‘He deliberately left you your boat because he wants to fight you alone on the sea...’
Whenever a film is successful, it is inevitable that a slew of imitators will follow in its wake. Jaws invented the concept of the summer blockbuster and so followed Piranha, Grizzly, Tentacles and Orca. The latter sees legendary B movie producer Dino De Laurentiis teaming up with director Michael Anderson (Logan’s Run) and a talented cast to produce a Jaws rip off that is a lot of fun if far too similar to the film it is paying homage to…
Right. The plot. Take Jaws, and replace Bruce the shark with an Orca that understands the concepts of love and revenge. Take Quint and Hooper and combine them into one character named Captain Nolan (Richard Harris). Add a wise old American Indian (Will Sampson) to provide some mystique. Finally, bring in a couple of hot chicks (Charlotte Rampling and Bo Derek) – this is a B movie after all. Voila. Orca is born.
As you would imagine, Luciano Vincenzoni’s screenplay is a lot more madcap than Jaws. As previously mentioned, the creatures here are very much sentient beings. At one point, Nolan (expertly played by Harris) ponders whether he could prevent further attacks by simply having a chat with the monster and explaining that he is sorry for killing the orca’s family. This is that kind of movie. What elevates it above standard B movie fare is the excellent cast and the faintly ludicrous plotting. Whilst the occasionally laughable special effects do harm the movie, they also add a certain amount of charm that makes Orca impossible not to warm to.
Orca is not a great movie, it might not even be a good movie, but it is a perfectly serviceable Jaws rip off that manages to also remain entertaining and mostly compelling throughout. It’s about as good as it has any right to be.