Orca (1977)

Slashers

No, not Oedipis Orca from the same year that repeatedly came up in my research but I was too afraid to click on, but instead Orca (1977). The film is also known as Orca: The Killer Whale.

The film is basically a spaghetti western starring a giant dolphin? Didn't you know that killer whales are dolphins? Yeah, I thought Raffi had fucked up majorly in his book for Baby Beluga, but a quick Google searched revealed that I am in fact the idiot.

Written by the team of Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Donati. VIcenzoni famously wrote For a Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and Death Rides a Horse. Donati co-authored For a Few Dollars More and went on to write Once Upon a Time in the West.

Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, who is responsible for nearly every irrefutable classic in seven decades. His works include the Silence of the Lambs franchise, numerous Stephen King adaptations (Silver Bullet, Cat's Eyes, Firestarter, Dead Zone), Amityville Horror, Halloween 2 and 3, and Jake's personal favorite: CONAN THE GODDAM BARBARIAN!!!

The film was directed by Michael Anderson. Aside from having the most generic name ever, ANderson was famous for directing Logan's Run, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and ALMOST directing the ill-fated Nessie, which would have united Hammer Films and kaiju megaforce studio, TOHO. He also received a lifetime achievement award from the Directors Guild of Canada. Pretty neat, eh?

The music is by Ennio Morricone, who did The Man Without a Name Trilogy, and virtually every other western you've ever heard of. At age 87, Morricone was briefly the oldest winner of a competitive Academy Award in 2016, for The Hateful Eight.

The Cinematography was by J. Barry Herron and Ted Moore. Herron's contribution to the film was so significant that the closing credits especially declare: "The producer wishes to acknowledge the very special photographic contribution made by J. BARRY HERRON."

The film stars a pre-Dumbledore Richard Harris. You might also recall that he was King Arthur in Camelot and Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator. He would be in another famous western years later: Unforgiven.

Charlotte Rampling is Rachel Bedford. Her acting career was quite provocative. Go ahead, look up Max Mon Amour, I dare you.

Will Sampson played Umilak. You may recall he was in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, after working as a bronco buster his entire life.

The bull whale was played by Yaka and Nepo. Nepo would pass shortly after the film in 1980, but Yaka lived an incredible 20 years thereafter. No, neither of them were Free Willy.

Instead of a "Hidden Track" this week, we are featuring a good friend's short story. Mike Martin of the Fort Arawak Podcast wrote and performed this awesome short-story: The Move. Please check out his other works at https://www.fortarawakpodcast.com/

If you ever have feedback or recommendations on future episodes, please let us know at [e-mail]. You can always find us on our social media: Instagram, Twitter, Slasher App: @slasherspod Facebook: /slasherspod Reddit: u/slasherspod https://www.youtube.com/c/slasherspodcast

Theme song is I wanna Die by Mini Meltdowns. https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ZAk6lUDsaJj8EAhrhzZnh ; https://minimeltdowns.bandcamp.com/

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