Mesmerising, Ingenious, Wildly original piece of melodramatic cinema

Rating: 8/10 (29 October 2007)

"They're birds, aren't they?".
This film is truly a Ornithophobic's nightmare and is a film that makes you think of what menial power humans have in contrast to the potential power the animal kingdom can have over us.
Its about a small harbour city that gets terrorised by all the birds that live there such as the Crows and Seagulls. The birds turn deranged and militant.
The question is why do these birds turn on mankind? Hitchcock never stated a reason but it is widely believed that the birds turning against mankind is a symbol of how much us as humans live on the edge of the animal kingdom. Think about it, there are 100 billion birds on earth, if they turned against us, mankind would shrivel away.
Its a frightening thought and the film presents this thought which leads to a chilling classic.
There is no music in this film which although is original, i believe it tones down the tension of the film. However, the absence of digetic sound gives the audience a natural feel towards the film. Its a very down to earth and natural movie.
In conclusion, this is a definitive hitchcock classic, note to the squeamish: avoid! 8/10