RICHARD HARRIS HUNTS 'ORCA' AKA 'ORCA THE KILLER WHALE'

Poster for ORCA THE KILLER WHALE

With a brooding soundtrack, composed by genius maestro Ennio Morricone, orchestrating the title killer whale seeking revenge on Richard Harris's Neo-Ahab, Captain Nolan, for killing the whale's pregnant mate, ORCA is more an oceanic Spaghetti Western than an outright "Creature Feature."

Once narrowed into the hunt, as Harris — like JAWS scene-stealer, Quint, played by Robert Shaw, did with his two-man-crew to the Great White —leads ORCA (the name of Quint's boat, which means "a large toothed whale") out to sea, or vice versa, it's an entertaining adventure. But in order to make the audience forget about the 1975 shark thriller, this campy whale tale throws it right into our face with a menacing Great White's dorsal fin heading towards a young crewman (Robert Carradine) — only to be saved, at the last minute, by the one monstrosity more powerful than even Spielberg's Carcharodon Carcharias...

Foreign DVD Artwork beats our own

But it's the horrendously melodramatic revenge aspect, from the whale against the seafaring Captain, that shifts ORCA into camp-howler territory. One scene involving Harris, a hunter combination of Shaw (along with scruffy boat pilot Keenan Wynn) and Roy Scheieder, and an oceanographic Richard Dreyfuss in the exotic French starlet Charlotte Rampling, the whale actually sees (with a knowing, narrowed eye) his foe seconds after actually causing the sea-town, curved along the surrounding shoreline, to explode in massive flames...

Will Sampson, Charlotte Rampling and Richard Harris

Here's when our doomed anti-hero is forced seaward, going deeper and deeper into the Killer Whale's territory and, straight from the brawny pages of Herman Melville or even Ernest Hemingway, the macho captain wants the whale dead too — what the giant mammal did to Harris's gorgeous friend (a pre-fame Bo Derek) adds fiery insult to injury.... Making up for overlong bouts of tedious arguments on board, the pivotal, entertaining "body count" occurs in the style of a violent and bloody 1970's horror/exploitation flick, and like JAWS, the suspense is channelled into a steady pulse when the creature, unseen, is anticipated within the dark waters — but not for long...

Great White Shark smack-down by ORCA THE KILLER WHALE

During the third act, an iceberg becomes a HIGH NOON main street between man and beast. And, last but not least, along for the ride, to legitimize the picture and fitting within the theme of this double feature review, CUCKOO'S NEST "Chief Bromden,"

Will Sampson, taking a break from his role as a tortured Sioux with a WHITE BUFFALO chip on his shoulder, provides a hybrid of Dreyfuss style wisdom and Shaw experience — a moral compass swing vote, dead-set against the stubborn and determined Richard Harris who, the likes of Peter O'Toole, Oliver Reed and other intense British actors, whether in good, bad or downright ugly motion pictures, doesn't hold anything back.

Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE

Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE

Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE

Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE

Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE

Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE