I went into this film knowing absolutely nothing about it other than the title, hoping that the whole 'ignorance is bliss' cliché would work out. To be honest. . . it kind of did. Not knowing the plot or reviews of others does help.
The story opens on a park ranger station preparing to shut down Grizzly Park (once home to more grizzlies than anywhere in the world, but the last grizzly was shot in 1922) because of the raging wildfires in southern California. If the fires weren't bad enough, a serial killer charged with the rape and murder of 11 women escaped from police custody. On the run, the killer finds a corrections officer on the side of the road repairing a tire and, after a quick slice, takes his identity and proceeds to pick up a group of lightweight criminals on their way to a cleanup program at, where else. . . Grizzly Park.
The film itself is pretty enjoyable, and a not-too-shabby animal attack horror. Even with the early murder, however, the film takes its time getting going and there are long periods of time where nothing at all really happens, but somehow it kept my attention. Also, you really don't get any good gore or violence until the last half-hour or so. It actually seems like they didn't have the budget to get use any of the gore effects until the last chunk of the flick, and that definitely hurt the quality. To be honest, you could probably fast forward to that point and still get the best experience from this movie as possible.
The acting wasn't awful (and bordering on good for a couple of the actors), but the dialogue was poorly written and very clichéd. The characters were essentially walking stereotypes. Well, other than the least believable Neo-Nazi in history, complete with the obviously fake Swastika and 'White Power' tats (if you look closely, you can see the Swastika smudge at one point. . . no joke). The soundtrack got repetitive and boring, which kind of affected the mood negatively. But, I'll admit. . . the ending is kind of hilarious and gave me the chance to say, 'I so knew it!'
Even with the flaws, the film itself is actually very watchable. Keep with it for the first half or two-thirds and you actually might enjoy yourself. You could do worse.
Final Verdict: 5/10.
-AP3-
The story opens on a park ranger station preparing to shut down Grizzly Park (once home to more grizzlies than anywhere in the world, but the last grizzly was shot in 1922) because of the raging wildfires in southern California. If the fires weren't bad enough, a serial killer charged with the rape and murder of 11 women escaped from police custody. On the run, the killer finds a corrections officer on the side of the road repairing a tire and, after a quick slice, takes his identity and proceeds to pick up a group of lightweight criminals on their way to a cleanup program at, where else. . . Grizzly Park.
The film itself is pretty enjoyable, and a not-too-shabby animal attack horror. Even with the early murder, however, the film takes its time getting going and there are long periods of time where nothing at all really happens, but somehow it kept my attention. Also, you really don't get any good gore or violence until the last half-hour or so. It actually seems like they didn't have the budget to get use any of the gore effects until the last chunk of the flick, and that definitely hurt the quality. To be honest, you could probably fast forward to that point and still get the best experience from this movie as possible.
The acting wasn't awful (and bordering on good for a couple of the actors), but the dialogue was poorly written and very clichéd. The characters were essentially walking stereotypes. Well, other than the least believable Neo-Nazi in history, complete with the obviously fake Swastika and 'White Power' tats (if you look closely, you can see the Swastika smudge at one point. . . no joke). The soundtrack got repetitive and boring, which kind of affected the mood negatively. But, I'll admit. . . the ending is kind of hilarious and gave me the chance to say, 'I so knew it!'
Even with the flaws, the film itself is actually very watchable. Keep with it for the first half or two-thirds and you actually might enjoy yourself. You could do worse.
Final Verdict: 5/10.
-AP3-