YMMV / The Giant Claw

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• Memetic Mutation: "It's as big as a battleship!" "A bird as big as a battleship!"
• Narm: Boy howdy. As noted in the header, Morrow later recalled how he snuck out of a screening humiliated after people burst into laughter when the monster appeared. He went home right away and began to drink.
  • The fact that the bird is only ever described as being as big "as a battleship"/"a flying battleship".
• Nightmare Retardant: The Giant Claw itself is about as scary as a half-eaten chicken leg. Just look at it.
• So Bad, It's Good: There's some entertaining value to be found in all the Special Effect Failure.
• Special Effects Failure:
  • Apparently at one point Ray Harryhausen was going to do the creature effects, but to save money a small shop in Mexico was contracted instead. Hence the laughably bad creature design and puppet.
  • On a more mundane note, the matte painting of the US Capitol building through the general's office window is at a size and angle that implies that the general works in the statue of Grant on the National Mall.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: The bird puppet was only added in post-production, so none of the actors actually knew it would end up looking so ridiculously goofy. Because of this, all of them treat the Giant Claw like it's a horrific monstrosity with a Nightmare Face and not the reject muppet it really is.
• Values Dissonance: The male lead spends much of the movie being casually dismissive towards the female lead, an adult scientist who is treated like a child by pretty much everyone. And guess what? She's also his love interest!

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