Sheriff Wayne is about to leave his job to move with his wife Catherine, a cultural anthropology teacher, to a new town. His last day on duty begins under the banner of a strange accident, as a result of which an old farmer loses his life. From there, other strange incidents begin to occur; all with the same common element: crows. What appear to be isolated attacks actually conceal a terrible threat that perhaps no one expected to face......
With this "Kaw: Attack of the Imperial Crows" we are clearly in the "beast-movie" genre (to which belong cult films such as "Razorback," "Bugs: Fire Bug," "Jaws," and crap like "The Night of the Long Fear" or "Stinger") with eventual and questionable (eventual because there is no real criticism with an ecological background here; there are not many explicit elements to that effect; perhaps, one could speak of a message between the lines, discernible or not depending on the viewer's inclinations) ecological morality (curious the explanation given to the aggressive behavior of the crows: an interesting but somewhat naive attempt to fish from current events). This time the stars of the evening are the imperial crows. The idea behind Sheldon Wilson's film would not be bad (nor so absurd or unbelievable): much has been written or filmed about crows in the past. Birds always accompanied by a certain mystery and also by an unquestionable macabre fascination, which has seen them featured in many horror stories. The story appears very simple and straightforward (perhaps even too much so), devoid of inconsistencies (as well as extremely brief given the film's short running time as well). The unfolding is typical of the genre: attacks that are mistaken for accidents; mysterious deaths; beginning of the investigation by the local police and a few citizens; discovery of the killer "beast"; final siege in the usual gas station or diner; final surprise, in this case quite predictable. Unfortunately, there is a total lack of twists and turns, and hopes for some thrills here are very short-lived (about a few minutes); the action is not lacking but does not involve much (the viewer always remains unfailingly indifferent). The ending then was quietly imagined already during the siege at the diner; suggested by too many more or less explicit elements. The film's greatest flaw lies in its utter flatness. It does, however, have, against all odds, good cinematography, and one really appreciates the locations chosen: all incredibly desolate (there are also a few striking shots, such as that of the old tree near the camp; a tree where the crows patiently wait for their victims). There is a feeling of really being in total nothingness; a realm of unnatural silence, broken only by the scratchy, disturbing cry of the crows. A few fairly successful sequences can be discerned: that of the group fleeing into the cornfields is not bad, although such scenes have been seen and seen before in so many previous horror films (offhand the "Children of the Corn" series comes to mind). The script appears almost nonexistent since minimal dialogue is recorded and characters are hardly characterized; this if nothing else saves our hearing from horrible, pathetic, predictable sentences. The cast is of complete unknowns with the exception of the late handsome Sean Patrick Flanery, playing Sheriff Wayne; hero of the situation. The special effects are particularly disappointing, especially in the scenes of the crow attacks and the scenes relating to their movements; all of them bad and their animations not very believable. The make-up of the victims, on the other hand, quietly achieves sufficiency: we see some nice, deep wounds (see the death of the basketball team's coach near the bus); a few punctured skulls and some nice wounds. Still, little enough to score a plus point. The real flaw of this film is that it is incredibly forgettable: when we see total crap like this, unfortunately, we remember it very well and always or at any rate often cite it as an example. In this case inceve we are talking about a film that is very very easily forgotten. It does not have huge flaws, but neither does it have merits. It can be seen to pass quietly an hour or so, but after some time one has probably lost any memory of it (the only thing that maybe a smidgen can be remembered is the poster: it is not bad at all, in fact, having to be really honest, it very much entices one to watch it).
Review by decker
