The Giant Claw (1957)

Gen. Van Buskirk: Three men reported they saw something. Two of them are now dead.
Mitch MacAfee: That makes me Chief Cook and Bottle Washer in a one-man Bird Watcher's Society!

Director:  Fred F. Sears
Producer:  Sam Katzman
Main Cast:  Jeff Morrow, Mara Corday
Runtime:  74 minutes

Sometimes you just can’t beat an old cheesy B movie classic and what better way to go than a monster movie from the 50’s!  I had never seen this movie before but had heard of it and whilst on the lower end of the monster movie scale (umm…a bit lower than that) it still remained an enjoyable movie, but to be honest you would really want to have a liking for these B (or is that C??) movies to appreciate it.

Mitch MacAfee (Jeff Morrow) goes for a flight to test a new radar system that is being installed and whist out on a routine run he spots a UFO and reports it accordingly however puzzlingly nothing shows up on radar.  Everyone thinks Mitch was just being a joker until several other sightings are made around the area and people start dying.  Upon further investigation it becomes clear that it was not a hoax and the gigantic bird is seen in real life but conventional weapons are no match for it.

Cheap B movie effects can be so bad sometimes that they are so cool!  Check out this rubber vulture with a freaky haircut and googly eyes!! Gotta love these movies.  In this case they hired low budget special effects team from New Mexico to create the bird and it really ended up being low budget as they needed strings to control the bird and sadly was bit of a laugh when the movie got released.  Interestingly, none of the actors saw the creature until the movie was complete but by then it was too late and the lead actor ended up quietly walking out of the cinema in embarrassment before anyone could see him.  Hilarious indeed 😊

Surprisingly, effects aside, the movie has quite a lot of technical science in it that makes you appreciate these 50’s sci-fi movies and the effort and thinking that goes into them.

The DVD reviewed here was imported from USA and contains four creature movies on one disc.  20 Million Miles to Earth, It Came from Beneath the Sea, Mothra and our movie in review The Giant Claw.  
The video is in a 1.85:1 ratio and is actually quite good though some of the stock footage has some damage and scratches etc but overall it is quite a decent image for a low budget film.  The audio is simple Dolby Digital mono which is quite standard for these films and is quite clear and well presented.  There are no extras.

Overall I enjoyed the movie as what it is, a low budget B movie with humorous effects full of the B movie feel.  It’s not for everyone though and you can find better B movies that have better effects than this such as Tarantula, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, It Came from Outer Space and so on.  But if it’s that low budget B movie magic you want, even with dodgy effects, then this if your movie!  I would give it a 3 out 5 when taking into account the B movie fun but when judged in accordance with other movies, it’s a 2.  Recommended for B movie fans only.

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