When a rookie park ranger is put in charge of an overnight camping trip, the unexpected happens.
Grizzly Night
Grizzly Night is an American survival thriller based on true events. Directed by Burke Doeren in his feature directorial debut and starring Brec Bassinger, Jack Griffo, Charles Esten, Oded Fehr, Josh Zuckerman, Matt Lintz and Lauren Call. The film, as I have stated at the beginning of this review, is based on events that happened in 1967 in Glacier National Park.
Now, let me start this review by reminding you just how important the park rangers are in keeping people safe. Let’s face it…bears are smart, people…not so much. On the night of August 13, 1967, two young women, Julie Helgeson (age 19) and Michele Koon (age 19) were separately attacked and killed by grizzly bears in Glacier National Park, Montana. The attacks occurred at different campgrounds, miles apart. The film explains what happened up to and including the attacks.
Grizzly Night begins with a large group of visitors planning on spending the night at the Granite Park Chalet. The park rangers are busy fighting forest fires at another section of the park, leaving a rookie Park Ranger, Joan Devereaux (Lauren Call), to lead the hike to the chalet. While the guests settle down at the Chalet, two other camping groups, one with Julie Helgeson (Brec Bassinger), pitch their sleeping bags for the night. One group was about ¼ mile from the Chalet, while the second group, with Michele Koons (Ali Skovbye), camped at Trout Lake.
The dual attacks, which are an unprecedented event, are vicious to watch on screen even knowing that no human or bears were harmed in the filming. Grizzly bears do not typically attack humans. We are not a bear’s normal food, but certain scenarios can trigger an attack: if you unexpectedly surprise them, if they have cubs, if they are protecting their food…or…and this is important, grizzlies lose their fear of humans because of access to human food.
Conclusion
The rookie, with the help of her superior, Gary Bunney (Charles Esten) and a surgeon, Dr. Lindberg (Oded Fehr), who is staying with the group at the Chalet, must do the impossible, but time is running out.
Grizzly Night was better than expected and shows what happened that fateful night from both the grizzlies’ and the humans’ perspectives. The attacks could have been prevented…but like I said, bears are smart and humans…not so much.
Grizzly Night is out now on digital platforms.