The Birds (1963)
120 minutes / Color / Rated PG-13
The Culprit(s): Hundreds, nay thousands, of birds hailing form a variety of species, including seagulls and crows.
The Plot: Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is a spoiled little rich girl who takes a shining to a fellow named Mitch Brenner and drives out to Bodega Bay, California (home of "The Fog!") to pay him a surprise visit. But Melanie should have just stayed home because mere moments after her arrival, she is dive-bombed by a seagull. Though she only receives a superficial wound, the gull attack is quite a shock, and as it turns out, is just a small preview of coming attractions. As the days tick by, the bird attacks increase, with each new attack proving to be more vicious than the last. The birds swoop down and ruin a young girl's birthday party, then they invade a guy's house and peck out his eyes (which sadly occurs offscreen), then they go kamikaze on a school full of children, and finally, they carry out a daring air strike on the town itself, resulting in lots of broken windows and the fiery destruction of a gas station. As the plague of birds continues to build, Melanie, Mitch, and his family barricade themselves into their seaside home in a desperate fight for survival.
Why it made the list: One has to wonder how Alfred Hitchcock suddenly decided to make a film about birds revolting against humanity, especially when you consider that the bulk of his films were mysteries and thrillers. Then again, "The Birds" falls into both of those categories. It is a mystery because no one knows why all the birds in Southern California are joining forces to peck the shit out of people (my theory is that they are in Bodega Bay solely to nest in Tippi Hedren's hair), and, "The Birds" is also a thriller because it thrusts characters we can actually care about, into a deadly and fairly unbelievable scenario. (Essentially, the only choice these people have is to either find a solution to the avian invasion, or just hope to survive nature's sudden onslaught.)
"The Birds" featured groundbreaking special effects, and was actually pretty violent and graphic for its time. Aside from a few people with stage blood on their hands and faces, we get glimpses of birds crashing into windows, and a pretty shocking scene where Lydia Brenner (Mitch's mom; played by Jessica Tandy) discovers the eyeless corpse of a neighbor. It is also interesting to note that "The Birds" does not have a soundtrack, which makes it a real cinematic oddity. I guess this was done to help make the proceedings seem even more realistic, but even if that wasn't the case, it kind of works in the film's favor. In a world where movies rely on loud musical cues to help elicit scares from audiences, its nice to look back on a film that didn't have to resort to that.
Why YOU should watch it: This movie is a classic and, aside from "Psycho," is probably Hitchcock's most memorable film. I could blather on about how good the movie is on a technical level, or how it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, but really, all you need to know about "The Birds" is that it delivers the goods. The scenes where the film's antagonists fly in and attack fleeing woman and children are nothing short of amazing. What I love about this movie is that each bird attack attempts to one-up the one that came before it, and it almost gets to a point where you almost expect to see flocks of birds having "dogfights" with military airplanes. (Sadly this never happens, but you can imagine how cool it would've been.)
Also, there's that nifty corpse with the empty eye-sockets that Jessica Tandy discovers, and there's a wonderful moment in the film where an old know-it-all wench gets her comeuppance. Said old crone is a self-proclaimed bird expert and tells everyone in a diner that birds don't attack people and they most certainly do not coordinate their attacks with other bird species. (As the saying goes "birds of a feather flock together.") Imagine this old bitch's surprise when a legion of seagulls rains down destruction upon the town moments after she delivers her speech.
Is it worthy of a remake? Well someone in Hollywood thinks so, and according to the Hollywood Reporter, that someone is Michael Bay. And why not? His production company, Platinum Dunes, has been behind the recent slew of horror movie remakes which include "Friday the 13th," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and eventually, "A Nightmare on Elm St." Charlize Theron will allegedly star in this modern retelling of the Hitchcock's classic film, and it is set to come out sometime in 2010.
I can easily tell you now that a remake of "The Birds" will suck horrifically. While the effects used in the original aren't up to today's standards, Hitchcock at least used a lot of live birds in his film. The actors and actresses had something tangible (and very much alive) to react to, and in this modern age of CGI effects "wizardry" you know that the film makers aren't going to bother with any practical effects or trained animals if they can help it. Hopefully the proposed remake of "The Birds" will just quietly die and be laid to rest with the proposed remake of John Carpenter's "The Thing."
Hey, I just read elsewhere that there is a sequel to "The Birds." Is that worth watching? F*ck no! "The Birds II: Land's End" was a made for TV atrocity that came out in 1994. How bad is it? Well, director Rick Rosenthal, who is best known for directing "Halloween II," applied for an Alan Smithee credit because "The Birds II" was total ass.
Well we're halfway there gang! Just five more flicks to go before this list is done with, and I assure you I have been saving the best films for last. Check back tomorrow for number five on the countdown, which is aptly referred to by many as "Jaws with Claws."
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