Orca (1977)

Of all the man vs. animal flicks out there, not many come close to matching the sheer absurdity of Orca: The Killer Whale. Hot on the heels of Jaws' immense success, this killer-whale opus updates the Moby Dick mythos and turns the celebrated tale on its ear while hyping up the idiotic psychic link between Richard Harris' Ahab character and the pissed off water-bound mammal. Over-the-top imagery is pushed at the viewer from the fourth minute on, as a great white shark surrounds a boat only to be bonked to death by Orca, who's soon to be a grieving whale widower hell-bent on kicking some Irish thespian butt. As his revenging rampage rolls along, Orca chomps limbs and destroys everything from a fleet of fishing vessels to an entire house and even an oil refinery. There are plenty of deaths before the big showdown at the end, where Harris and the roaring Orca take still pictures of each other with their eyes and face off one last time. As one can tell, it's all pretty silly stuff and only for the connoisseurs of schlock cinema, who will no doubt eat up the proceedings like the pure junk seafood it is. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide