Thriller/Romance/Suspense/Drama/(Unsolved)Mystery Introducing 'Tippi' Hedren...

Rating: Null/10 (31 May 2003)

This is an interesting film about different species of birds attacking a small California town called Bodega Bay. The attacks begin when Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) arrives with two love birds as a gift for a resident of the town. Did those two caged "love" birds stir the whole mess up in the first place? Will their horror continue because they take the "love" birds along with them in the end? There are no answers to be had at the film's conclusion & what's next for the characters is left to the viewer's imagination. 'Tippi' Hedren was an attractive female lead for this role. Her appearance was obviously more important than her acting skills. Rod Taylor is beefy, & sexy. Suzanne Pleshette is like a dark haired Susan Hayward. Jessica Tandy (was she ever young??) plays the possessive, widowed mom with fears of abandonment well. (She's so wrapped up in her own angst & weaknesses, in most scenes Melanie, who's a virtual stranger, comforts her daughter when she's horrified.) Although the movie holds up very well (especially the diner scene where everyone is pontificating about bird attacks) some scenes are very hokey, & unintentionably laughable now. Those still close-ups of 'Tippi's' facial expressions before, during, & after the gas station explosion are jaw-droppingly hilarious! I'm not sure this movie should be remade. Unlike the unnecessary "Psycho" remake, at least "The Birds" could benefit from modern day special effects. It would be great to see Hitchcock's original ending realized: The Golden Gate Bridge covered with "The Birds".