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| Available at Amazon.com |
Picture a bunch of young adults going into the woods for some kind of activity. It could be camping, community service, offroading, drinking some beers, research, or whatever you’d like it to be. They all are every different type of stereotype you can possibly think of and don’t care about the world. However something is lurking in the woods and hot on their trail, but they can never quite place their finger on what it is. Before you know, they start disappearing and ending up dead. Sound like most cheapo horror flicks you’ve seen over the past five years? Well guess what? This one is exactly the same, but the killer isn’t a person. Dun-dun-DUUUNNNN!
To sum up Grizzly Park, it’s almost identical to what I’ve already told you but a few more specifics are in order. Eight bad to the bone kids are sent out to do a week of community service in a California forest. The part of the woods they happen to be in is called (ta-da) Grizzly Park. Their only supervision is a strict and “life-altering” soul known as Ranger Bob. He looks to get them back on the right track in life and won’t take any crap from any of them. Little do they know that a serial killer is seeking refuge in the woods and is looking to kill again, but he’s not all they have to worry about. Something much more fierce and sadistic could be lurking around any corner and there’s nothing they can do about it.
It’s a bear alright. A big friggin’ bear. Oh no, did I spoil it for you? Of course I didn’t because the name of the film is Grizzly Park for God sakes. If it was possible to find anything surprising or at least redeemable about this film I’d tell you right now and spare you the rental fee, but there isn’t so if you dare see for yourself then be my guest. It’s incredibly predictable and just not fun by any sense of the imagination. More then half of it consists of watching the kids try to be bad asses and then wonder what made a noise behind them. Eventually the bear shows up and goes to town which makes for a somewhat entertaining ten minutes near the end. Not worth any of our time.
There’s no easy way to have you understand how dull Grizzly Park is then to compare it to WWE’s See No Evil and discard any enjoyment or sensibility it possessed. That’s all this film pretty much is but with a bear instead of a giant wrestler named Kane. Perhaps I was expecting too much when this DVD arrived, but I was at least expecting more then what it is. Not many other films are this unbearable for the first seventy-five minutes or so, but nothing happens. How can someone enjoy watching a film where nothing is going on and not leading up to the final climatic event? It boggles my mind, but maybe this is evidence then that this is director Tom Skull’s first attempt at writing and directing.
The film is shown in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and essentially it looks like a made for television movie. Have a low budget, get a low budget look. Yet the colors are bright and everything can be seen clearly.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and I must admit that the musical score is quite good. It can be heard well without ever overpowering any dialogue.
Audio Commentary – This is included in the setup for those of you wondering and not in the special features’ menu. Director Tom Skull and producer Belle Avery are together for this track. You’re going to be a bit surprised as to how much Avery talks compared to Skull because you’ll forget he’s even there sometimes. And his contributions are rather childish and stupid.
What Is Grizzly Park? – Cast and crew talk about what the film is like for three and a half minutes.
Filming A Real Bear – Two minutes and five seconds of a few from the film talking about what it was like working with a real grizzly bear. One girl actually compares Brody the bear to Bruce the shark saying how Bruce was the reason Jaws made people scared to go into the water and Brody is why people should be scared of the woods. Um, okay.
You Reap What You Sow – Here Brody is compared to the Grim Reaper and he picks off people in the film by how they lead their lives. It’s an interesting spin and a totally different way to look at Grizzly Park, but it still doesn’t make it any good. This feature runs a little over two and a half minutes.
Brody Stand In? – This minute and a half feature shows how some of Brody the bear’s scenes were done by a guy in a realistic looking bear suit. I don’t see how the guy was able to move considering he couldn’t see.
Trailer
Trailers – Alien Agent, Lost Colony, Hack!, Loaded, and Border Lost
Don’t bother with this one. It has nothing even resembling amusement even though I’m still trying to figure out whether I actually enjoyed the surprise ending or just am happy it wasn’t as crappy as the rest of the film. The special features are not going to be really worth your time even though they’re not awful simply because why watch it a second time through if you loathed it the first time? If you’re up for a really cool scary bear in a film then buy The Great Outdoors for $5 and enjoy the bald-headed killer bear.
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Allumination presents Grizzly Park. Directed by: Tom Skull. Starring: Glenn Morshower, Randy Wayne, Zulay Henao, Emily Foxler, a host of others, and Brody The Bear. Written by: Tom Skull. Running time: minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: May 27, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
About Danny Cox
