Horror Movie Review: Kaw (2007)

What happens when a load of ravens eat the flesh of cattle that died from mad cow disease? Kaw has the answer for you, the question is… do you want to find out?

Written by Benjamin Sztajnkrycer and directed by Sheldon Wilson, Kaw takes inspiration from 1963’s The Birds. However, that’s about where the similarities end. Both films have birds in them and Rod Taylor stars in both.

Have you heard this one before? It’s a small-town sheriff’s last day on the job. He is moving to the big city for his wife and is about to have the worst day of his career. A swarm of ravens infected with mad cow disease attack some local farms before turning their attention on the town itself.

A motely group are going to have to work together to stop the feathered freaks. Will anyone survive the violent pecking and just what do the isolated group of Mennonites know?

Yeah, you’ve heard this one before. Except the Mennonites angle which really doesn’t matter that much to the overall plot. It’s ravens versus a town, that’s all that matters. The auxiliary attacks serving to build up to an orgy of chaos as the birds descend on the town.

The star of the show is Sean Patrick Flanery as Sherriff Wayne, a likable enough character played by an actor who isn’t trying too hard here. He’s not alone though as the likes of Stephen McHattie and Kristin Booth aren’t exactly turning in their best work either.

It’s hard to blame them for not sinking their teeth into these roles. The characters are undefined and the story rarely manages to take off. When it occasionally does, the landing is rarely stuck. We needed a bloodbath here and we just don’t get it.

That being said, one of the more impressive things are the effects. It’s not that they’re spectacular but rather go above expectation. The expectation is that the CGI will be rubbish and any practical effects will look fake. That’s not the case with either so is well worth praising.

That’s about all that is worth praising though and Kaw can simply be summed up by one word – forgettable. Watch it, enjoy it for what it is, then forget about it directly afterwards.