Suspense landmark

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2007)

After briefly flirting with a young man in a bird store, Melanie Daniels, decides to see him again. Her search brings her to a quiet coastal town of Bodega Bay. Inexplicably birds of all types start to pester people and it isn't long before they begin to outright attack in swarms and no one can figure out why...
Not many effects and shock based films age well as the audiences definition of shock changes over time. 'All Quiet on the Western Front' from 1930 was the most graphically realistic war film of its time, yet it is seems like a remarkably lightweight next to 'Saving Private Ryan.' Hitchcock, however is often an exception to this unofficial rule. His films are never re-made, just mimicked and even those outright mimic often produce good films - DePalma's 'Dressed to Kill' with it's grisly elevator murder is a clear copy of 'Psycho' but is still a great on screen murder. So Hitchcock doesn't age, he is just continuously appreciated and Brian DePalma borrowing heavily from him has become a fine thriller director is his own right.
'The Birds' is a clear example of Hitchcock's unsurpassed ability to get audiences biting their nails. He just lets things happen and sets about showing them in the best way possible. The birds of the title literally just appear and begin to cause hell and the film just shows it almost as if it were happening and you were there amidst the swarm. The film also has groundbreaking sound and visual effect design as virtually all the birds were faked - aurally composed by Bernard Hermann and visually superimposed from many other shots. Today's seamless computer effects show that Hitchcock has plenty of apparent limitations, but he still did a remarkable job. He must have known his limitations since he sets up shots to make them relatively unapparent. He works with what he has and that results in a landmark of the suspense genre. Other films in the same vein, such as 'The Swarm' from the 70s can't lay a feather to 'The Birds.' Also, there is a subtle (actually, in your face!) reference to James Whale's classic monster movie 'Frankenstein' - can you find it?
The only thing that is left to be desired is that some of the characterizations seem a outdated by today's standards. But, then again, this isn't a classic because it's new! --- 10/10
Rated PG-13 for terror/violence