Grizzly II: The Predator | |
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Directed by | David Sheldon |
Produced by | Ross Massbaum, Suzanne Nagy, Joseph Proctor |
Written by | Harvey Flaxman (characters) David Sheldon R.X.West |
Starring | Steve Inwood Deborah Raffin John Rhys-Davies Louise Fletcher George Clooney Laura Dern Charlie Sheen |
Release date(s) | Unreleased (Production Canceled) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Grizzly II: The Predator (also known as Predator: The Concert) is an unreleased horror sequel to the popular film, Grizzly. The film is notable for featuring early appearances of future superstars George Clooney, Charlie Sheen, and Laura Dern in small supporting roles. Despite a large amount of footage being shot, the film has never been officially completed, or released in theaters or on home video. The version that exists is a workprint featuring the original temp soundtrack with songs by Michael Jackson.
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The film centers on Park Ranger Hollister (Steve Inwood), who is at odds with the Park supervisor (Louise Fletcher) over a large rock concert that is going to be held in the area. Hollister fears that the local grizzly population might be a danger to the attendees. When a grizzly kills a local poacher and three teens, Hollister begins to track the bear with the help of a bear activist (Deborah Raffin) and a local bear hunter named Bouchard (John Rhys-Davies). In addition, four poachers set out together to try to trap the bear, hoping to gain the $100,000 reward money. But the alleged 18-foot grizzly makes its way to the rock concert, making the climatic showdown all the more personal for Hollister as his daughter (Deborah Foreman) is working there backstage.
Grizzly II was shot in Hungary in 1983. Principal photography was completed for the most part with the grizzly effects to be added in later. According to special effects man Nick Maley, the "main unit shots were essentially complete and we had not started to film the effects miniatures that we were planning when we were suddenly told the movie was pulling out of Hungary."[1] In March 2011 A group of fans from the Cinema Snobs Forum created a fan edit of the film fixing as many of the movies flaws as possible and releasing it to the community even though their cut is pointless as it is nearly identical to the work print since it still features no bear.[2]
Grizzly II is often considered an urban legend in horror film history with false reviews popping up. One of the mistaken reviews is the fact that in 1977, an independent horror film titled Claws starring Jason Evers and Leon Ames which is about a killer grizzly bear in Alaska was re-released in 1978 in Canada and Mexico as Grizzly 2, in an attempt to capitalize on the success of Grizzly even though it had no direct association. Grizzly II, despite not being finished however, a workprint of the film did surface in 2007. This rough version features all of the live action footage but is missing nearly all shots of the bear. A review of the workprint appeared on the genre review site Critical Condition. The film is described as interesting for the sole fact the "cast contains such well-known names as George Clooney, Charlie Sheen, Louise Fletcher, Laura Dern, Deborah Raffin, John Rhys-Davies, Dick Anthony Williams, Charles Cyphers, Marc Alaimo and Jack Starrett."[3] The workprint was also spotlighted on an episode of The Cinema Snob, where host Brad Jones poked fun at the long stretches of concert filler, the lifted Michael Jackson soundtrack, and the numerous missing shots of the bear.[4] However, the review was recently removed due to a complaint by Suzanne Nagy, who threatened to sue the entertainer for reviewing the film.[5]
Barbie Wilde, the Female Cenobite from Hellbound: Hellraiser II, is also featured in the film as a robotic drummer in the concert band.