Creating terror from common birds

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2015)

Opening in a San Francisco pet shop, specialising in birds, we are introduced to protagonists Melanie Daniels, a wealthy socialite, and Mitch Brenner, a lawyer. It appears that he has mistaken her for the shop assistant and inquires about buying a pair of love birds for his young sister's birthday. It turns out he is playing a practical joke but she decides to play one back; using contacts she tracks him to the town of Bodega Bay where she hires a boat and surreptitiously delivers a pair love birds to his house. On the crossing back to town she is attacked by a gull; a strange occurrence but nothing it is more than a reason for Mitch to help her. Invited to dinner they become closer and it looks like this is more a rom-com than anything else; then things gets scary; a man is found dead in his house; apparently a victim of birds attacking. Some argue that this is ridiculous but soon more and more attacks take place and the whole town is in danger.
This Hitchcock classic could be mistaken for a gentle romantic comedy if it weren't for the opening shot of vast numbers of birds flying past. These early scenes are fun with little to hint at what is to come. When the bird attacks begin in earnest it is quite disturbing as we see familiar species gradually building in number; most notably crows and gulls; birds than can seem menacing at the best of times! It is this that makes it so frightening. The shots of the bird attacks feature effects that while good for the time appear a little dated now however they do capture the terror of the attacks; especially in the scene where the school children are attacked. We see a major character die which leads us to believe nobody is truly safe; indeed the ending hints that the danger is far from over. The cast do a decent enough job although it isn't the best cast Hitchcock has used and some of the minor characters are somewhat weak. Overall though this isn't Hitchcock's best work it is well worth watching and if you are a fan of Hitchcock one really should see it.