The first and only time I've watched this movie was with my mom when I was a little kid. Back at that time, the movie frightened me to new levels, as it was horrifying to see flocks of birds attacking people mercilessly.
I don't remember the actual plot of the story, which consists of a San Francisco socialite following a boyfriend to a small town, where all sorts of birds suddenly begin to attack people. I just remembered the birds viciously attacking the town's residents, people trapping themselves in buildings and gas stations blowing up, indirectly caused by the birds.
Unlike conventional horror movies, where you would normally see ghosts, goblins, vampires and zombies, "The Birds" is a film that gives you a normal everyday creature suddenly attacking people in huge numbers, something you don't expect to witness. This, as a result, is a very interesting concept for a horror movie and definitely send chills to your spines.
All the scenes of mayhem, chaos and people running for their lives are disturbing, yet suspenseful. One of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest works, this movie is a must-see for any horror movie fan.
Grade B+
The Birds
1963
Action / Drama / Horror / Mystery / Romance
The Birds
1963
Action / Drama / Horror / Mystery / Romance
Plot summary
Melanie Daniels is the modern rich socialite, part of the jet-set who always gets what she wants. When lawyer Mitch Brenner sees her in a pet shop, he plays something of a practical joke on her, and she decides to return the favor. She drives about an hour north of San Francisco to Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends the weekends with his mother Lydia and younger sister Cathy. Soon after her arrival, however, the birds in the area begin to act strangely. A seagull attacks Melanie as she is crossing the bay in a small boat, and then, Lydia finds her neighbor dead, obviously the victim of a bird attack. Soon, birds in the hundreds and thousands are attacking anyone they find out of doors. There is no explanation as to why this might be happening, and as the birds continue their vicious attacks, survival becomes the priority.
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Scared me as a kid.
Still terrifying.
What if..... imagine the unthinkable happened, and all of a sudden, The Birds attacked....
You have to hand it to Hitchcock, he knew how to scare people, by taking the ordinary, the everyday, and twisting it around, and making it scary, he did that pretty much to perfection here.
So the first half of the movie is slow, it's almost sedate, not a lot actually happens, however the second half is completely different, you can only imagine what audiences back in 1963 thought, as of 2022 it still terrifies.
It looks really good, the special effects for the time actually hold up very well.
Tippi Hedren is impressive as Melanie, it's a very sincere, strong performance.
The next time you put some bird food out for the jackdaws and magpies.....just wonder what if, what if the unthinkable did actually happen!
Great hooror from the real master of suspense, 9/10.
"The Birds" has always been one of my lesser favorites from Hitchcock
I've been watching "The Birds" since I was too young to even remember, and when I was moving across countries once I even caught the sequel on television (which is just gruesome and lacking the suspense of this). However "The Birds" has always seemed slightly uneven to me, as if the premise itself is so absurd that I have a hard time taking the film entirely seriously.
In my opinion the best Hitchcock films are "North by Northwest," "The 39 Steps," "The Lady Vanishes," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "Vertigo," "Rear Window" and of course my favorite horror film of all-time, "Psycho." "The Birds" is a good film and very well-made but because its content is so silly in nature you may find yourself having a hard time taking it all as seriously as Hitch expects us to.
So overall, it is a fine movie, but not one of the Master of Suspense's greatest.