Brilliant and frightening

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2005)

This movie scared me to death when I was five. My parents had dumped the four of us at a theatre for the afternoon and two hours later, I was a swollen, puffy mess, still sobbing from the horror I had witnessed. That was 35 years ago, but you'd think it happened yesterday, the way my sister still sadistically laughs at me for being so frightened. I no longer react with fear upon seeing the movie  but it is with a wizened eye that I now look at the scenes that had such impact: and they're still some of the scariest scenes put on film. Done entirely without music, the scenes unreel with alarming suspense. The theme of nature-run-amok has been made into mincemeat in the decades since, but seldom with such a deft touch. Much is made about the outdated special effects, but they are mild compared to the overusage in modern films. Tippi Hedren, whom Hitchcock spotted in a diet drink commercial and became his latest obsession, makes her debut as the cool and soignee Melanie Daniels, socialite-at-large. Hedren, who named her daughter Melanie (Griffith) after her character, subsequently had a less-than-stellar career, starring in such classics as *Teresa's Tattoo* and *Return to Green Acres*. The plot line involving Daniels and her pursuit of attorney Mitch Brenner definitely has problems, but seems necessary to create the atmosphere and set the stage for the real stars of the movie  the birds. There are so many birds in this movie, billing and cooing with an innocence that belies their malevolence, that the nightmare unfolding on the screen must have been rivaled by the nightmare on the set. Tales of tranquilizing the birds and wiring them in place surely would cause distress among animal-rights activists today. Jessica Tandy is chill and formidable as Mitch's mother, Lydia, and Suzanne Pleshette, as schoolteacher Annie Hayworth, is one of the most interesting characters in the movie. And her final scene is most memorable, as she is found facedown in front of her home, pecked to death.
The climactic attack that takes place at Mitch's home is sheer brilliance. As the birds are pecking through the door and gathering in the attack, there is a sense of madness unleashed that is breathtaking. The ambiguity of the ending has been roundly criticized  but it is most successful in leaving behind a sense that the story is not quite over. Of course, it wasn't quite over  it had to be insulted with a sequel, *The Birds II*. The film has acquired a certain campiness over the years that allows the sophisticated viewer to look past the obvious plot devices, and find an arch humor in the classic scenes. From Melanie getting clocked on the forehead by a seagull, to the crotchety ornithologist at the café, to the scene with the guy whose eyes have pecked out, to the amassing of the birds at the schoolhouse, where the children are singing what is surely the longest children's song ever written, the scenes are imprinted indelibly on our memories. So much so, that Tippi has become a popular Halloween costume  just pin a bird in your wig, and you're instantly Melanie Daniels. It's easy to laugh at something that used to be scary, but is there anyone that doesn't think of *The Birds* whenever they see more than a dozen of them get together?