Since this is Thanksgiving morning, I might as well present one of the biggest (literally and figuratively) cinematic turkeys of all: THE GIANT CLAW (1957).
This is by far the most notorious film included in Arrow Video's COLD WAR CREATURES: FOUR FILMS FROM SAM KATZMAN Blu-ray set. Its notoriety comes from the look of the title creature--a giant bird (as big as a battleship, we are constantly told) that comes from outer space.
If you have seen THE GIANT CLAW, you know how ridiculous this "monster" is. If you haven't...there's no description I can give that can accurately define it. Whoever did design this..."thing"...must have been under the influence of some controlled substances, or they must have had a huge grudge against producer Sam Katzman. (The effects work was apparently farmed out to some people in Mexico--I say apparently because even the critics involved in this Blu-ray's extras do not agree or know for certain how they were done.)
It's not just the big bird that is so awful--the other FX are terrible as well, with plenty of toy cars, trains, and planes involved. There's also some incredibly inane dialogue ("You keep your shirt on and I'll go get my pants on." "We've got kitchen sinks to spare, son!").
One could say that because of all the accumulated silliness, THE GIANT CLAW has had far more staying power than the usual 1950's low-budget sci-fi flick. I'm not one to get enjoyment out of movies because of how bad they are. If one takes away the jaw-dropping effects and some of the goofy plot elements, THE GIANT CLAW could have wound up being at least a standard genre film from this period. The plot structure is like most giant monster movies, and science-fiction veterans Jeff Morrow, Mara Corday (as a couple of scientists) play the main characters. Joining them in their fight against the flying beast is none other than Morris Ankrum, who of course plays a high-ranking member of the U.S. military. All three actors do the best they can--they certainly didn't know what the effects were going to be like.
Arrow gives this turkey a fine presentation in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and the sharp black & white picture makes the effects look even worse. The disc includes an introduction by Kim Newman, who tries to defend the FX work (sorry, Kim--I'm not buying it). A featurette called FAMILY ENDANGERED!, by Mike White, examines how the four films in this Arrow set deal with Cold War paranoia and the safety of the American family. There's also a new audio commentary with Emma Westwood and Cerise Howard, that goes off on all sorts of tangents. Included as well are a condensed Super 8mm version of the film, and a trailer and image gallery (it's telling that the publicity stills do not show the big bird).
I've gotten quite good at making excuses for movies like THE GIANT CLAW, but this one is really bad. Still, there is a train-wreck sort of fascination in watching such asinine effects work, and any monster movie fan will appreciate seeing Jeff Morrow, Mara Corday, and Morris Ankrum.
I had fun watching this movie, but I agree the big bird is quite badly done. There's a good article about Sam Katzman in the latest issue of Screem magazine, written by Stephen R. Bissette, and he goes into great detail about the special effects that were used. I haven't yet listened to the audio commentary on the Blu-ray.
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