Orca -1977
Director
Michael Anderson

Writers
Luciano Vincenzoni
Sergio Donati
Robert Towne

Starring
Richard Harris
Charlotte Rampling
Will Sampson
Bo Derek
Keenan Wynn
Robert Carradine
Scott Walker
Peter Hooten
Wayne Heffley
Vincent Gentile
Don ‘red’ Barry.

Review by Noel Baily

Lot couldn’t find 3 righteous men in Sodom either!
In all my life I have never found ANYONE who could see ORCA for the marvellous film it is. It was NEVER a JAWS rip-off OR an action epic – simply the tale of an Orca that takes revenge for the most terrible of crimes committed against its mate and unborn child. That the tale sits arguably astride the realms of FANTASY and WHIMSY cannot detract from its ultimate beauty.

No horror film ever made contains scenes as horrific as the harpooning of the Orca by Harris, its attempts to kill itself beneath the ship’s propeller and the awesomely emotional scene on deck as the unborn baby is expelled. If you’re able to sit through this and the subsequent beautifully filmed “funeral” sequence without being moved, you wouldn’t be human.

Richard Harris is excellent as the one-dimensional and not overly cerebral Captain Nolan who can scarcely understand why the Orca has made this so personal but who at the end, realises his sins against nature and knows he must play out the very last act – no prisoners taken. Charlotte Rampling is well, Charlotte Rampling, but hell, she does it with such style. Bo Derek? Yeah, well that was no major contribution to the film’s credibility admitted – although probably her only half-reasonable role outside “10”

The cinematography and music are the real stars of this film. Both are so beautifully integrated, one can for an instant share the Orca’s world and take it from me – its a lot better than this one!