No coincidence I should find, while reading a handful of retro Godzilla comic books from 1977, released back then by Marvel, this ad. For what appears on the face, to be another beastie (this time from the depths) socking humanity upside its arrogant choppers.

First takeaway, those Godzilla comics fetch a hefty bit of coin these days and for fun, I’ve been checking out a few local comic shops to see what, if any, have available for sale on the brick-and-mortar circuit. With the runaway successes of Godzilla: Minus One and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, it should be no surprise I found but one Marvel Godzilla comic out there, one I didn’t already own and keeping a tuckaway gift card for such occasions, it came home with me. You want these bad boys, the IDW imprint Godzilla books (or anything Godzilla-related), you’ll be doing much of your hunting online and be prepared to pay. The look on two of those comic shop owners was priceless as I faked being some clueless newbie asking around for Godzilla merch. I wanted to see what I already knew. Other than t-shirts, the big G is really tough to find in the open-air market. Godzilla is hot right now, point-endpoint.

Next, we come to this movie, Orca, also from 1977 and I remember as a kid reading comic books how goddamn impressive, how goddamn scary this movie looked by the movie art alone. This ad came up so often in my comic stash it’s a wonder I didn’t beg the snot out of my parents to take me to see it. The only explanation being Star Wars: A New Hope had come out the same year and nothing ruled my life harder. Kiss, The Electric Company and baseball behind that.

Now, if you’re sitting there thinking this revenge tale of a killer whale having the cognitive wherewithal to go serial killer mode (or at least oceanic Bruce Lee style) upon a Nova Scotia waterfront town is batshit crazy, you’d be correct. Moreover, targeting a ruthless Irish Canadian sea captain and his crew who killed his mate is not only a Jaws and Moby Dick wannabe, then ding-ding goes the dinghy of familiarity.

The movie poster made Orca look more epic than it was, similar to the 1977 King Kong remake poster that was ten times more formidable than the final product. Paramount Studios had a big year in ’77 and the movie posters to prove it.

Orca is a bit of a mess but worth at least one watch if you don’t expect it to live up to its pitch. There was no technology other than cable wires difficult to hide (there was no computer airbrushing at the time) to recreate the visceral sight of a harpooner taking his likely final mortal shot in midair. Instead, this film submerges us into the appalling premise of a captain so hellbent on retiring with a healthy payout he turns on another orca saving his crewman from the great white shark he’s been pursuing for a local aquarium.

Skewering the pregnant female mate of our titular killer whale turned apex predator, then dumping the miscarried fetus overboard is about all you can stand from this movie produced by the legendary Dino De Laurentis and featuring a hefty cast including Richard Harris, Robert Carradine, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson and even Bo Derek. Effective enough in creating sympathy for an aggrieved whale and less for Harris’ Captain Nolan, considering he too has lost his wife and child, but it’s up to you if you want to hang around to see this thing play out its icy finish at the Strait of Belle Isle. Reportedly Richard Harris insisted on doing his own stunts in the polar-bound finale and nearly died a few times.

That harrowing bit aside, Orca is a classic case of marketing prowess with its product coming up well beneath the hype.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.