Review of The Giant Claw (1957) by Wayne K — 15 Jan 2016

Hailing from the golden age of charmingly cheap Sci-fi flicks, The Giant Claw has gone down as one of the worst films ever made. I'm not sure that's an entirely fair assessment, but I can certainly understand why it was so derided upon release.

It's mostly 75 minutes of lengthy discussions between scientists and military personnel, and occasionally the titular character swoops in, causes a ruckus and then disappears, popping up every now and then to remind us it's still in the movie.

It does have some very amusing moments, all unintentional of course, usually relating to the now-infamous animatronics, which are so bad you'd swear they were done that way on purpose. A few other moments got a chuckle out of me, such as when the narrator is commenting on how it was a 'clear day' while showing a picture of a significantly cloudy sky.

But for the most part, sadly, it's just boring. I'd certainly recommend it to other seekers of delightfully dreadful cinema, since it's dubious reputation has kept it from being confined to total obscurity, but those of any other persuasion would be better off spending their time elsewhere.