If you watched ‘Jurassic Park’ and thought to yourself, “This movie could have been great if only it didn’t have any sort of suspense, stunning effects, or any scientific explanation for how they created dinosaurs,” then ‘Claw’ is the perfect movie for you.
‘Claw’ follows the story of Julia (Chynna Walker) and Kyle (Richard Rennie), who unexpectedly find themselves stranded in the middle of the desert after their tire blows while on their way to Los Angeles for a stand-up comedy night.
The duo decide to walk to a remote ghost town nearby in hopes of finding a phone. Instead of a phone, they find Ray, the owner of the abandoned ghost town, who offers them shelter for the night.
Nearby, a scientist is discovered to be keeping a successfully cloned velociraptor secured in a pen made of corrugated metal, plywood, and chicken wire (proving that ‘Jurassic Park’ went overboard with all that fortified and electric fencing).
The raptor is able to escape its confinement (clever girl) and find its way to the abandoned ghost town, where Julie, Kyle, and Ray have to try to evade the prehistoric predator if they hope to survive the night.
‘Claw’ is what happens when someone decides to take the concept of a successful film and turn it into a low-budget horror movie.
Rather than take its time trying to explain how they made a dinosaur, the film is relying on the fact that you have seen ‘Jurassic Park’ and are aware that they cloned a dinosaur from a sample of its blood.
This movie doesn’t give you the mosquito in amber or an explanation from Mr. D.N.A. Instead, it compacts all the scientific exposition into brief flashes over the opening credits which include newspaper clippings about a “disgraced” scientist, sequences of gene splicing, images of DNA strands, a fossil of a raptor’s claw, a blood sample on a glass slide, glimpses of the “disgraced” scientist working in a makeshift lab, and a shot of an egg hatching (proving that, once again, John Hammond was just throwing away millions of dollars in genetic research at his park because, clearly, you can create dinosaurs in a ramshackle shed in the middle of nowhere with just a couple of microscopes and some stolen lab equipment).
Also, rather than set the movie in a multi-billion-dollar theme park like its counterpart, this film is set in a vacant frontier tourist attraction. Which is practically the same thing.
‘Claw’ is the type of movie that knows it’s not going to win you over with its storytelling or plot, so instead, it’s relying on its laughable premise and absurd situations to try to win over its audience.
It’s unlikely that ‘Claw’ will ever generate enough of a fan base to become a cult classic, similar to titles like ‘Tammy and the T-Rex’ or ‘The VelociPastor,’ but, if you’re a fan of movies that fall under the “they’re so bad, they’re good” category, then you will find some enjoyment from watching ‘Claw,’ particularly in the ease with which our cast of characters can avoid the velociraptor.
On a scale of 1-5 stars, I give this movie 2.5 stars.
Although it manages to entertain at times, the film’s almost complete lack of an actual ending and unfunny stand-up routine at the end of the film leave you wondering if they just ran out of ideas while filming the movie.
‘Claw’ is directed by Gerald Rascionato, co-written by Rascionato and Joel Hogan, and stars Chynna Walker as Julia, Richard Rennie as Kyle, Mel Mede as Ray, Ken Mertz as the scientist, Allen Lyster as the gas station attendant, and Juan Carlos Sanchez as the announcer.
Visit IMDB to learn more about ‘Claw.’
