I'd give it 8.5 if I could

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2008)

I love M. Night Shamylan's films, so perhaps I'm a bit biased. This one was definitely very well done, despite what many many others are saying about it.
The acting was good, the subject was chilling, and its ability to draw the audience in shouldn't be ignored. Some have said "why should we care about these people? I'm not invested in their plight" (paraphrased). Why should you care? It could very well have been you, your family, your friends, who were affected by this "Happening".
The only flaw, and the reason I can't give this 9 or 10, is the ending. The scene with the couple at the end, followed by the TV report, could have been cut. In fact, it should have been. The report should have simply said that the event was over in the Northeast, and left it. The final scene should be included though. Why all this? "The Birds". That's why. The end of "The Happening" left you with a small sense of relief, but the end of "The Birds" leaves you wondering what the heck is going on. Hitchcock intentionally refrained from explaining why the birds were attacking the world (and never defined the scope, which I liked as well...it could have just been California or it could have been the whole Western Hemisphere...or more), which made the end more chilling and horrifying than could have been achieved with a "proper" ending. "The Happening" should have ended the same way. We find out it's over in the Northeast, that nothing's gone on for a while, that there's theories going around including conspiracy and terrorism, the newsman says "everyone would believe you if it had only happened *somewhere else*", and then.....boom