‘Mankind is on the menu’
Apex-Predator – aka Night Claws – is a 2012 American Bigfoot horror film written and directed by David A. Prior (Zombie Wars; Mutant Species; Aerobi-Cide; Sledgehammer) from a story by executive producer Fabio Soldani (Blood Pigs). The movie stars Reb Brown, Leilani Sarelle, Ted Prior and Sherrie Rose.
Plot:
A small town is being terrorised by a killer Bigfoot. Scientist Sarah Evans (Leilani Sarelle) arrives to help the town’s sheriff (Reb Brown) and his deputy girlfriend Roberta (Sherrie Rose) hunt the creature and put an end to the killings.
At the same time, Hunter Crawford (David Campbell) is a thug-like character who along with his two henchmen, is hunting the creature himself, for his own personal gain.
Enter Charlie Parker (Ted Prior) a tough east coast type who is on a survivalist camping trip, led by the seasoned survivalist Sharon Farmer (Tara Sanford Kleinpeter) at the behest of his young trophy wife (Alissa Koenig) and whom, by no fault of his own, winds up being used as bait for the creature.
Furthermore, a sinister plot is afoot and at its centre is the vengeful Mister Testi (Frank Stallone)…
Reviews:
“Night Claws is somewhere mediocre, if ranked among other Bigfoot movies. It is worse than Abominable, yet much better than most recent Bigfoot movies […] So, if you’re simply a fan of bigfoot movies, you might as well skip Night Claws. However if you know who Prior, Stallone, Rose, and Brown are, then definitely give it a look.” BZ Film
” …culminates with a baffling third act plot twist built around the backstory of a character who up until the moment another character appears for the first time to reveal that backstory had almost no inkling of a backstory of any kind. And none of it has anything at all to do with Bigfoot […] Fun is something Night Claws just doesn’t deliver enough of to overcome all of its other shortcomings.” Dread Central
“Night Claws is an example of good intentions gone wrong, missteps in motion. The film embraces its b-movie aspirations but lacks the confidence to go full cheese or commitment to go totally original, resulting in a confusing and boring mess. The film steers to far from its titular creature and over complicates the plot with too many distractions.” HNN
“The acting is decent, it’s a joy to see the return of Reb Brown to the screen as he hasn’t done any acting since 1998. The camerawork and editing is good. The soundtrack is nice. The pacing is very good, the running time is just over 80 minutes and I like that Night Claws isn’t too predictable as there are a couple of twists along the way.” Independent Flicks
“The acting is roundly awful, the dialogue hilariously bad and the editing is so clumsy that actors can be seen preparing their lines before they speak them. Most viewers will lose patience after the first scene but if you can appreciate those lightning in a bottle moments when passion and naivete meet ineptitude, you’ll have a blast with Night Claws.” The Movie Waffler
Cast and characters:
- Reb Brown … Sheriff Joe Kelly – Robowar; Howling II: … Your Sister Is a Werewolf; Sssssss
- Leilani Sarelle … Sarah Evans
- Ted Prior … Charlie Parker – Aerobi-Cide
- Sherrie Rose … Deputy Roberta Glickman
- David Campbell … Hunter Crawford
- Frank Stallone … Testi – ChupaCobra short; The Masque of the Red Death (1989); Heart of Midnight
- Tara Kleinpeter … Sharon Farmer
- Alissa Koenig … Cindy Parker
- Art. James … Cooter Brown
- Edward Saint Pe’ … Edward
- Candace Weber Shiffman … Linda
- Tracy Miller … Doc Hopper
- Garrett Hines … Donny Ulrich
- Chelsea Rowland … Sandy Sanders
- A. Wade Miller … Thomas
Filming locations:
Mobile, Alabama
