A Movie Review of The Birds (1963)

Staring Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor, Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" is Horror/Thriller about a small town in Northern California that is inexplicably attacked by a swarm of vicious birds. Almost 50 years later, this movie is still as chill-inducing as it was when it was released.

A great movie, one of Hitchcock's best. Still some movies don't age as well as others. The Birds, as well as other movies of the time, has a very slow start, it takes too long to get to the action, a lot of set up, it takes way too much time. Of course this could just be me, as modern cinema is more fast paced in nature and I'm used to it. The best parts of this movie are, of course, when the birds are attacking.

You never knew how terrible birds could be until you have seen this movie. And a flock of birds is even worse. There is a scene where Melanie (Tippi Hedren) is trap in a glass phone booth; that scene has to be the most anxious I was the entire film! The sound of countless wings flapping up and down against the glass, the raging chaos going on outside, the anticipation of birds breaking the glass and attacking! That scene is pure horror. I wont spoil other scenes, but the way those scenes were filmed and edited works amazingly well, the way the birds' attacks were handled is where the movie shines the most.

Of course this review won't do the film any justice, simply because I can't put myself in a mind state to say: "watch this movie in reference to it's time." It's extremely hard for me to watch a movie and not compare it to other, more recent, movies that have better effects and better cinematography in general due to technological advances. Still I think The Birds has aged quite gracefully, and you can still enjoy it without the age of the movie bringing you out of the experience.

The Birds, it's a classic movie that will have you fearing birds for at least a week. If you are looking for classic Horror you can't go wrong with this one.

MOVIE SCORE:

• 8.5/10 (adjusting slightly due to its release date)
• EE (O.W.L.)