A murder most 'fowl'

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2008)

My Take: Brilliant, subtle and surprisingly sophisticated.
Although age has certainly taken advantage on Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 thriller THE BIRDS, it's still one of the few of these "nature goes wild" thrillers that manage to keep its momentum and some of its effectiveness. Although the plot of nature turning against mankind seemed dated and became the subject of B-grade drive -in flicks and William Girdler's camping trip horrors, THE BIRDS does keep its credibility as a thriller, and a clever and subtle one at that. The silence and subtleness of the film, featuring the fact that it doesn't have an original score, presents The Master of Suspense's clever ways of obtaining suspense. There are a lot of scenes here that provide some tingle and chills, rather than violence and gore, which is somehow more effective. And, surprisingly, Hitch doesn't spare providing some bits of old-fashioned humor and romance. Hitchcock may be one of the few talents in Hollywood that can successfully fuse low-key comedy and offbeat romance with fear and panic.
The first few half of the film (The first attack doesn't occur until later on) was more of a comedy and a mismatched relationship between characters. Mainly, it is about the human characters first, including spoiled city girl Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren's Debut), who flirts with lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor). Hitchcock continues on with the humorous tone when Melanie does follow Mitch in his summer house in Bodega Bay, with a present of lovebirds intended for Mitch's sister (Veronica Cartwright). Serious thing picks up when poor Melanie gets attacked by a gull, which is later followed by a series of bizarre attacks from the birds on Bodega Bay residence. What caused them to turn against mankind? Is Melanie involved? Is she EVIL? Not even Hitch or the climax will leave you the answer to that.
This, I think, is a very underrated work from The Master of Suspense, with much of the complaints coming from the film ending short of what was expected. But I may be only the few ones who actually understand what Hitch is trying to do here. I think the ending may not explain the endless "whats?" and "hows", but satisfaction has nothing to do with it. Hitchcock is not the kind of director who would wanted the film to end with a bang. Hitch wanted to give as the film that would give us the creeps, and successfully gives us one that we'd think about even after it's over.
Yes, I give it *****. Although it isn't usually compared with Hitch's other efforts like PSYCHO, REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO, THE BIRDS, without the comparisons, is still a great thriller that manages to create a very competent material in a premise that hardly anyone would believe in. Alongside the said classics, THE BIRDS still remains one of the master's best and most interesting efforts, and still remains one of my favorite Hitchcock movies.
Rating: ***** out of 5.