Kaw (2007) Reviews

• Mad Cow Disease Makes Ravens Intelligent

  claudio_carvalho2008-05-03

  On the last working day of Sheriff Wayne (Sean Patrick Flanery), his small town is attacked by blood thirsty ravens that eat human flesh. Meanwhile his wife Cynthia (Kristin Booth) visits a farm where a Mennonite family lives to say farewell to her friend Gretchen (Megan Park) and discloses a dark secret about the origin of the fierce ravens. "Kaw" is entertaining, but the plot is quite ridiculous. The explanation that the ravens had eaten flesh of cattle with mad cow disease could explain their aggressive behavior or they hunger for flesh; but the ravens are smart, using for example stones to break the windows of the school bus, and the scientific conclusion is that mad cow disease makes raven intelligent. That is too much, isn't it? My vote is five. Title (Brazil): Not Available

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• Pretty decent... for a Sci Fi movie

  thefloodhavecome2007-04-07

  I don't feel like wasting much of my time writing a long, in-depth review on a film such as Kaw, a Sci-Fi Original Movie, so let me get straight to the details here: This film is about a pack rabid birds (Supposedly just ravens, but it's pretty obvious that they have a mixture of ravens and crows in the there) that terrorize a town for a reason not revealed until near the end, and most of the film is spent following several people who meet up in the end, simply running from the creatures. It's really as simple and ridiculous as that. But, I don't think I've enjoyed a Sci-Fi movie as much as Kaw since the should-be cult-classic Alien Apocalypse (Starring Bruce Campbell) or the amazingly bad Nature Unleashed: Tornado. Yes, it has its mass of flaws including very mediocre CGI (a commonface among Sci-Fi movies), an uninteresting and generic plot/story, and an extremely lame, clichéd ending for the genre. But... I will go as far as to say the acting was pretty good/mediocre, but never laughably bad; an oddity with Sci-Fi movies. Same thing goes with the diologue which proved to be believable and somewhat interesting on occasion. Even though the movie doesn't have any 'scary' scenes (as expected), I was surprised to find that it did, however, have a few slightly intense moments here and there that had me creep towards my TV, as well as a good amount of blood and gore that was seemingly well-done. Overall, Kaw is a decent film for the Sci-Fi channel. Usually these movies end up being complete unbearable disasters, but this one was, to some extent, entertaining; I enjoyed watching this on my Saturday night where I didn't have much else to do, and I'd say it was worth watching. My Sci-Fi Channel Original Picture score for Kaw makes an easy 7/10, but my real score is shown above.

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• Kaw

  Scarecrow-882007-12-15

  Ravens, infected by Mad Cow Disease when they ate from the dead cows of an Amish-like Minnonites community farm, lead a mass revolt descending upon a snowy, small town hungry for any type of flesh that can satisfy their appetites. On the final day of his job as sheriff, Wayne(Sean Patrick Flanery)encounters a crisis that affects his whole town as huge, menacing ravens attack in packs leaving several citizens and passersby dead and their flesh torn to pieces. He must find a way to defend his people against these deadly ravens or else perish in the process. There's an army of these birds and they return in waves, always ready for human flesh. Stephen McHattie is Clyde, an alcoholic school bus driver trying to stay sober for love-interest Betty(Michelle Suquet), who runs a little gas station/diner. Kristin Booth is Wayne's photographer wife, Cynthia, for whom he's giving up his sheriff's position so she can have a career as a teacher of anthropology. Veteran Rod Taylor(the hero in Hitchcock's The Birds)stars as the town doctor/coroner. Vladimir Bondarenko is Jacob, the religiously fanatical Minnonite who blames the curse of their cows and rampaging predatory birds on the English for he feels their people joining amongst them in activities was against God's will. He is able to hold his son Oskar(John Ralston)to silence over the cows keeping the disease a secret from the town. Megan Park is Oskar's daughter Gretchen who, along with Doris(Ashley Newbrough)and Connie(Emma Knight),become trapped on a bus when the ravens attack as Clyde attempts to fix his engine while their coach Emma(Amanda Brugel)tries to assist him. I watched the R-rated version which contains some pretty gory flesh eating such as when a couple, lost on a road near the town, are under attack swerving upside down into a ditch..while the car explodes, a bird is shown tearing away at the flesh wound of a gash on the leg of the woman slung from the vehicle. After an attack on Clyde's dog, Wayne stops by the man's house finding the poor canine being fed from by a raven chewing away. Another great scene, my favorite of the film, has Cynthia stopping off by Jacob's Minnonite farm to bring a picture-book and falling into a well containing the skinned carcass of a cow! Another suspenseful scene has this poor child, off his bicycle, surrounded by a circle of ravens around him. Most of the attacks are shown from afar as birds form a massive attack covering their victims..we see their destruction afterward as nasty flesh wounds are shown on the dead victims.The ending is a bit too much, however. Has a nifty attack on the main characters as they try to survive a final major swarm upon them in Betty's diner. There's an obvious influence from Hitchcock's The Birds(I mean Rod Taylor's presence in the film assures at least that), but "Kaw" gives an explanation to the devastation that occurs by the ravens. The film is basically "The Birds" using modern movie techniques like CGI. We see birds flying towards(..and in waves around) the screen, into the sky, going into/flying out of trees, and on top of buildings. The cast is okay..not as interesting as the one in "The Birds", but they are really in "Kaw" to elicit fear and anxiety as the ravens come after them. Great to see Rod Taylor show up in this film, though. Might be of interest for fans of the "animals run amok" horror sub-genre. The ending is a bit too much, however. And, that one sequence when the ravens attack the school bus by throwing stones they gather in their claws is just ridiculous.

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• "My Grandmother used to say ravens were the eyes of the devil."

  Backlash0072007-04-09

  ~Spoiler~ Sheldon Wilson struck a chord with me in 2004 when he directed Shallow Ground. That was a movie that stood out from all the other DTV movies that line the shelves of your local Blockbuster. I decided that this was an up-and-comer worth following. When it was announced that he would be doing a "Sci-fi Original" as his sophomore effort, I wasn't thrilled. Then I heard the title: Kaw! My hopes were not high as it was not exactly a "kawsome" title. With a title like that, of course it was going to be a rip-off of Hitch's The Birds (only dumbed-down for the Sci-fi Channel). But I remembered how much he impressed me with that first feature. Add to that a cast that can rise above the material and you've got an enjoyable night of Sci-fi Saturday viewing. The plot centers on a small community where the sheriff is all packed up and leaving town in a matter of days (a theme in common with Shallow Ground). But he didn't expect his last days to be like this. The local raven population has gone mad for reasons I'll explain later. Before you can say "Tippi Hedren" the villainous birds descend on the town and its inhabitants. The thing that is really cool about this film, other than the fact that they use real birds for the most part, is that they cast Rod Taylor as the town's doctor. So you can make no bones about this being a rip-off of The Birds, the filmmakers gladly admit it and cast the star of that movie as a knowing homage. Sean Patrick Flanery stars as the sheriff. Here's a guy with A-list talent that seems to relegated to B and sometimes C features. Either he's happy with this, or he has Billy Zane's agent. And rounding out the cast is the Canadian Lance Henriksen: Stephen McHattie. He's as comfortable here as he is in big-budget movies like 300 and A History of Violence. There are a few things I didn't like about the movie though. I would have been happy if they didn't explain the reason for the raven's attacks. Neither Hitchcock's original or films like Night of the Living Dead give you a definitive answer. They leave the question open and have been very successful. In Kaw, a Mennonite village on the outskirts of town is responsible for the outbreak. It turns out they have an epidemic of Mad Cow Disease on their farm and neglected to tell anyone because they think God is punishing them. The birds eat the flesh of the cows...and you know what happens next. Also, the ending is really bad, not to mention clichéd to the nth degree. But that leaves it open for the sequel: Kaw II. Oh yes, there will be feathers. But wouldn't you rather see the prequel? I call it Moo! The night THE COWS came home!

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• For the birds!

  jazza9232007-10-16

  This is a reworking of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". And, this is a great example of why I prefer classic movies. The Birds started out developing the characters. You understood them, and even to care for them. Gradually Hitchcock built up the suspense and he anticipated the audience reactions. The Birds had real characters, complete with quirks, flaws, problems, emotions and feelings. You got to really know the citizens and visitors of Bodega Bay. It also had a plot, (imagine that), genuine suspense, atmosphere, humor, a riveting score and masterful Hitch touches throughout. It wasn't about special effects, gore and shock, although he incorporated that into The Birds, it is not what made the film work. Kaw isn't an awful film, but it lacks just about everything I mentioned above. It lacks a heart and soul, and especially character development. There are no intriguing characters. It's obvious and predictable. There isn't much suspense if you know what's going to happen. It's watchable, I wasn't bored. Best of all, it helped me appreciate the classics even more. Watch this, then The Birds. You'll see what makes a film great, rather than just merely passable.

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