Director: Michael Anderson
Year: 1977
Country: Netherlands/USA/United Kingdom/Italy
Alternate Titles: Orca the Killer Whale
Genre: Nature-Run-Amok
Plot:
After inadvertently killing its mate while fishing, a fisherman and his crew come to find themselves being stalked and killed by the surviving killer whale in retribution, forcing him into an epic quest to settle the score with the vengeful creature on its turf and on its own terms.
Review:
This one turned out to be quite an enjoyable and entertaining creature feature. One of the better features here is the fact that this one sets up the crucial revenge aspect of the storyline here in an incredibly well-done with a lot to like, starting with the scene that sets if off when she's accidentally killed in the fishing attempt gone wrong. It's a heartbreaking scene more than anything, through the actions of how sad it is hooking into the creature and bringing it aboard, and how the whole scene is played out in front of the mate, as the whole scene comes off with a sense of poignancy that's ultimately touching. Its mournful cries and seeing how it reacts after the fact make this all the more touching and also lead into the film being quite fun, showing off the creature's antics as it orchestrates a rather complex and involved plan for revenge.
The destruction of the fishing boats is rather cheesy but comes off in a clever way that plays into the revenge-driven storyline rather well, the destruction of the complex is a spectacular pyrotechnic showcase that really has a ton of outstanding action in it, and the following attack on the house, with the resulting injuries to his crew member, leaves this with a really exciting suspense scene, as there's the race to get out before both the house falls and the whale attacks. That all leads into the incredibly fun and exciting finale, which is set up as the grand, epic showdown between the two, as a huge chase through open water and on into the Arctic ice-flow that really meshes a lot of exciting action with the attempts to track down the creature and its countermeasures for a wholly enjoyable sequence.
These all combine with the suitably majestic feeling for the titular beast as the film's positives that are more than enough to hold off the lone negative in here, which is the rather over-the-top and needless exploitation crammed into the accidental death of the mother. Despite adding another suitable layer needed for the revenge scenario with the incredibly effective way of sympathizing with the creature and its heartbreak over seeing what's happening, it works fine enough as is without that particular visual, and the lingering sight of it doesn't need to be featured. Otherwise, this one is incredibly entertaining.
Overview: ****/5
A highly enjoyable revenge-driven creature feature, there's a lot to like here and manages to get quite a lot of effective elements to this one that keep this going despite a slight misstep along the way. Those with an appreciation for this type of genre fare, who are curious about it, or who don't mind the big issue here will have a lot to like, while most others out there should heed caution.
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