The Giant Claw

People always blast this movie and in some ways that is justified; I mean the monster does look like Sesame Street's "big Bird" on acid, but let's face it, the fact that it is laughable is not the fault of director Fred F. Sears (who had also done the very effective EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS and THE WEREWOLF). Nor can we blame it on the cast who do their jobs very well. Sam Katzman was an old hand at saving money even if he had to sacrifice quality so he had the special effects done in Mexico after the principal photography was done. Maybe someone south-of-the-border thought the giant bird-beast really was scary. I guess we will never know for sure. You have to love the dialogue. Robert Shayne's line "It's just a bird, a big bird. Enough firepower to wipe out a regiment can't even slow it down! Sure, it's just a bird." or Jeff Morrow's: "I don't care if that bird came from outer space or Upper Saddle River, NJ." and you can't forget the classic: "You keep your shirt on and I'll get my pants on." They just don't write gems like that anymore. Oh, has anyone else noticed that there is a character in this film named "Dr. Karol Noymann"? The same name was used for John Carradine's character in the 1959 film INVISIBLE INVADERS. Coincidence?

A nice remembrance from childhood watching this one Saturday evening at my cousins place in Brooklyn. Probably a WOR channel 9 creature feature, but definitely one of the schlockiest of their stock. Still, what really sets these old 50s monster B and C flicks apart from today's low-rent stuff is the great seriousness of the characters and their delivery done with earnest. This style is standard fare from low-budget Corman through the cheapo AIP and Columbia stuff, and this is what makes these lesser efforts with poor quality effects rise to a level that makes them as enjoyable as the grade A Universal-International and 20th Century Fox sci-fi stuff.

"The Giant Claw" is an adorably horrible monster movie featuring a silly plot, inept script, pedestrian acting, and the most endearingly ridiculous monster ever to threaten mankind. Stories abound about disappearing budgets, Mexican puppet makers, Jeff Morrow slinking out of the theatre when he first saw his feathered antagonist, etc., all of which elevate the movie to the rarified status of one of the "Worst Movies Ever". This is, of course, nonsense, as most people would not bother to finish the "Worst Movie Ever"; whereas, people watch "The Giant Claw" (and its ilk) over and over again. I'd bet in 50 years people will still be snickering over the anti-matter space buzzard when, for example, "Star Trek: Beyond" doesn't even make it into trivia contests. How do you rate a movie that is awful by any measure but yet makes the world a better, or at least a more whimsical, place simply by existing? Metaphorically, HAL would give it a 0, Dave would give it a 10, so I'll split the difference and give it a 5.

Better written than "The Night the World Exploded," "Creature With the Atom Brain," Twelve to the Moon," "The Deadly Mantis," "Beginning of the End, "The Black Scorpion" and "Fiend Without a Face;" better paced than any of those, plus "Kronos," "Spacemaster X-7," "Rodan" and "The H Man"; at least as well directed (by Fred Sears) as "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers," this movie gets most of its pans due to a ludicrous monster and some supporting actors better befitting a "Three Stooges" short. However, even the monster is better than pretty much anything Japan produced after its 50s "Golden Era". Besides, you pretty much cannot go wrong with Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday.

I wish the movie had included the occult legend of a "Stargate" at each of the poles. That would certainly explain how a creature could pass from an "anti-matter galaxy" and ours. Nonetheless, this scientific mumbo jumbo is far more convincing than the "Element 112" nonsense of "Night the World Exploded." Thanks to Morrow, Corday, Morris Ankrum and Fred Sears expert direction, ludicrous monster or not, the movie actually generates some fairly good suspense. I give "The Giant Claw" a "5".

From the has-to-be-seen-to-be-believed school. A giant bird from space descends on earth, snatching up entire trains, hot rodding teenagers, and overacting bit players. Toss in terrible effects, hammy acting and science of the Ed Wood school and you have a surefire winner for any bad film fest. Then there is the bird itself, which comes complete with flareing nostrils.......