Classic Hitchcock from du Maurier short story

Rating: 8/10 (28 November 2007)

The short story by Daphne du Maurier is transposed from South West England to America for this Hitchcock outing. It contains some really effective and scary moments and is beautifully photographed. It also has some typical Hitchcock humour. Without giving the game away for those yet to view this film, it concerns a strange phenomenon - all the birds start to gather together for a concerted attack on mankind. This attack is viewed from the perspective of the inhabitants of a small seaside community and an outsider - played by Tippi Hedren. The very ambiguous ending is as per the original tale, and all the more chilling for it. When short stories are expanded to full length films the original's impact is frequently lost. Not so here, I think. One does not look at gulls and starlings in quite the same way, having seen this film!