‘Flying beast out of prehistoric skies!’
The Giant Claw is a 1957 American science fiction monster film directed and narrated by Fred F. Sears (The Werewolf) from a screenplay written by Samuel Newman and Paul Gangelin. Produced by Sam Katzman and distributed by Columbia Pictures.
The movie stars Jeff Morrow, Mara Corday, Morris Ankrum, Louis Merrill, Edgar Barrier, Robert Shayne, Frank Griffin and Clark Howat.
The Giant Claw is usually mocked for the quality of its special effects. The bird is obviously a marionette puppet with a very odd face. The movie includes copious stock footage, including clips of the explosion of the Los Angeles City Hall from War of the Worlds and the collapse of the Washington Monument from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers during the bird’s attack on New York City.
Plot:
While engaged in a radar test flight, Mitch MacAfee (Jeff Morrow), spots an unidentified flying object. Jets are scrambled to pursue and identify the object but one goes missing. Officials are initially angry at MacAfee over the loss of a pilot and jet over what they believe to be a hoax but are forced to take his story seriously after several other planes disappear.
A gigantic bird “as big as a battleship”, purported to come from an antimatter galaxy (and then later from the year 17,000,000 B.C.), is responsible for all the incidents. Mitch, his mathematician girlfriend Sally Caldwell (Mara Corday), Doctor Karol Noymann (Edgar Barrier), General Considine (Morris Ankrum) and General Van Buskirk (Robert Shayne), work feverishly to develop a way to defeat the seemingly invincible enemy.
The climactic showdown takes place in New York City, with the bird attacking both the Empire State and United Nations buildings.
Buy Sci-Fi Creature Classics DVD – Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
Trailer:
Joe Dante on Trailers from Hell:
Full film – free to watch on YouTube:
Release:
The Giant Claw had only two official VHS releases – one in the USA through Goodtimes Home Video and the other through Screamtime in the United Kingdom. Columbia Pictures finally released it on DVD in October 2007 as part of the two-disc four-film set Icons of Horror Collection – Sam Katzman.
Film facts:
The working title was Mark of the Claw
Suggested drinking game:
Take a big swig of booze every time any character refers to the monster being as big as a “battleship”.
