The Never Released 1983 Giant Killer Bear Sequel, 'Grizzly II: Revenge', Has Finally Been Completed!

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, be still my roaring heart...

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...Thanks to Dawn of the Discs dropping the news on their Twitter, KHC has learned that Grizzly II: Revenge (1983), the never released sequel to Grizzly (1976), has finally been completed and recently screened in Los Angeles! Directed by Andre Szots and written by David Sheldon and Joanne McCall, this is HUGE news for fans of Grizzly, which is a 70s classic and was essentially Jaws for the forest. And wow, does this sequel look entertaining. 

Grizzly II began filming around 1982-1983, but, as producer Suzanne Csikos Nagy states on the film's website, the production ran out of money and into conflict with Nagy's partners leaving just before filming began on the Woodstock-sized concert scenes. Which was devastating for many fans of Grizzly when looking back on it, considering the film featured a hell of a cast, including George Clooney, Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen! With financial/rights issues, the film was never finished...until now. 

​In Grizzly II:

"All hell breaks loose when a 15-ft grizzly bear, reacting to the slaughter of her cub by poachers, seeks revenge and kills anyone that gets in her way. In the 3 days before the major concert taking place in Yellowstone National Park, the gigantic grizzly has brutally attacked campers Ron (George Clooney), Tina (Laura Dern) and Lance (Charlie Sheen), poachers and a park ranger. The terror doesn’t end there as the giant grizzly bear finds its way to the concert grounds to go on a killing spree."

That's right, Grizzly II is a killer bear movie that takes place at a concert, with a 17' tall mechanical bear. Drool. That's actual drool dripping from our chins. 

The film also stars Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Deborah Raffin, Steve Inwood, John Rhys-Davies, Dick Williams, Edward Meeks and Deborah Foreman.

As for what drove the film to finally being finished, Nagy states, "After 1990, my life changed and I became very successful in 2 different businesses. In 2018, the time was right to rethink the 'Grizzly' movie and create a challenging new narrative with a new message which could fill the missing part in the movie. Restoring the old footages was a great challenge. But in the summer of 2019, we got a clean, super crispy digital transfer from London. During the waiting period, we worked on the new script and re-erected the film from its dormant stage.

We didn’t want to make a 21st century movie when we looked at the footage. We wanted to keep it as original as possible to have an authentic American movie quality from the 80’s. Something that was missed or lost and found later on to attract enthusiastic cult lovers."
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As of right now, there is no indication of when to expect Grizzly II to be released, but it is scheduled to play at MIPCOM in early October. For now, enjoy the gloriously 80s trailer below, and visit the film's site for more details. 

By Matt Konopka