Grizzly II: Revenge

Grizzly II: Revenge (sometimes stylized Grizzly II. Revenge, also known as Grizzly II: The Predator and Grizzly II. The Concert) is a 1983 American action thriller horror film that was not properly released until 2020. It was directed by André Szöts and is a sequel to the 1976 film Grizzly that was directed by William Girdler and David Sheldon. The film is about a giant grizzly named Tawanda, who seeks revenge after her cub was killed by poachers. It stars Steve Inwood, Louise Fletcher, John Rhys-Davies, Deborah Raffin and Deborah Foreman; actors George Clooney, Laura Dern, and Charlie Sheen, who were all relatively unknown at the time, all had small roles in the film.

Originally filmed in Hungary in 1983, the release was put on hold for many decades. The film premiered at the 2020 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival and was released on January 8, 2021 through video-on-demand.

Plot
In the vast Yellowstone National Park, grizzly bears and other wildlife roam free while hikers and campers abound. The National Park Service is charged with the protection of the park and its wildlife, and the rangers are always on the lookout for poachers. The park is preparing for a major rock concert to be held over three days in Grover Meadows and expects 50,000 people in attendance. At the ranger station, Chief Ranger Nick Hollister is briefing the rangers on the upcoming event.

Harvey, a poacher, is hunting for a grizzly bear and ends up killing a cub and wounding its mother. The grizzly bear, seeking revenge, viciously attacks and kills Harvey. Nick and Pete, the Head Park Ranger, relay the news to Eileene Draygon, the Superintendent of Summit. They press Draygon to halt the concert for everyone’s safety, but Draygon declines to get involved.

Back at the ranger station, Samantha Owens, director of Bear Management, is adamantly opposed to killing the grizzly bear. She insists on locating the bear and tranquilizing and relocating it with the help of Bouchard, the world famous grizzly expert from Canada. Three teenagers, Ron, Tina and Lance are hiking through the park to the concert. They enter grizzly territory, which is restricted, and set up camp without any clue of the terror they will face. Later that evening, they are attacked and killed by the grizzly bear.

The next morning, Nick, Pete and Samantha find the bodies of Ron, Tina and Lance, which heightens concern for the concert scheduled the next day. Nick demands that his men find and kill the grizzly bear. Running out of options, Nick drives to see Draygon and gives her a report on the new killings. Nick again asks for help, but Draygon again refuses. Meanwhile, back in the forest, Pete finds the other poachers and wants to take them into custody. Instead, they attack Pete, leaving him unconscious. The grizzly bear finds Pete and chases him into a cave, where she kills him.

As concert day comes, Charlie, the concert manager is making the final arrangements. Large crowds are arriving. Meanwhile, the poachers are also creating traps by digging large holes and planting sharp and deadly sticks into them. The grizzly bear roams the forest, finds the poachers and kills them easily. The chase then continues; Nick and Samantha, the rangers, Bouchard, all scatter to track down the grizzly bear. The grizzly bear finds its way to the concert grounds. The concert goes on and the crowd enjoys the cutting-edge English rock bands.

Backstage, Bouchard encounters the grizzly bear and stabs at her, but the grizzly swipes Bouchard with her arm and kills him. Nick has to act fast. He gets the grizzly bear’s attention and lures her to her side of the concert stage containing the high voltage, which the grizzly bear falls into and is killed. Draygon acts as if the dying grizzly bear was part of the action. The concert audience is cheering and applauding and does not know the truth about what happened.

Production
The principal photography with the tentative title The Predator was completed in 1983. Joseph Ford Proctor, the producer, left the scene after the first day of the shoot and there were no funds to continue the film. Suzanne C. Nagy, the co-producer, found an investor and the principal photography was therefore finished in 45 days. At a later time, she found out that Joseph Proctor was in jail for a non-related business transaction.

Release
An unauthorized bootleg version with the workprint appeared on YouTube in 2007 from a bad quality VHS recording. This version was the subject of a The Cinema Snob (as presented by Brad Jones) episode in March 2010, which soon after saw a letter sent by Suzanne C. Nagy (owner of the title Grizzly II and its sequel rights) that requested this "horrible review" removed, for which Jones complied. Nagy did not remove the workprint until 2018. At that time her company, GBGB International, was already working on the completion of Grizzly II: Revenge. The movie was finished on January 2020 and entered into various film festivals until the company decided to enter into a licensing agreement with Gravitas Ventures. As of August 2020, Gravitas Ventures represents the movie worldwide and released the film on video on demand, DVD and Blu-ray on January 8, 2021.

Various magazines and websites such as The Ringer and Empire magazine have released articles regarding the movie's production, release halt and the steps it took to finally give it an official release almost four decades later. Other articles and interviews published are on MovieWeb, Bloody Disgusting and Birth.Movies.Death. Producer Suzanne C. Nagy also did an interview on the film that can be seen on The Good, The Bad, and The Sequel Podcast YouTube channel.

Critical reception
As with the first film, critical reception was negative. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews from  critics.

Dennis Harvey from Variety refers to the film as an "incomplete mess". He criticizes the top billing notices of George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen despite each only appearing on screen for a few minutes and the poor-quality special effects, especially for the bear attack scenes, calling them "cheesily abrupt, poorly disguising faulty effects work". He also finds the film's music score to be random sound pieces spliced together and not coherent. Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times calls out the film's directing as "touching incompetence". Catsoulis finds the dialogue dopey, the tone uncertain at times and the demise of the mother bear to be disappointing and needing a better send-off.

Film festivals
The film was first screened at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival on February 17, 2020. Since then, the movie has been shown at various film festivals, including the Monmouth Film Festival, Lisbon International Horror Film Festival, Knoxville Horror Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, LA Crime and Horror Film Festival, and Popcorn Frights Film Festival.