Orca Year: 1977 Director: Michael Anderson Written by: Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Donati Threat: Whale Weapon of Choice: jaws (pun intended) IMDb page:

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Rish's Reviews
By the director of Logan's Run and producer Dino De Laurentiis, comes Orca, or Orca, the Killer Whale, as I always thought it was called. This has the distinction of being the first film I ever saw in a theater (that I remember, anyway). Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I only remembered the last couple minutes of the film.
Richard Harris stars as a simple, cynical fisherman who becomes fixated on capturing a Killer Whale for its resale value, despite learning that they're more intelligent, noble, and worthy of living than, say, a billion human beings. When an attempt to catch one goes disturbingly awry, the whale's grief-striken mate vows revenge on Harris and his crew. Bloody revenge.
This was a sad film. It includes long stretches of killer whale footage, showing them frollicking, mating, and gracefully swimming, accompanied by a manipulative Ennio Morricone score. Even so, I couldn't help but side with Richard Harris's character, who, despite his flaws, was a human being, and short-sided or not, didn't deserve to be hunted and killed by man or animal.
Harris was quite good (though my Irish friend insisted he was laying the accent on even thicker than his acting). Charlotte Rampling, who I've only seen in the abomination known as Zardoz, comes across as a bit less sympathetic, but still attractive in a harsh sort of way. It also featured Keenan Wynn, future nerd Robert Carradine, and future "10" Bo Derek.
It was a beautifully shot film, with tons of amazing whale footage. Occasionally, the titular whale was actually scary, owing to the fact that we're afraid of something being under the water that we can't see. I think it contributed greatly to my fear of sea creatures as a child (and into adulthood). It's also creepy how the whale makes screeching and roaring noises, which though I couldn't identify what animal they were from, were not whale sounds.
This film is most famous, I've been told, for the whale abortion scene. And yes, the ick factor is real high on that one. Though quite disturbing, it was also quite a silly flick. The whale manages to kill quite a few people, bite the leg off one more, and blow up half a seacoast village. Animal lovers unite: we find out how smart our finned cousins are in this flick, how they mate for life and never miss child support payments, and that your average whale conversation is more complex (and worthwhile) than the Holy Bible. I'm sure Greenpeace watches this at all their meetings.
Orca has four letters, Jaws has four letters. I wish that was the only similarity. Jaws: The Revenge owed a lot to this flick, and manages to make this one look excellent. While I consider Piranha to be the best of the Jaws ripoffs, this one is still pretty good, if you like that sort of thing.
I'd Recommend It To: Fans of Seventies sea Horror/Action.
Posted: October 11, 2004

Total Skulls: 10

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film		Jaws
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears		Bo Derek
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?