ‘About Me’ section).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Grizzly II: Revenge B
Grizzly from 1976,
while far from great and obviously attempted to be “Jaws on land,” is a decent natural horror film for those that enjoy
such films. I mean, there’s some great
scenery to look at, some effective bear POV shots, and it was probably bloody
enough for the time, but the attack scenes weren’t exactly staged the best (by
today’s standards, of course). Since it
came out in the Seventies, there was no CGI used and they did an okay job of
using real bears in addition to parts of practical ones (i.e. only seeing claws
or feet instead of the whole thing, which was a wise decision based on what I
say below). This indirect/in-name only
sequel was filmed in 1983, but allegedly wasn’t released until recently (other
titles besides Revenge were The Predator and The Concert). I wonder why
since it probably would’ve sucked just as much back then. There were times I thought I was watching a
nature documentary (whose scenes were likely filmed recently) and other times I
thought I was watching a concert film (whose scenes were likely cribbed from
actual footage, and hence one of the alternate titles). A man is shown shooting a bear cub during one
of the “nature documentary” scenes in the beginning and mama bear (footage of a
real bear) growls in response, thus causing her (not the real bear) to attack
any human she comes in contact with (hence the ultimate title). Now, about that bear that isn’t the real one
we saw in the beginning---if you think the bear attacks and the way they were
staged in the first one weren’t the greatest, let me just say you won’t be
complaining about how they were shot after seeing this one; Grizzly is a masterpiece next to this
garbage of a sequel. I know I shouldn’t
complain about practical effects being used, given how much I loathe CGI, but,
come on, the bear used here wasn’t even minimally convincing (hell, the shark
used in Jaws obviously wasn’t a real
shark, but it worked and is still one of the best cinematic sharks to this day!). Not even three famous faces in the beginning
(who don’t last long) or Louise Fletcher (most recognizable as Nurse Ratched in
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and
the unloving grandmother in Flowers in
the Attic), who plays a woman concerned more about profit (that
aforementioned concert) than people supposedly being killed by a bear in the
woods (common trait for such films), could save this unnecessary sequel that
should’ve stayed unreleased. If I
haven’t made myself clear, I hated this movie!
1/13/2021
Bonus review:
I Am Lisa OK
This is the first time I recall seeing a movie that’s both a
revenge film and a werewolf film. The
werewolf doesn’t look like the ones in The
Howling or Dog Soldiers, but more
of a crossbreed, a human with lycanthropic features (i.e. claws, fangs, and
inhuman eyes) and it is explained why. A
girl named (you guessed it…) Lisa returns to a small town after her grandmother
passes and leaves her a used bookstore.
After she’s attacked by some townsfolk (all but one are women, so
sisterhood doesn’t apply here feminists!) and taken to the woods, she’s bitten by
a creature (looking more like a regular wolf) and vows revenge against all her
attackers while in the midst of her transformation. Now, while this film does involve lycanthropy
of sorts, it is more of a revenge film, meaning a formulaic body count film
wherein none of the kills are particularly noteworthy. I feel like I’m being a bit lenient with my
rating, but I did grow quite fond of the Lisa character and wouldn’t mind
seeing her in a better movie. I truly
wish I liked this better given there aren’t too many werewolf films out there,
good ones at least, plus revenge films aren’t too distinctive on their own, so
this should’ve been perfect for a genre mash-up. Oh well…1/13/2021
Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
Blood and Money >>>EH/OK
Dead Dicks >>>OK/G
Echo Boomers >>>OK
Freaky Friday (2018) >>>EH
Greener Grass >>>B
Spirit Camp >>>EH/OK
---Sean O.
1/15/2021
No comments:
Post a Comment