One Of My Favourite Hitchcock Movies

Rating: 7/10 (2 June 2011)

"The Birds" stands - in spite of a handful of problems - as one of the more frightening horror movies you're ever going to come across. It's frightening precisely because it's so inexplicable. There are no monsters, no mutants, no aliens, no diseases - none of those things that are usually used to create "horror." Instead, there are birds. Gentle birds that we see around us everyday who are usually so frightened of us that they back away if we even get close. Except in the small California coastal town of Bodega Bay, where the local avian population suddenly runs amok, and birds of all species gather together (for no particular reason that's mentioned) and begin a series of escalating and deadly attacks on the local human population. It's the very fact that the attackers are so common around us every day and that this is so unexplained and seems so impossible that gives this movie its greatest power.
The first hour or so is a bit long. Hitchcock gives us an extremely lengthy introduction to the various characters that probably could have been done more quickly, although it's in the midst of this introduction that seemingly unimportant things begin to happen - such as Melanie (Tippi Hedren) being inexplicably attacked by just a single bird - at the time more of a curiosity to the townsfolk than anything else. Hitchcock builds the suspense around the bird attacks and also builds their intensity quite well. Some of the effects used in portraying the bird attacks are quite frightening and unsettling, especially the scene in which a huge flock attacks a group of young schoolchildren. I felt a bit of deja vu during that scene as I remembered an incident as a child when I was surrounded by a group of sea gulls who were after my french fries. They weren't attacking of course, but they were all around me and I remember how unnerving and even frightening that was for a young child. The movie leads to no particular conclusion - except for an escape by the main characters as the giant flock of birds look on, apparently having quite effectively taken over the town and driven the humans away, which is exactly as the movie should have been left. To offer a logical, rational, scientific explanation would have weakened the power of the story.
The performances were good. Hedren and Rod Taylor as her romantic interest Mitch Brenner were quite effective, and I thought Veronica Cartwright entirely believable as Mitch's younger sister, who becomes gradually more terrified as time goes on. The final scenes, with Melanie and the Brenners seemingly trapped in the house while this huge flock of birds tries to force its way in is quite creepy. Well done by all involved. (7/10)