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We love bears; the Care Bears, Yogi Bear, Ursa Major. However, some bears are bad and eat people, like the bears in Grizzly Night. We had the trailer recently, and I was asked to review it, so here goes.
The movie stars Charles Esten, Oded Fehr, Brec Bassinger. Joel Johnstone, Lauren Call, Jack Griffo, and Josh Zuckerman. Burke Doeren directs, and Bo and Tanner Bean, and Katrina Mathewson write the story and screenplay.
The Story
The story for Grizzly Night is based on a true story:
On August 12th, 1967, in Montana’s Glacier National Park, the unthinkable happened: On the same night, nine miles apart, there were not one-but two-fatal grizzly bear attacks.
I didn’t read this before watching the movie, and I had no idea it was set in 1967. It explains the Super 8mm camera in it, which I thought was just a cool kid being all retro.
Basically, on that one night, two bear attacks happened. They make a big deal about this, but I figured bears attack people all the time. Then again, it was 1967, long before bear attacks were more popular. Is ‘popular’ the word?
It’s difficult to break down the story anymore; there are a few people camping in the woods and a bear attacks. Some of them survive, some don’t. I know it’s about the characters, but honestly, I didn’t care who made it and who didn’t, which was one of the main issues with Grizzly Night.
Not a Spicy Meatball
The best way to describe Grizzly Night is flat. Let me illustrate. I make a mean Spaghetti Bolognese, I make it from scratch, with herbs, paprika and two types of onion. Not to brag, but it tastes amazing, even when I end up wearing half of it. I now use a bib, but just for the spag boll.
I’ve had spag boll in the past that is just dull, no herbs, one type of onion, and barely any salt and pepper. Sure, it fills you up and tastes OK, but it’s just nothing special. This is Grizzly Night; most of the ingredients are there, but it’s just bland.
I found I wasn’t invested in any of the characters, well, apart from the bears, I wanted them to win. When you have a group of teenagers who see a bear in the woods, and then decide to camp in the same spot…what did you think was going to happen? If the bear were a zombie, it wouldn’t be finding any brains to eat.
There was just no spark in this movie; it was just a movie that now exists, and I have now seen it.
Overall
There’s nothing wrong with the cast; they all do their jobs well, they say their lines and stand on their cues, but I didn’t believe in any of them. I know Grizzly Night is an indie movie, and I know it had a limited budget, but I have seen a lot better made for a lot less.
I get that someone wanted to tell this story, as it was a big deal at the time, but there was nothing to invest in this. As I said, the actors are all competent, and the bears are real, as far as I could tell, but that’s it.
“I’m doing what bears do in the woods!”
The end of the movie has a series of flashcards that say what happened after the events. A few of the bears were killed, including a cub, and they were pushed to the point of extinction.
One flashcard made me giggle; it said about how they introduced a bear education system. Everyone, repeat after me:
“People are friends, not food!”
Oh, wait, they mean the education program was for humans, not the bears.
Grizzly Night is a date movie; your other half can sit there and look at the bears and worry if everyone is going to escape. You can be swiping through Tinder looking for someone who doesn’t like this kind of movie.
Overall, it’s a mildly interesting movie, but I wouldn’t sit through it again. I do love my indie movies, but this was incredibly lacklustre. 1 out of 5 stars, and I’m being generous.
Grizzly Night is on digital platforms now.
The post Indie Review: GRIZZLY NIGHT appeared first on Last Movie Outpost.
