Bipedal
Mutant Killer Bears Will Find You…
1979
10
years. 10 years since this site has existed. 10 years since I tested out an
idea site I had for Blogspot. A lot can and has happened in 10 years.
I’ve
covered many forms of Monster Crap, from the embarrassingly terrible attempt to
Americanize Godzilla to dreck by one Uwe Boll to films on Mystery Science
Theater 3000 to the films of the studio company known as The Asylum to my
hatred of Universal Studios to films I grew up with as a kid and those
nostalgia glasses needed to be cleaned quite a bit to porn films (thanks Porno
Pete) to films that I don’t what the hell was going on. Through it all, I
believe I have for the most part been able to keep things extremely humorous.
Heck,
the stars of Monster Crap films have done a lot in 10 years from sadly pass
away, to becoming world champion to getting a huge freaking break and sometimes
even winning a damn Oscar to finding someone they love to hell, even becoming
freaking mayor.
Congratulations
Knox County, Your Mayor Is Jacob Goodnight. Keep Your Eyes In Your Heads At All
Times And Avoid Run Down Hotels
And
of course, a lot has happened to me. Both good and bad. Since starting this
site, I have lost both my grandfathers, one of my uncles, and a two interns
sadly. But I have also gone to several great wrestling events, concerts, and
horror conventions. I have also hired another intern to make for the ones no
longer with us. I have seen many great movies. I have seen one of my favorite
teams win a sports championship and hell, just these last few months, I have
moved out of the place I had been living in for 22 years and am in a new house
where I don’t have to mow the fucking lawn.
And
now we get to the 10th anniversary induction, a induction that I had
you choose out of films that I was only going to nominate this once and never
again because I liked every single one of them. And for several days out of
that week, it was a close call to see who would win. But one would pull ahead
and ultimately get this slot. And that film is a film about mutant killer
bears.
Hey,
I Might Do More Bear Jokes In This Induction
And
I’m glad I started off with Christopher Walken because some of you may have
heard Prophecy and thought “that movie where Christopher Walken is the archangel
Gabriel?” And my response to that is no, that was “The Prophecy” and this is
just “Prophecy”. And before you say that is not really a huge difference, I
would like to say I agree with you, but with films like “The Final Destination”
being a sequel to Final Destination and “The Predator” being a sequel to
“Predator”; films like “The Intruder” and “The Intruder” as well as
“Changeling” and “The Changeling” being two different movies; as well as films
sharing the same title for no other reason than they are lazy like we have two
movies called The Thing, you really need to talk to Hollywood about that.
Anyway,
in the 1970s…a huge thing besides disco, Woodstock, the Vietnam War, and Nixon
being corrupt as hell, was helping the environment against the scourge that we
make in pollution.
By
The Way, That Guy Is Italian Because In The 70s, We Really Didn’t Know The
Difference Between Italians And Native Americans.
Right,
Chief Jay Strongbow? Or Should I Call You Luke Scarpa
That
rant will make sense when we get to the movie. But back to the movie itself.
We
liked doing films that talked about the damage we are doing to the environment
(or with horror, if we are not careful, the environment will get revenge on our
asses.
Just
Like That Frogs Movie I Did A Few Years Back
Enter
Hollywood North, a period of films being made in Canada for either cheaper
values or for the natural environment up there that still continues to this
day. And also enter John Frankenheimer, who at that time was a huge name in
making political thrillers and decided to step a little out of his comfort zone
in making a horror movie. For the film’s
stars, they would get Robert Foxworth (a sort of name in the 70s), Talia Shire
(who was a name after being in the first two Rocky movies as Adrian and the
first two Godfather movies as Connie), another really good actor in Richard
Dysert, and a relative unknown at the time in Armad Assante.
And
speaking of Richard Dysert, this is the first actor in one of my inductions
that was also in one of my favorite films of all time.
Yep,
A Few Years After This Movie…He Would Be Copper In John Carpenter’s The Thing.
And
of course, we have a few people from past Monster Crap inductions like Tom
McFadden (who was in Uncle Sam and 976-EVIL), Burke Bynes (who was in Child’s
Play 3), Eric Mansker (who played a bodyguard in Leprechaun In The Hood), and
Frank Welker (who was in so many inductions that I have lost count).
So
with all that out of the way, let’s get into this fun film.
We
begin with the old school Paramount logo.
Yeah…Paramount
Extremely Hates Horror Movies If You Go By The Word Of Many People Who Have
Worked There. But Because They Make So Much Money For Them, They Continue To
Make Them.
We
then see flashlights in the dark and a very generically font of a title
sequence.
As
we get the opening credits, we find out that these flashlights belong to
rescuers, who have come to find some missing lumberjacks.
Let’s
Hope These Lumberjacks Aren’t Just Simply Putting On Women’s Clothing So They
Can Hang Around In Bars.
The
rescuers also have dogs. One dog senses something and runs towards it with
everyone else following. The dog jumps off a cliff, but is saved by the harness
on it as the rescuers try to pull it back up. But something has grabbed the dog
and the rope snaps signaling that either way, that dog is dead.
Don’t
Even Think About Running Off To Do That.
They
never heard the dog hit the ground so two of the three are going to climb down
the cliff after it. They get down to the ground, but soon they are missing as
well as the third guy hears horrifying screams from them as their ropes are cut
and sent back up. This third guy decides “No Man Left Behind” so I’ll go down
there and check it out. Of course he slips and falls on his way down and lands
on some rocks. The fall doesn’t kill him, but it does basically make him
paralyzed and with one of the rescuers dead next to him….
A
roar and his screams signifies that he is royally dead meat.
So
the next morning, we see the guy’s bloody helmet floating on a stream cut with
shots of the beautiful outdoors.
Oh
And These Dead Bodies Just Hanging There. But At Least We Showed That Nature Is
Beautiful.
We
then cut to Maggie Verne playing on the cello for an orchestra concert.
Hey
Talia Shire Or As Rocky Would Say “Adrien!!!!!”
She
is having some issues by the look on her face for a moment, but she gets right
back to normal and no one in the audience is any the wiser. After the concert
is over, we find out that Maggie is pregnant and has not told her husband, who
she thinks would probably not want to have it because in his opinion, the world
is such a mess that it would be unfair to bring a child into it. The friend who
noticed her issues and who she is talking to about this tells her that it is
her choice and no one else’s. This friend wants Maggie to tell him now and
Maggie says she needs to pick the right time.
Meanwhile,
we see an ambulance go, but we have to go to the park to see Native Americans
protesting the way they are being treated.
Sadly,
I Think Their Treatment Got Only A Smidge Better.
Meanwhile,
we see the ambulance arrive at a run down part of the city. Here, we meet her
husband Rob, who is a doctor and has to clean a baby up from some rat bites,
then put the baby in the hospital because the baby is sick.
After
cleaning it up, he leaves and complains outside about the conditions of the
building. He also hates that nothing will be done about this and that these
people really can’t move anywhere better so it is rather a hopeless endeavor,
but one he must do anyway…although he wishes things were different.
A
government agent comes by and tells Rob that he is needed to write a report on
the situation in Maine between a paper mill and a group of Indians called Opies.
The Paper Mill brought a whole lot of land to work for their operation and the
natives say it is theirs. The dispute is at a standstill, but they believe EPA
investigation would make things easier for one side to win over the other. It
takes some convincing, but Rob goes along with it and takes his wife Maggie
with him to Maine.
When
they get to Maine, they meet a father with his two kids preparing for a camping
trip.
Rob
and Maggie then meet the head of the paper mill, Bethel Isley.
We
also see a dog being airlifted from the forest and we find out that it is all
that is left of the search and rescue team that wasn’t found. We then first
hear of Katahdin, which is an Native American legend, according to the film. I
looked it up on my end and the only Katahdin I see is Mt. Katahdin, which is in
Maine so someone did their research for the most part. I say for the most part
because Katahdin means “Greatest Mountain” and the legend that supposedly
protects that area is Pamola, a creature with wings of a bird, body of a man,
and head of a moose.
Also
Mascot For The Baxter Brewing Company In Maine
Meanwhile,
the Katahdin in this movie is supposed to be a sort of bigfoot that is larger
than a dragon, but with eyes of a cat. Bethel definitely finds this whole
Katahdin business a joke and believes the Opies killed the people, but is very
courteous to the Vernes as much as possible, probably knowing why they are
here. Of course, then we meet the Opies who are having a blockade.
One
of them just so happens to be the leader John Hawks.
Hey
Armand Assante. Remember When I Talked About Hollywood Not Caring About The
Difference Between Italians And Native Americans? This Film Sadly Is Another
Reminder Of That.
Isley
tries to reason with John, but John is not having any of it. He then eventually
loses his patience and has one of his employees in Kelso try to chainsaw the
tress that is holding the chains.
No,
Not That Kelso!!!!
Yeah, That Kelso.
This
resolves into a fight of chainsaw vs. axe as John grabs one and refuses to let
him cut down the tree. He even says that Kelso will have to cut his head off
before this tree goes down. Rob is not happy seeing this and tries to reason to
stop, but Bethel is insistent. Kelso gets the upper hand and at Bethel’s
orders, makes Kelson threaten to chainsaw John.
With
this threat, the lead female native Ramona (and John’s wife) unlocks the chains
and ends the blockade.
The Actress Playing Her Is Actually Part Native American On Her Mom’s Side.
While
the paper mill eventually gets what it wants to ending the blockade, Rob is extremely
pissed and lets it be known how bullshit that act was.
The
Vernes are led to their cabin, where they will stay while Rob makes his report.
At the cabin, Maggie records herself playing on the cello via tape recorder
while Rob goes fishing. Rob notices something strange in that a giant obviously
mutated fish eats a duck.
After
that, he goes home and cooks the smaller fish he caught while talking about the
giant fish he saw which he thinks was a world record in size. He eats with his
wife and his wife just waves it off as being Maine since Maine was where Paul
Bunyan and his ox Babe were from, which is kinda true in that there are a
variety of places that claim that is where Paul Bunyan was born and in this
case, its Bangor, Maine (other places being in Minnesota, Michigan, and
Wisconsin).
Anyway,
they talk about how peaceful it is out here. Maggie subtly tries to work up the
nerve to tell her husband she is pregnant, but Rob keeps going with not wanting
to have another child out in this world. Rob also may be afraid as he doesn’t
even know when asked as he doesn’t know a lot of things anymore. He feels like
despite all he has tried to do, he keeps ending up where he started. Maggie
tells him that she loves him and he responds by saying the same to her before
they start making out. However, it goes no farther than that as obviously there
is an animal at their door making noises. Rob goes to see what it is, but as
soon as he answers the door, he finds a racoon in the midst of a seizure.
The
racoon gets out of the seizure and starts attacking.
Robert
eventually sends the racoon into the fire, burning it to death.
Meanwhile,
that family we saw at the airport earlier is hiking in the woods. The daughter
has to be told to turn off her radio as the father thinks he heard something.
He finds it is nothing so she turns the radio back on. We then see a bunch of
kayakers racing against each other.
But
it is merely Maggie watching the race from a bridge as Rob is on the phone
talking to his friend and sending tissue samples for the dead raccoon they
encountered as Rob believes something was obviously wrong with it. John and
Ramona show up and say that they want to tell Rob and his wife Maggie their
side of the conflict with the paper mill. He explains that his people are
violently ill and some of it is what makes it appear like they are drunk, but
alcohol has no bearing on what is happening to them. Also, they mention that
there have been a rash of children that we born dead and deformed.
The
two natives then take the Vernes to where the Opies live, of course visiting
the teepees on the outside part of their settlement where Ramona’s grandfather
M’Rai lives.
Not
Italian, But Not American Native American As He Is A Canadian One.
Rob
then talks about how a few days ago, he was encountering people fighting for
room in a single living space yet they have a whole forest. John tells him that
those people fought way too late. As M’Rai talks about how there are tunnels
also underneath the land, Rob notices very strange burn marks on his hand.
They
look at the area and mention the legend of Katahdin. M’Rai tells them that he
has seen Katahdin not that long ago. As they see something big in the water,
Rob also starts to notice strange stuff on the roots of the trees.
Oh
and that thing in the water? A giant tadpole.
Since
this pond feeds into the river where the paper mill is, Rob obviously thinks
something is up. So he goes to the paper mill as Bethel gives him a tour.
Robert asks questions and Bethel (getting angrier as he has to defend his mill)
each time tells them that he can test the water supply as it has been done many
times and it has been clean, despite the use of contractors for how they get
their wood via transport. As they get back on the boat to head back to the
cabin, Maggie steps in some
On
the boat back to the cabin, Maggie says that she believes him. Rob makes note
of the mud on her boots as there is silvery stuff on it. He finds out that the
silvery stuff is dry and mentions how in school he was given a trick question
of what is the only liquid that isn’t wet. When Maggie asks what the answer
was, Rob tells her it is mercury. That night, he looks at a history of mercury
on how it was used for wood to keep it dry and not get algae, but it’s
widespread use was stopped in 1956 when it was found to be responsible for
100,000 deaths in the town of Minimata, Japan.
Whatever,
you want to say about the film being false, this info is very huge to people
who know the history of ecological disasters with the only things wrong in what
he was saying is the number of deaths weren’t that many and the time when it
was stopped. You see, between 1932 and 1968, a chemical company Chisso
Corporation (then known as Nichitsu) discharged effluent that contained mercury
from their plant in Minimata. This methyl mercury contaminated the fish and
this fish was what the local population ate. People got sick with a
neurological syndrome caused by this mercury that was eventually given a name.
It’s called Minimata Disease. Look this up if you dare as what you will find is
not pretty.
Robert
explains that basically the reason mercury is never found in the water is
because it all goes to the bottom. He says that the water is contaminated from
all the evidence shown earlier and that contamination goes towards the babies
of the people who eat the food from the lake. This makes Maggie very upset,
although it will take 10 days to a week to where they can be sure that it is
mercury that is infecting these people.
Now
it is time for the scene that everyone who has ever seen this movie remembers.
Remember that family that was hiking earlier? Well, they are camped out and
asleep when they are awakened by our monster also known as Katahdin.
Unfortunately
For Them, Katahdin Is Not Looking For Any Picnic Baskets
The
girl screams which awakens the boy and father. The son tries to run while in
his damn sleeping bag.
And
if you remember Friday The 13th Part VII, this can only end in a
hilarious death.
And
We Don’t Need To See The Father And Girl Killed To Know That They Are Also Dead
The
next day, Robert is getting blood drawn from the Opies.
However,
this all ends with Bethel, his boys, the sheriff, and the deputies arrive to
the Opies settlement.
That
family who had been killed that night have been found and the Opie men are
getting blamed for it with several of them getting arrested. John is going to
get arrested too, but John decides to be a suspicious idiot (even though we
know damn well he didn’t do it) and run away.
Even
When He Was Getting His Feet Wet In Acting, Armand Assante Already Knew How To
Betray The Law
He
gets away. Robert Verne wants to go to Mary’s Bend (where the death’s took
place) and Ramona agrees to take him and Maggie there. The helicopter takes
them there (despite the pilot’s apprehension that he doesn’t like the way the
sky is looking). As the helicopter is landing, we see claw marks.
Oh
and it starts to rain.
Because
Of Course It Does
Robert
sees the claw marks. He asks Ramona what could have done this and Ramona thinks
a bear perhaps did it.
I’m
Sure You Would Expect Me To Make A Stephen Colbert Joke, But Before He Got His
Job On CBS, We Found Out Stephen Colbert Is A Bear Lover.
Of
course we also see claw marks higher up to let us know that this bear is tall.
Or
Climbed Up A Tree Just To Do That
Oh
and they find a bit of skin left by the creature.
Of
course, John Hawkes also shows up.
Maggie
gets out of the helicopter to look at some traps that poachers left by the
stream and hears noises. She goes to the noises to find something horrifying.
Her cries of despair call over Robert, John, and Ramona and they find in those
traps….
Mutant
Bear Cubs.
Well, Looks Like This Will Not Be The Day Where Humans And Bears Can Co-Exist Peacefully. Better Head Back To Gummi Glen.
Yeah,
this is probably enough proof to tell people that the Opies are innocent. Also,
there are two cubs, but only this cub is alive as with these traps, the other
cub drowned. Ramona thinks they should let it die, but Richard rightfully
points out that yes, this is the proof they need to tell people that something
else killed that family. It is also evidence that if shown, that paper mill is
going down hard as even in the late 70s, something like this would not fly with
the EPA which had been established 9 years earlier….would so be young enough to
be willing to burn whoever is responsible for this. They want to leave by
helicopter, but the pilot says no way are they flying out of here in this
weather and considering who would die in a helicopter crash the same year as
this movie came out, I don’t think you wanted to become like Thurman Munson.
They
need to find someplace warm to keep the mutant cub alive and Ramona recommends
they go to the teepees where her grandfather lives at. They get to the place
where several other Opies are waiting for them, but M’Rai is not one of them.
They set up a table in one of the teepees where they put the mutant cub down
and wrap it up to keep it warm. They tell the Opies to send people from the
newspaper, the sheriff, and people from the paper mill to show them this
horrifying creature.
Kudos
To Whoever Did The Effects For This Cub.
Robert
then notices his wife looking unhappy as she sees the mutant cub.
Unfortunately, he is more concerned with this cub and asks for supplies from
his bag. That night, Robert finally tries to calm his wife down and she finally
tells him that she is pregnant. She explains that because she ate what the
mother of those mutant bear cubs ate, she is worried about her child. Robert
asks why didn’t he know and Maggie rightfully points out that he didn’t want to
know.
Yeah,
Considering How Robert Has Been Kind Of So Focused On His Work That He Didn’t
Notice Completely Obvious Signs That Something Huge Was Up (Especially As She
Kept Playing That Part Of His Recorder About The Mercury-Contaminated Fish
Causing Mutations In Offsprings), This Is Definitely On Him.
After
all of this, Robert is finally understanding of her plight. But we can’t get to
further into this as Ramona tells Robert to come to the teepee. Inside, we see
that the bear cub is crying for help from his mother and if you know anything
about how protective mother bears are to their cubs, shit is about to hit the
fan.
But
first, the vehicles finally come with Bethel, the sheriff, and people from the
papers. John decides that since his run earlier, he better stay in the tunnels
under the teepees until they are gone. Bethel wonders what the hell is the
meaning of this summoning and Robert says the proof they need of their mess is
all here. The people who arrived all see the mutant cub and are horrified,
especially knowing what this means.
The
Look Of A Man Who Just Realized That The Very Business He Owned….Is Going To Be
Fucked Beyond Recognition
Bethel
leaves the teepee, upset about this with Robert behind and we get this bit of
dialogue.
Robert:
Did
you know?
Bethel:
I
didn’t want to.
When
dealing with anyone higher up having a huge fall because of the actions of
someone under them (in this case, the contractors who put chemicals in the wood
to keep it from rotting), more often than not, you will find that is ultimately
the answer that the higher ups have. In business as a boss of a big corporation
that has a million jobs on the line, most truly do not want to know every bit
of what their company is doing for fear that their own conscience would bring
about the end to their own success by self-reporting their own mistakes or any
sign of weakness. In fact, you see it with our own damn president who even
doesn’t want to hear you sneeze or cough because he stubbornly sees not being
able to control your own body a sign of weakness. It’s always a case of
inflated ego that is flimsily patched to get that hot air, but doesn’t want
anyone bringing it up. And more often than not with anything that brings
someone down to Earth and into failure is ego.
Hell,
Some People (Like Antonio Brown Here) Are Willing To Lose Millions Of Dollars
Because Of The Almighty Ego
Now
you remember a few paragraphs ago, I said shit was about to hit the fan because
mama bear was obviously coming. Well, we get a fake scare at first with M’Rai
finally showing up in a bear blanket to wonder why everyone is here and then we
get the real scare as mama mutant bear is here.
Kelso
(the guy who earlier nearly killed John with a chainsaw and is also here) is
the first among this group to die.
An
Opie tries to protect people in the teepees and he gets it.
John
comes out as a fire has started and tells everyone to get into the tunnels. The
helicopter pilot is wounded by the bear.
Robert
is able to get the helicopter pilot to safety. We hear other people screaming
while our survivors are in the tunnels hoping to wait things out. After several
minutes of nothing but silence, the sheriff grabs his flashlight and sees if
the coast is clear.
Safe
To Say It Wasn’t As Katahdin Kills The Sheriff And In This Case, Probably
Killed The Deputy Too
Katahdin
takes the dead mutant cub and runs away as M’Rai looks on.
When
daylight hits and the fire has all but died down, the survivors come back up
looking at the burnt remains of all the teepees and a vehicle. They are
thankful that M’Rai is still alive. Robert says that the helicopter pilot is
still alive, but definitely needs to go to the hospital, but John tells them
that the town is too far away and since the Opie settlement is closer, they go
there. Except for Bethel as he decides that there is an old communication tower
about 6-7 miles on top of Mount Emery (which would probably be really Emery
Pass, which leads to Dorr Mountain) so he can radio for help.
Bethel
takes this mission alone as a way to hopefully make up for his mill creating
this whole mess by his own conscience. Unfortunately for Bethel, he finds the
remains of the dead mutant bear cub the mother took being eaten by bugs.
Of
course, that means that Katahdin is there. Bethel tries to make it to the radio
tower, but it is locked and the gate around it has barbed wire. He tries to go
under the gate, but Katahdin kills him so no help is coming from the outside.
And
Thank You, Richard Dysart, For Giving Us A Silly Death Face. Monster Crap Has
Had Loads Of Those Over The Years.
Richard,
John, Ramona, Maggie, and M’Rai get to the settlement with the injured pilot,
but find that word travels real fast and the settlement has been abandoned.
They take the wounded pilot inside so he can rest as M’Rai sings a prayer. John
goes off with a bow and arrow and finds an abandoned vehicle. John goes back
and tells everyone about it. They all get on, but in the middle of the night,
Katahdin stops them from getting into town.
And
Where Do You Think You’re Going?
It
capsizes the vehicle, and kills the wounded pilot as everyone else escapes.
Everyone
else gets to the river as everyone but M’Rai decides to swim towards the cabin
which is across it. The bear cub had been biting Maggie’s neck and does it
again in the river. Robert sees her in trouble and in a rare case of choosing
his wife over his work, he grabs the cub and drowns it.
M’Rai
decides that he is going to try and reason with Katahdin. That goes about as
well as you would expect.
Tip:
No Point In Trying To Reason With Mutant Killer Bears
Afterwards,
the bear decides that it is going run after them. They get to the cabin and see
Katahdin go under the water….and just assume it is dead.
Um…Bears
Can Swim, You Guys.
While
we know Frank Welker does the bear noises, I guess since we’re at a good place
as any to talk about the guy in the mutant bear suit. This would be the first
(albeit uncredited) role for former 7’2 college basketball player Kevin Peter
Hall. He majored in Theatrical Arts at George Washington University while he had
a college basketball scholarship down there. After college, he moved to
Venezuela to try playing pro basketball down there, but quickly lost interest
in it. Afterwards, he would go to Los Angeles and work with college friend Jay
Fenichel in doing stage musicals. Because of his size though, Hollywood would
soon come calling for him to play big monsters and this was his first role. A
few years later, he would meet Alaina Reed on the set of 227 (she played Rose
Lee Holloway) and they would marry off-screen in 1988 (where they have two
kids) and 1989 on camera for the show. You may also know him from two roles he
took.
Predator
In “Predator” And Harry In “Harry And The Hendersons”.
We’ll
get more into Mr. Hall during the aftermath of this review portion, including
his tragic end.
Suddenly,
bubbles started showing which causes worry. Then the bubbles stop and they
think they are okay. The bear then pops up, showing that it is very much still
alive.
I’m
Ready For My Cover Shoot For Mutant Bears Illustrated
They
all run into the cabin and try to barricade the door, but that does little to
protect them from Katahdin, who punches a hold through the roof.
Little
Humans, Little Humans, Let Me In!!!!!!
Robert
shoots the bear off the roof. After some more waiting as they hope the bear is
dead, Katahdin shows it is not as it busts through the wall.
NOT
VERY NEIGHBORLY!!!!!
Robert
shoots the bear with the shotgun and John shoots it with arrows, but the bear
still will not go down. John continues to shoot it with arrows, but the bear
kills him.
Robert
grabs the arrow just as the bear grabs him, so Robert decides to start stabbing
Katahdin with the arrows.
Robert
stabs Katahdin in the eye and since the mutant bear obviously only had that one
eye, it is blind.
It
lets Robert go and falls into the water, breaking the docks.
Robert
is not done yet as he jumps on Katahdin and continues with the arrow stabbing.
He
stabs it to the point where the bear goes underwater, where it dies.
The
next day, Robert and Maggie fly home.
You
would think the movie is over, but not yet as we see that Katahdin and cubs
were not the only mutant bears out there.
Yep….There’s
A Daddy
And
now the movie ends.
While
the movie did make back its budget (almost doubled it), it came out in the same
month as another movie which well, completely overshadowed it.
Now
for what happened to everyone. Robert Foxworth (who played Robert Verne)
continues to do well and really does well at voice acting with his biggest role
being Ratchet in those Michael Bay Transformers movies. Talia Shire (who played
Maggie) continued to be in Rocky movies as well as other stuff. Richard Dysart
(who played Bethel Isely) was in my favorite movie of all time in John
Carpenter’s The Thing and was in LA Law. Armand Assante (who played John
Hawkes) went on to be John Gotti in the 1996 TV movie, but sadly will be mostly
remembered for playing Rico in the Judge Dredd movie with Stallone.
Yeah,
That “LAW!!!!” Line Is Never Going To Be Forgotten No Matter How Hard He Tries
9
years later, Victoria Racimo (who played Ramona) would get her biggest break in
1987 as Nurse St. Cloud in Ernest Goes To Camp, but ultimately stopped acting
around 1996. But probably the most interesting person who worked on this film
was a mime at the time named Tom McLoughlin, who years later would become a
writer and director with his most famous film being as the director of Friday
The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.
Now
comes the part where we talk about people in this film who are no longer with
us. Steve Shemayne (who played one of the Opies) died 4 years after this film
at the age of 41. George Clutsi (who played M’Rai) would die in 1988 at the age
of 83. Everett Creach (who played Kelso) died in 1994 at 60 years old. Jaye
Durkis (who played the sheriff’s deputy) died in 2000 at the age of 65. John
Frankenheimer (who was the director) would die in 2002 at the age of 72 due to
a stroke caused by complications during spinal surgery. Graham Jarvis (who
played a character named Shusette would leave this mortal coil in 2003 at the
age of 72 from multiple myeloma. Charles H. Gray (who played the sheriff)
passed away in 2008 at the age of 86. Jim Burk (who played one of the rescuers)
died in 2009 at 76 years old from heart failure. Richard Dysart would pass away
in 2015 at the age of 86 from cancer. Tom May (who played a lumberjack) died in
2015 at the age of 82. Bob Terhune (who played another rescuer) passed away in
2016 at the age of 88.
But
probably the most tragic was the passing of the man in the bear costume, Kevin
Peter Hall. He had a car accident and needed a blood transfusion. Unfortunately
for him, someone messed up and he contracted HIV, which he announced while
filming the Harry and the Hendersons TV series. His last film would be as a
Charon in a film that finally got released to DVD in 2016 in Highway To Hell.
He would die in 1991 from AIDS. If there is ever an award for best movie or tv
series actor in costume, it should be named in his honor.
My
personal opinion of the film is I enjoy the hell out of it. It is an
environmental film that for the most part does its research for the damages
caused by our actions towards the environment. Everyone seems to take this
movie very seriously (in the case of Talia Shire, missing scenes of Rocky 2 to
finish this film). The kills are great and the effects are something to behold
for a film that not many people know about. I would recommend this film and am
more than happy with reviewing it, despite me not considering it crap….but
majority rules, I guess. And I’m happy to have done this site for 10 years.
Now
for what is next. It is Rutger Hauer Month and…
I’m
Back….
Yeah,
I know. And I guess you will do your usual schtick of giving me the movie with
glee.
I
would have love to have done that, but it seems the fans picked the most
predictable of choices from your little list. But don’t worry, next month…I
have something for you that has been more that a year in waiting. But for
now….here you go.
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