Into the Grizzly Maze

Image credit: Prime Video

In our recent exploration into the realm of eco-horror we have tended to favour the aquatic terrors of sharks and crocodiles. I think the reason for this is because the underwater world is a frontier that is particularly scary because it’s harder to traverse and investigate and the predators that roam it are absolutely terrifying to behold. But Partner and I decided to give a different environment a go with Into the Grizzly Maze.

The film follows Rowan (James Marsden) who comes back to his hometown to track down a friend who has gone missing. Inevitably, his path crosses with that of his estranged brother Beckett (Thomas Jane), who is trying to trying to preserve the grizzly bear population, but has been tasked with hunting down a grizzly that has been attacking people. The two brothers find themselves, as well as Beckett’s girlfriend, and Rowan’s ex trapped in the labyrinthine Alaskan woodlands being stalked by the same formidable grizzly they are hunting.

Much more of a dramatic eco-horror rather than a rollicking rip-and-tear-until-the-last-man-standing, Into the Grizzly Maze takes the catalyst of a predator threat and uses it to drive the development of the characters and their stories. This is something that we constantly see in horror films: the civility and structure of society breaking down when surrounded by zombies, the calculating judgement of who can be saved and who should be sacrificed where the air’s running out of the submarine being circled by sharks, etc... But admittedly, it only really works if the characters and their backstories are interesting. The social structure under the microscope in this film is the institution of family and what circumstances can make that institution crumble. Rowan is an ex-con and his brother is the town’s local sheriff. Over the coarse of the film we learn the severity of Rowan’s crime as well as the circumstance that brought him there. But it’s very flimsily written, predictable, and doesn’t really inspire any hope for redemption.

The bear itself, like Jaws, is just a particularly large and aggressive bear and the real horror and suspense of the movie actually comes from the trials of the environment, in particular a number of gruesome injuries that (annoyingly but predictably) befall the two female characters.

The performances are all fine: admittedly I imagine it’s very hard to create an engaging character when the script is so lackluster.

Image credit: Disney Plus

Into the Grizzly Maze is a dramatic eco-horror that takes itself seriously and while there are a few intertwining plots that justify it being a tonally sombre movie ultimately, it’s a mediocre predator movie that fails to really get going.

Director: David Hackl, 2015

Cast: James Marsden, Thomas Jane, Piper Perabo, Michaela McManus, Scott Glenn, & Billy Bob Thornton