Kaw

I first saw this in 2007 on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently cos my nephew wanted to c a "crow" horror film.

Agree it's a blatant rip off of The Birds but they compensated by taking the lead actor Rod Taylor from The Birds into this film. In the classic there is never an explanation as to why the birds go full rampage but this film compensated by giving a medical explanation. The classic one had some solid tension n suspense n Hitchcock turned the docile birds into some of the most terrifying villains. This film is devoid of tension n character build up but has some nasty flesh n brains being pecked by infected but intelligent ravens.

It's a Sci Fi Channel movie. With killer ravens that got infected from Amish mad cows. I thought it was relaxing to watch the film, expecting every bit of it to be as it was and not getting disappointed. I wasn't expecting much, though.

The result was some shoddy CGI birds, a lot of scenes ripped off from The Birds, no script, nothing scary, people dying from superficial wounds and car accidents, a big explosion to save the day and a quick scare last scene.

Bottom line: no reason why you should see this film. No reason why you shouldn't, either. It's the perfect zen TV movie, in perfect balance.

Animal attack horror movies truly are a dime a dozen, and sometimes they can get extremely cheesy and crummy, often knowingly so, and sometimes they really aren't so bad. "Kaw" may overall be routine and unremarkable, but it handles its outlandish premise better than one would think, and refrains from doing a lot of winking at its audience. The special effects are never so awful that they just take you right out of the movie, either. Granted, the characters are clichés, and the movie isn't without silly moments, but it does deliver some decent thrills for undemanding B movie fans. Hell, it even works in a subplot about strained relationships between the "English" and the local Mennonites that fortunately doesn't detract too much from the basic storyline. The story, working as one big homage to the Hitchcock classic "The Birds", sees a ton of ravens literally tearing into the citizens of a small town; nobody can figure out why this is going on nor can they think of what to do about the situation. The actors in the lead roles are likable and reliable as always: Sean Patrick Flanery as local sheriff Wayne, who was actually about to leave his job, and Stephen McHattie as reformed drunk / school bus driver Clyde, who's one of the first to realize that the birds are going crazy. The supporting cast is capable if rather nondescript, but it is an absolute joy to see Wendy Lyon, the lead of "Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II" as the dispatcher, and the presence of veteran actor Rod Taylor, who'd actually starred in "The Birds", as the local doctor, is extremely welcome. Filmed on location in Ontario, the movie has an appropriately gloomy look about it, and director Sheldon Wilson keeps it moving forward at an adequate pace. The most striking scene has the sheriff's wife (Kristin Booth) stuck in a well with an animal carcass. The ravens are portrayed by a combination of well trained avians and a generous dose of digital effects. There are some twists that are amusing to say the least, such as the ravens manipulating rocks in order to break glass. The ending falls short of really being satisfying, though, and the inclusion of a last-second jump scare is completely unnecessary and annoying. It's understandable how some viewers could find this tiresome, so just judge for yourself should you decide to watch. Five out of 10.

A silly and plodding effort, Kaw (Lame, lame title) is watchable but missable. The attack by animals thing has been many times before and Kaw brings nothing new to the table.

There is a lot of stupidity in Kaw. The explanation for the ravens going crazy is ludicrous- mad cow disease!? How the hell these ravens in Middle America got affected by mad cow disease is never really addressed and nor is the fact that this degenerative brain disease seems to make them way more intelligent and develop a sophisticated societal mentality. There is no scene sillier in the movie than the part in which the ravens attack the besieged school bus by picking up rocks and throwing them at the windows. Surely somebody at some point in the process of making this movie must have been aware how goofy this looked. The subplot about the Amish (Or Mennonites or whatever they were) is lame and brings nothing to the plot. It is hard to make the freakin' Amish look menacing, especially not half-arsed car driving, button wearing Amish like these and Kaw does not meet the challenge. Plus the men are wearing the fakest looking false beards you'll ever see.

The characters are standard horror movie archetypes. How many movies must we see set in a small town where a couple are divided over whether or not to stay, one of them wanting to pursue a career in the outside world and the other preferring quaint, small town life, reluctantly dragged along? The only good character in the movie is Clyde, the gun toting, recovering alcoholic bus driver played by the reliable and ever creepy Stephen McHattie ("Don't get ravens like that in Philly. But I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Joey?") Everyone else is bland or annoying. Actually, there is only one really annoying character- the smarmy teen bitch, who sadly survives when most of those around her from the ill fated bus trip die. I'm sad to say Sean Patrick Flannery never grew up to be like Harrison Ford in terms of charisma or screen presence.

On the positive side the special effects are actually quite good, seeming to be a mixture of real birds, perhaps some practical visual effects and some good CGI. The fact you can't always tell how the shot was done is a sign it was well done. Even the more ludicrous scenes such as the one involving the ravens picking up rocks and throwing them at the bus actually looks fairly realistic no matter how dumb what we are seeing is.

I couldn't keep a straight face while watching this. All I could think of was The Crows Have Eyes III from Schitt's Creek and Moira's daft performance. Just another The Bird's ripoff, don't bother.