A good Bigfoot movie is a rarity, incredibly few and far between and Night Claws is not a film that falls into that category. Thanks to the efforts of Leilani Sarelle and Sherrie Rose, the movie manages to fit into the mold of okay but just barely. The plot finds the people of a small town being killed off when they enter the woods and none know why, though they do suspect. As it turns out, the culprit is a Bigfoot who has a taste for killing and when a scientist decides to go and seek out said creature, she will encounter more than she bargained for.

The Bigfoot in this movie looked a little cheap though not all bad, but as it was shown only sparingly at least until the end, the makers of this film managed to create a little bit of suspense because of it. If one knows they only have a limited budget to make a picture such as this, going all out and having your monster look terrible on screen is a big mistake. Keeping the creature in the shadows works far better as it lends wonder and horror and curiosity to the film. It keeps the viewers engaged and it is much better to have the audience absorbed in the possibility of what might happen than tuning out because the filmmaker gave it all away with any weaknesses making themselves known. That being said, the story could have been a bit better with parts of the script a little stronger, but as it was, it did the job and with at least the female half of the cast doing a good job in the acting department, it still managed to deliver the goods. What is very strange about this whole affair is the fact that those of the male persuasion were quite awful in their roles. Even Frank Stallone, saviour of all that is right in the world could not even balance it out, so it is a good thing that Rose and Sarelle were present.

Made in 2012, everything that was seen in this film had been seen before in at least a few dozen other monster movies and that in itself is not a bad thing as it is a tried and true formula. What would have been nice to see is the execution turning out a little better and perhaps throwing a spin in the works to make it a little more interesting. Night Claws for all that it is, is not bad, but it is not good either. It is a time-killer that one throws on when they are doing laundry or reading some comics – background noise at best, which in the end, serves a purpose.

2 out of 5