KAW
(R)
MOVIE: ** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
STARRING
Sean Patrick Flanery as WAYNE
Stephen McHattie as CLYDE
Kristin Booth as CYNTHIA
Rod Taylor as DOC
John Ralston as OSKAR
Michelle Duquet as BETTY
Directed by: Sheldon Wilson
Studio: Reel One Entertainment
BY KEVIN CARR
I’ve never been a big fan of remakes and homage in film. Generally, these movies tend to rely too heavily on the pre-knowledge of its audience and don’t make a good film on its own. Some exceptions to this include Eli Roth’s “Cabin Fever” (paying homage to “The Evil Dead”), but they are pretty rare.
“Kaw” is a film that pays homage a little too much to “The Birds.” The film tells the story of a small town sheriff who, on his last day on the job, faces a threat of giant crows attacking people. He tries to fight the birds, but they are relentless. Eventually, he enlists the aid of the military and scientists, hoping to fight this attack of nature.
Just knowing the concept of the film, you can’t help but see the correlation to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film “The Birds.” But if you are too dense to notice this, the cover box blares out “in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds,” Rod Taylor makes an appearance as the town doctor and the special features show the director gushing over Taylor’s presence and comparing the film to “The Birds.”
In case you haven’t guessed, “Kaw” isn’t as good as “The Birds” and would have been served better to just be a scary little movie about crows attacking people. Ultimately, it does its part to be a small direct-to-DVD scare fest, and it at least provides the fledgling actor Sean Patrick Flanery a paycheck.
With a few good scares but a forgettable ending, “Kaw” will never rise to the level of Hitchcock’s masterpiece.
The DVD comes with a making-of featurette as well as an extended, over-indulgent and surprising dull interview with Rod Taylor.