Hitchcock goes out on a limb and scares with THE BIRDS...

Rating: Null/10 (21 March 1999)

Hitchcock topped himself in 1960, basically inspiring all modern horror pictures with PSYCHO, a new kind of fright flick never seen before. 3 years later, he made a foray into the supernatural with THE BIRDS. If you have not seen the film and do not think a bunch of gulls and sparrows can hold you in suspense, think again. The great thing about a Hitchcock movie is that you always know you are about to enter a world where all is not right. This 'world' usually involves an innocent man wrongly accused, eventually on the run. The world of THE BIRDS has none of this. Nature has run amok and the characters, paper-thin as they are, will go through a truly terrifying ordeal.
One of the most innovative aspects here is a lack of any musical score of any kind. Hitch's long-time partner Bernard Herrman is listed as "sound consultant" and I'm sure he had something to do with the ominous sounds of the various birds, as their building wrath is indicated by their squawks. The attack scenes are a bit dated, but considering the technology of the day was pre-historic compared to the computer generated effects of today, they come across chillingly. Some birds were props, others hand-drawn, even others real. The film surprisingly benefits from a lack of music, heightening the suspense.
Tippi Hedren is the icy blonde and a standard of Hitch's movies, the jealous or overbearing mother, is played by Jessica Tandy (in an awkwardly distant role). Performances aside, Hitch does something he wished not to do in PSYCHO. The bloody attacks are in bright technicolor, and one scene depicting a victim of the birds is quite shocking. Hitch was afraid of showing the bloody carnage of the 'shower scene' in color, leaving it to the viewer's imagination. It works here, showing the blood-red evil happening in this everyday small town.
If you are claustrophobic, I would avoid THE BIRDS. Like Janet Leigh in the PSYCHO shower scene, Tippi Hedren is caught in a phone booth in one of many tight situations, shot from overhead. Otherwise, let Sir Alfred play you like a piano, like he so often has before !