“Rituals” is a very good wilderness thriller that may draw inspiration from the classic “Deliverance” (1972) but it’s even more layered and very effective. The title alone has multiple meanings from both the protagonists perspective but also from the antagonist who actually is given a reason for the reign of terror he invokes on the vacationing doctors.
Dubbed “Jaws with Claws” when it was released; “Grizzly” is not exactly original. I think every reviewer who’s covered the film has pointed out it’s unabashed similarity with “Jaws” (1975) and of course “Grizzly” is a rip-off of that classic film. But on it’s own lo-fi terms it’s a terrific B-movie that still entertains to this day.
When Agatha Christie wrote and published “Ten Little Niggers” in 1939 (imagine that title today!) she couldn’t have fathomed how influential her relatively short book would become. The film adaptations are numerous, but the basic plot has been copied too many times to count.
It was short and sweet; 4 films and 13 episodes and the Man from Atlantis vanished. Patrick Duffy hit it big in „Dallas“ but his interest with the character persisted and the actor published a novel in 2016 where he covered his origins. Duffy explained that if the novel would sell in large numbers he would be interested in doing a trilogy about this aquatic man who‘s possibly from Atlantis.
The episode is fast paced, quite funny on occasion and, as said, features real villains who are quite menacing. Duffy is once again terrific.
This next-to-last episode is pretty good. Nothing new here but it’s fast paced, somewhat imaginative and those villains are a bit less cartoonish than previous ones.
“Imp” isn’t a painful chore to sit through. It’s fairly entertaining and everyone involved gets to act a little silly and it’s somewhat funny.
It’s quite clear (and has been for a number of episodes) that the series had a huge identity crisis and didn’t know what it was aiming for. Also here is the late, hulking Ted Cassidy who gives this material more actual quality acting than it deserves.
“C.W. Hyde” makes for relatively pleasant 48 minute viewing. Fudge is having fun, Val Avery gives a good turn as the bad guy and Michele Carey is an absolute stunner as Avery’s girlfriend.
You’re going to be rolling your eyes at least a few times in disbelief. But this is, I guess, part of the charm with a series like “Man From Atlantis”. You never know what they’re gonna come up with next and it must have been a hoot for viewers to tune in when this aired initially.
