HAPPY TURKEYDAY EVERYBODY! I hope all of you are having a good Thanksgiving as this is the time of year to give thanks to our families, friends, and the many turkeys that sacrificed their lives for this day. What I am thankful for are the many monster movies from past, present, and future. I am thankful for all of the readers, both new and returning, that come to read my posts. I am especially thankful for the monster movies coming out next year, which are RAMPAGE, Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Pacific Rim: Uprising. 2018 will definitely be a good year for monster films, but right now let's enjoy the rest of 2017. Since there are no Thanksgiving monster flicks I went to the next best thing. Instead of a giant turkey, how about The Giant Claw instead.
During production of The Giant Claw, none of the actors knew what this monster was going to look like until the premier of the film. Jeff Morrow said in an interview that the audience roared with laughter every time the monster appeared on screen. He was so embarrassed that he slunk out of the theater before the movie was over so nobody would recognize him.
Producer Sam Katzman originally planned to use stop motion and the model would have been created by Ray Harryhausen, but due to budget limitations he was forced to use a marionette instead.
Review:
When a mysterious flying object flying at supersonic speed was revealed to be a bird as big as a battleship, a global panic ensues and the monster goes on a rampage.
I feel bad for the actors that were embarrassed to be part of this movie. They did the best they could to put on a good performance until the monster is revealed. From there, the movie just falls apart. The monster not only destroys cities, but destroys its own movie just by appearing on screen. To this day The Giant Claw still stands as one of the most laughably bad monster films in history. It's one of those movies that is so bad it's good. The story is your typical B movie story, but the mix between the actors trying to give a good performance and the puppet you can't really help laugh. This movie stayed in the dark for so long until James Rolfe from Cinemassacre introduced The Giant Claw in his Top 10 Giant Movie Monsters video as the number 1 monster on his list beating Godzilla and King Kong. Now that it is exposed in the light, it gained a cult following. The Giant Claw went from one generation's trash to another generation's treasure. I can't even give this movie justice for this review. It's one of those movies you just need to watch just to see how bad it is.
I don't think this should be mentioned, but this became the butt or tail of the joke of the whole movie by monster fans. In the movie, the only description of the monster the movie gives is that it is the size of a battleship and they make sure that you know that too. They say it constantly over and over. Do you want to know how many times they say it? TWELVE! Twelve times they describe the monster as a battleship! Kind of an odd description for a giant bird. They could have used zeppelin or a jet or anything that flies, but not a battleship. Technically, they say it thirteen times because even on the poster promoting the movie says, "Big as a battleship!" The point is that it is unnecessary to constantly bring it up after saying it the first time.
Final Thoughts:
The Giant Claw is laughably horrible, but it is one that you just need to watch to believe how bad it is. It is one that every monster fan needs to watch at least once. If you need a monster movie to laugh at then The Giant Claw is definitely the movie for you.