Kaw (DVD)
Steve Barton
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Reviewed by Uncle Creepy
Starring Stephen McHattie, Rod Taylor, Sean Patrick Flanery, Kristin Booth
Directed by Sheldon Wilson
Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
It’s been a few decades since Hitchcock scared us shitless with his timeless classic, The Birds, and honestly nothing since then has come close to inspiring fear by way of the feathered fiend. Enter Kaw. The title alone entertains me. At first glance this seems to be nothing more than your every day average Sci-Fi original movie. Hell, even second glance still looks that way. I did the only thing that I could do — slapped on my cheese-goggles, my I Love the Foywonder pin, and jumped straight in.
Meet Police Chief Wayne Hayborne (Flanery). He’s a small town sheriff with some big time problems. Not content with country, living Wayne decides to call it quits, but the towns Amish population have other plans. You see their cattle have developed Mad Cow disease and rather than destroying the infected bovine, they leave them out as a four course meal for a flock of ravens. Once the disease becomes a whole new kind of airborne, the town looks to the Chief for protection from a throng of antagonistic peckers (I’ve been waiting my whole life to type out that sentence). Wayne does what any good lawman would do — sticks to his duties and deals out hot lead with the help of some unlikely deputies.
Honestly, Kaw entertained the hell out of me. Sure its bad and has really atrocious CGI, but you know what else it has? Killer Ravens that are smart! These aren’t your ordinary murderous birdbrains! They have powers of reason, can form attack patterns, and when the going gets especially tough, they know enough to hurl stones at their prey to further wound and disorient them! Think creatures like the sharks of Deep Blue Sea only without the annoying L.L. Cool J rap song attached to them!
On top of that we get nearly an hour of special features. First up is a twenty-two minute interview with veteran actor, Rod Taylor, conducted by director Sheldon Wilson about his work in the industry (this guy has been in everything from The Twilight Zone to Walker: Texas Ranger), and of course his role in Kaw. Taylor is an interesting gent and this interview is a blast to watch. Good stuff! Rounding up the supplemental material we get your standard twenty-four minute Making-of featurette that focuses on, well, just about everything you would expect. Considering films like this usually end up getting bare bones fullscreen releases (yes, I’m looking at you, Lionsgate) there’s enough here to be thankful for.
It’s plain and simple — Kaw is nothing more than a great fucking time killer! While it never comes close to generating the type of stone cold fear The Birds did, it is definitely a bird of the feather. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go. We just washed the car and you know what that means! Those flying bastards will get you one way or the other!
Special Features
3 out of 5
Special Features:
2 1/2 out of 5
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