GRIZZLY, SQUIRM, & FOOD OF THE GODS / 1976 Eco-Horror Triple Feature!

GRIZZLY (1976) d. William Girdler (USA)
SQUIRM (1976) d. Jeff Lieberman (USA)
THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976) d. Bert I. Gordon (USA)

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In the wake of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws from 1975, drive-ins and hardtop theaters alike were suddenly overrun by creatures with a taste for human flesh. Intrepid and imaginative independent filmmakers proved that almost any member of the animal kingdom could be transformed into a successful box-office menace. Three standout entries from 1976—Grizzly, Squirm, and The Food of the Gods—perfectly capture the exuberant creativity and unapologetic pulp appeal of the Nature Strikes Back Eco-horror boom.

THE INNOCENTS (1961): The Greatest Ghost Story Ever Filmed?

THE INNOCENTS (1961) d. Jack Clayton (UK)

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The Innocents, the spellbinding 1961 screen version of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. Producer/director Jack Clayton and cinematographer Freddie Francis conjure a haunting onscreen atmosphere with an eye for hypnotic, symbolic imagery, where the sunlit scenes are frequently more chilling than those set at night.

THE INNOCENTS (1961) Blu-ray Review

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The Innocents (1961) d. Jack Clayton (UK) (100 min) (4th viewing)

In Victorian England, prim governess Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) is assigned to a country estate to care for two orphaned children, Miles (Martin Stephens) and Flora (Pamela Franklin). Upon her arrival, in addition to being occupied with her new duties, she slowly begins to suspect that the spirits of the former valet Peter Quint (Peter Wyngarde) and governess Miss Jessel (Clytie Jessop) have begun to influence – or even possess – her youthful charges. With increasingly supernatural occurrences at odds with her own pragmatic worldview, Giddens risks both life and sanity in a battle for the children’s souls, a battle that climaxes in unforgettable and devastating fashion.

THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976) Blu-ray Review

The Food of the Gods (1976) d. Bert I. Gordon (USA)

Following an avalanche of late ’50s films featuring oversized beasties – six in two years, including Beginning of the End, The Cyclops, The Amazing Colossal Man, and Earth vs. the Spider – writer-producer-director-special effects artist Gordon (aka “Mr. B.I.G.”) moved away from the subgenre he had helped create, expanding his oeuvre to include ghost stories, action thrillers, and sex comedies. But the 1970s’ ecological horror boom combined with the Jaws-inspired “animals attack” movement proved too alluring to pass up; when longtime producer and American International honcho Samuel Z. Arkoff approached in 1975, inquiring if he had any new projects, Gordon thought immediately of a certain book by H.G. Wells, one upon which he had already riffed with his 1965 romp, Village of the Giants. As he says on Shout! Factory’s new Blu-ray release, “I remembered the giant rats in The Food of the Gods and instantly I knew we had a picture.”

THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973) Blu-ray Review

Legend of Hell House, The (1973) d. John Hough (UK)

In the pantheon of top-notch haunted house movies, this fine, moody offering ranks just below Robert Wise’s outstanding The Haunting, to which it owes a great debt. The familiar premise concerns a team of spiritual sleuths – a scientist, his wife, and two mediums – assigned to investigate Belasco House (aka “Hell House”) to prove (or disprove) the notion of life after death. However, unlike the ambiguity of Shirley Jackson’s story or the subsequent 1963 film version, Richard Matheson’s screenplay (adapted from his 1971 novel Hell House) elects to make the existence of the malevolent presence within the so-called “Mount Everest of haunted houses” undeniably explicit. According to Matheson, his personal dictate was “I’m going to do a haunted house story where you damn well know it’s haunted and there’s no question in your mind.”

THE INNOCENTS (1961) movie review

Innocents, The (1961) d. Clayton, Jack (UK)

Deborah Kerr is the prim governess assigned to a country estate to care for two children in this spellbinding screen version of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. Upon her arrival, in addition to having her hands full with her duties, she slowly begins to suspect that the spirits of the former valet and governess have begun to influence – or even possess – her youthful charges (Pamela Franklin and Martin Stephens). Can she exorcise their ghosts, or are they her own?