Orca: The Killer Whale is a 1977 horror film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, and Will Sampson. The film follows Captain Nolan, a fisherman who inadvertently kills a pregnant killer whale while hunting for other prey. The whale's mate witnesses the killing and begins to pursue Nolan and his crew. The whale attacks the village and all of its inhabitants and structures it can find.
As the whale continues to seek revenge, Nolan becomes increasingly obsessed with destroying the animal, even as marine biologist Rachel Bedford tells him that the whale is more intelligent and emotionally complex than he realizes. Eventually, Nolan and Rachel team up with Inuit hunter Umilak to take the fight to the killer whale and settle the score once and for all.
Throughout the movie, the killer whale is shown to be highly intelligent, with a deep emotional attachment to its mate and unborn offspring. The humans, meanwhile, are portrayed as the villains of the story, driven by greed and vanity to pursue the whale at any cost. The film also explores themes of environmentalism and animal cruelty, positioning the killer whale as a sympathetic figure and suggesting that humans should show more respect for the natural world.
Orca: The Killer Whale is known for its controversial ending, which sees the whale choosing to commit suicide by beaching itself rather than continue living in captivity. The film was a box-office success upon its release, though it received mixed reviews from critics. Despite this, it has gone on to become a cult classic and is regarded as a landmark in the "animal revenge" subgenre of horror films.