~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!
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!