Grizzly Park delivers 95 minutes of effective scares and laughs via a plot that is perhaps overstuffed but intriguing nonetheless.
As part of a new criminal-rehab program, eight rebellious teens (is there any other kind?) are ordered to serve a week of community service in a remote California forest preserve known as Grizzly Park. Unfortunately, an escaped serial killer is on the prowl. Even worse, the titular species of bear calls the park home. And it's hungry. Very hungry...
While it is far from the perfect horror thriller, Grizzly Park overall is a successful production. The film succeeds in part because of a script by writer-director Tom Skull that balances horror with small doses of humor that work more often than not. The attempts at comedy are rather funny for one reason or another. A song in the film (You'll know it when you hear it) is used in such a way as to qualify as pure genius. It is an unbelievably hilarious and surprisingly catchy tune.
The character of Bebe, one of the eight rebellious teens, provides for much of the humor as she acts like such a clueless nitwit that her reactions to what one hopes is her first foray into the wilderness are hilarious. Emily Foxler's performance in the role is right on every step of the way. In fact, the film gets solid performances from pretty much the entire cast. Glenn Morshower ("Transformers"), in the role of the ranger supervising the teens, brings a tongue in cheek quality to his role that makes his performance stand out alongside the aforementioned Foxler.
As for the horror angle, Grizzly Park brings its A-game here as well. The film plays on one's expectations so that when a character is standing near an open window just after having survived a bear attack, you expect him to be attacked through said window. When it seems like he won't be as time ticks by, bam! He is attacked when you least expect it. It's nice to note too that the film doesn't skimp on the gore either. When Brody the Bear attacks, it gets quite brutal. From ripped off limbs to shockingly grotesque face gouging, first-time director Tom Skull knows what his audience wants.
The only real downside to the film is the disappointingly underused serial killer subplot. The subplot never achieves the expected payoff. As a result, it really does not serve much of a purpose in the end. Had it been excised entirely, it would have been to the film's benefit.
That said, Grizzly Park is a fun film to watch, bringing humor and horror together in a distinctly entertaining cocktail.
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