Where to start with this one? It’s an ostensible sequel to the 1976 JAWS wannabe GRIZZLY, filmed in Hungary in 1983 but not completed until 2020. GRIZZLY II: REVENGE was one of the most costly and elaborate Hungarian films ever, but had its production halted and the filming equipment seized for non-payment of funds. It went on to inspire a great deal of curiosity in the horror-cult film community (especially after a 100 minute work print was leaked onto the internet in the mid-00s), and a 2020 book, SWIMMING AMONG SHARKS, about the film’s unmaking by producer Suzanne C. Nagy, has proven quite popular among that crowd.
GRIZZLY II: REVENGE was one of the most costly and elaborate Hungarian films ever, but had its production halted and the filming equipment seized for non-payment of funds.
To hear Nagy tell it, she was subjected to fraud, backstabbing, malicious gossip, an inexperienced director, an incompetent editor, interference from Soviet authorities and expulsion from the socialist-run Hungarian film industry. It certainly didn’t help matters that the footage shot by director André Szöts was total crap, and got Nagy thrown out of the screening room of the powerful Hollywood producer/distributor Arnold Kopelson.
The film is indeed appalling, reeking of a cheapness that belies the costly (by non-Hollywood standards) production. The raison d’etre, a giant man eating grizzly bear, is another liability. An elaborate mechanical critter was designed and constructed by THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK’S Nick Maley, but destroyed in a fire before any of its scenes were filmed. Szöts attempted to get around this dilemma by inserting a series of close-ups of the grizzly’s face and claws—we never get a good look at the thing—interspaced with documentary footage of bears in zoos that fails to match either the rest of the film or itself (which to say that in one scene featuring two grizzly bear close-ups it’s clear we’re being shown two separate bears).
Of the cast, George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen receive top billing. All were at the beginning of their careers, playing horny hikers in the wilds of Northern California (actually Budapest) who get killed in the opening five minutes. Also featured is a slumming Louise Fletcher (who’s called the film “the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever been associated with”) as an unscrupulous promoter who insists on putting on a massive outdoor rock concert while the grizzly is loose, and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK’s John Rhys-Davies as the obsessed hunter tracking the grizzly. Other cast members include VALLEY GIRL’s Deborah Foreman and GOD TOLD ME TO’s Deborah Raffin, neither of whom have much to do.
George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen receive top billing.
Much of the film is taken up with footage of the concert, which includes actual bands like Toto Coelo, The Predator, Set the Tone, KFT and The Days, and actress/dancer Barbie Wilde (of HELLRAISER II and the novel THE VENUS COMPLEX). It drew a crowd estimated at between 40,000 and 50,000, making it the largest concert ever held in Budapest. This allows Szöts to pad the film unmercifully with footage of the event, but it does nothing for the story, which climaxes with the grizzly loose backstage, and eventually frying itself in an extremely poorly edited conflagration.
Also featured is a slumming Louise Fletcher (who’s called the film “the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever been associated with”) as an unscrupulous promoter who insists on putting on a massive outdoor rock concert while the grizzly is loose
Vital Statistics
GRIZZLY II: REVENGE (GRIZZLY II: THE PREDATOR)
GBGB International
Director: André Szöts
Producer: Suzanne C. Nagy
Screenplay: Joan McCall, David Sheldon
Cinematography: Jean Badal
Editing: Brandon Adler, Matthew A. Handal, Alec Stryborski
Cast: George Clooney, Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen, John Rhys-Davis, Louise Fletcher, Deborah Raffin, Deborah Foreman, Dick Anthony Williams, Jack Starrett, Charles Cyphers, Marc Alaimo, Barbie Wilde