After the phenomenal success of “Jaws” in 1975, there was a cash-in surge for further “nature strikes back” creature features, as mankind was successively imperiled by dogs, cats, whales, buffalo, piranha and so on.
One of the most blatant of these knockoffs was William Girdler’s 1976 “Grizzly,” an undistinguished tale of hairy menace running amok in a national park.
It was, nonetheless, a hit — in fact the biggest indie success story of its year, purportedly grossing about fifty times its modest $750,000 budget.
As quickly as it had been rushed out to ride “Jaws’” coattails, however, a sequel was slow in coming.Well, there’s ordinary “slow,” and then there’s the Rip Van Winkle-grade variety.
After decades spent as a famously abandoned project, “Grizzly II” finally hits theaters and VOD in 2021.
For reasons that remain murky, the Hungary-shot horror thriller originally titled “Grizzly II: The Concert” went unfinished after principal photography
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