Written By: Jase Marsiglia

On August 13, 1967, a “one-in-a-trillion” event occurred deep in the forests of Glacier National Park in Montana. Two women were viciously attacked by grizzly bears at two separate campsites on the same night, within the same four hours. Something akin to being struck by lightning twice, these attacks were the first in the 57-year history of Glacier National Park.

Grizzly Night (2026)
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So, what went wrong? What was so different about that night from any other? We may never know the definitive answer, but a possible cause is explored in Burke Doeren’s "Grizzly Night", an earnest and straightforward horror-drama that chronicles the events leading up to the attacks and the aftermath that followed.

We follow three groups of people through Glacier National Park. Julie Helgeson (Brec Bassinger of "Final Destination: Bloodline") and Roy (Matt Lintz of "Ms. Marvel") head out for a romantic evening under the stars. Ali Skovbye (Whistle) plays Michele Koons, a friend of Julie’s who joins a group of friends at Trout Lake. And finally, we follow Joan Devereaux (relative newcomer Lauren Call, who is exceptionally good), a newly hired park ranger, as she leads a tour of hikers up to the Granite Park Chalet for the night.

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR "GRIZZLY NIGHT" BELOW

The chalet, despite its woodsy interior and open floor plan, lacks a large enough garbage incinerator to handle the amount of trash generated by its guests. Management often leaves the garbage just a few yards out back for the bears to eat. In hindsight, this cavalier habit attracts bears, who grow accustomed to human proximity and lose any sense of intimidation. Bears smell food. Bears eat food. It’s the exact disruption of the ecosystem that can lead to attacks—and the script by "Hawkeye" writers Katrina Mathewson and Tanner Bean takes care to remind us.

At this point, "Grizzly Night" could easily have pivoted into your typical “animal attack” horror film—but it doesn’t. Not really. Doeren, Mathewson, and Bean are careful in this regard. There’s no way to sugarcoat a true story, nor can you make the details of a brutal bear attack rosy. Even "Grizzly Man", Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary chronicling conservationist Timothy Treadwell’s life leading up to the fatal attack in Alaska’s Katmai National Park, spares most of the gruesome details—but the pall of dread is unavoidable. "Grizzly Night" is no different.

Anyone familiar with the horrific 1967 attacks knows who survived and who didn’t. The attacks themselves are largely suggested—we see victims dragged screaming into the woods (terrifying enough)—but the aftermath is, for lack of a better term, grisly.

The film doesn’t dwell on sensationalism. "Grizzly Night" focuses on the rescue efforts, the collaboration of hikers and campers to find missing friends, and the desperate attempts by surgeon Dr. Lindberg (Oded Fehr of The Mummy) and his wife Ann (Sohm Kapila, who ironically appeared in the 2017 The Mummy as a reporter), an ER nurse, to treat deep, open wounds and keep victims alive.

Strong performances and the script’s focus on human drama set "Grizzly Night" apart from other films of its type. Call, Bassinger, Lintz, Fehr, and Kapila are all fantastic, supported by realistic performances from Mateo Pollock, "Nashville" star Charles Esten as GNP’s senior ranger, Joel Johnstone ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel") as a caring priest, and Skyler Bible ("15 Cameras") as the resident bear expert. Shock and trauma are performed devastatingly. What little gore appears in the film is realistic, not over-the-top.

"Grizzly Night" is clearly marketed toward the horror crowd, and it is often frightening—but it is no “animal attack” exploitation flick. It is a respectful, heartbreaking, and undeniably terrifying true story that changed camping rules and regulations forever.

Time: 87 minutes | USA | Rated: R | Four J Films