It’s Jaws, except with a bear and at a park. William Girdler’s cash-in on Spielberg’s blockbuster follows the plot points in such detail it’s a small wonder no serious legal action was taken. This isn’t a suspense classic, but it’s passably trashy animalsploitation viewing with a pop culture status slightly outweighing the actual quality of the piece. An eighteen-foot grizzly bear is slaughtering various campers in a national park. The owner refuses to close given that this is the most profitable season. It’s up to rogue, Brody-like ranger Michael Kelly (c-grade regular Christopher George) to team up with the Quint-like mountain man Arthur (Richard Jaeckel) and Hooper-like younger smartass Stober (Andrew Prine). Prine steals the film, even though Girdler never utilizes the demented charisma the actor portrayed in his more nefarious roles in The Centerfold Girls and Simon: King of the Witches. It’s PG, but definitely a 1970s PG, so the mauling sequences are graphic and bloody.
