Now we have arrived at one of the scariest, if not “the” scariest, movie ever to be directed by Alfred Hitchcock himself, “The Birds,” released in 1963. It is one of the most disturbing structures in movie history: a woman tiptoes through a house until – in three disjointed shots – she finds the bloody corpse of its resident on the bedroom floor, his eye sockets two black holes drenched with blood.
The scene is just one of several gruesome moments in Hitchcock’s superior horror movie, “The Birds,” made three years after his burning success with “Psycho.”
Alastair Sooke mentioned that, “It begins as screwball comedy.” Melanie Daniels, played by Melanie Griffith’s mom, the great Tippi Hedren, is a determined playgirl who enterprises a smart Aston Martin. After a smart-aleck lawyer named Mitch Brenner, played by the late Australian actor, Rod Taylor, flirts with her in a San Francisco pet shop, she follows him over to Bodega Bay, north California, where he spends the weekends with his mother, played by Jessica Tandy. Sooke credited, “Taylor, who had won acclaim for his role in The Time Machine, died in January 2014 aged 84.”
Soon after she rows her boat over to see him, a seagull pecks at her head – a warning substitute for Cupid’s arrow – and it’s not long before the town is under attack from flocks of seagulls and crows.
The bird-attack sequences are extremely difficult (the movie has more than 370 trick shots), and not having a musical score concentrates the horror more direct: Hitchcock’s long-time composer Bernard Hermann made a creepy soundtrack from caws, vociferous screeches and swishing wings.
Sooke mentioned, “But the true genius of the film, based on a 1952 short story by Daphne du Maurier, is the way Hitchcock makes the malevolent birds seem like manifestations of his characters' mental unease –especially that of Mitch's mother and his former lover, Annie, played by Suzanne Pleshette, now a local schoolteacher.”
What woman wouldn’t feel threatened if Melanie arrived in town? Sooke said, “In her chic green suit, her peroxide hair swept into an immaculate chignon, and her soft lips moulded into a succession of minxish pouts, Hedren makes Melanie the very height of 1960s sophistication.”
Mitch’s mother smiles daggers at Melanie when they are introduced, her hatred perhaps ignited by their strange resemblance. Indeed, many people mistake the famous poster art of a woman attacked by birds (taken from the scene where sparrows flow into the Brenners’ living room) for Hedren. In fact, the smirk belongs to Tandy – her grey hair colored blonde to help the confusion.
If you want to watch this movie, be very careful and don’t say you weren’t warned. This movie will give you the fear of birds for some time and you won’t be able to look at a bird the same way every again. The effects of watching a Hitchcock movie makes a lasting impression on you and you will need some time to recover from it. I first saw this movie when I was a junior in High School in my Spanish class, but it was dubbed in Spanish, so I didn't completely understand what was being said. Even then, I was putting my head down on my desk when the birds were attacking. Then I saw it years later, and it left quite an impact.
Wouldn’t you believe that they made a “made-for television sequel” to this movie? How was that possible? Was there anything in this movie that hinted that it needed a sequel? Well, when it comes to filmmakers, they will do anything to make money and cash in on the success of a very popular movie. That’s why in 1994, “The Birds II: Land’s End” was released on television.
Imagine “The Birds” without the suspense, charm, or acting ability.
A quick lesson in movie credits for those who may not know: If a director does not like a project and wishes to not be recognized for it, they may apply to the Directors Club to do so. If the director is able to convince the club that they were unable to make proper creative control over the project, they can be given permission to remove their name from the credits. They are banned from talking the project, may not admit to being the true director, and their name will be (or was until 2000 at least) replaced in the credits with the pseudonym “Alan Smithee.”
“The Birds II: Land’s End” is an Alan Smithee movie.
The one thing tying this made-for-TV sequel to Hitchcock’s 1963 classic is the return of his lead actress, Tippi Hedren, here in a supporting role as a different character completely. With no connecting characters, locations, or even so much as a mention that this has ever happened before, this sequel is less an unwanted sequel, and more an unnecessary remake.
A family (Brad Johnson, Chelsea Field, Stephanie Milford, Megan Gallagher, and a dog) move to a small island, and birds start attacking everyone.
The dog does at one point bring a bird into the house, and the daughters (Milford and Gallagher) try to make a pet of the bird, but the birds have begun to show odd behavior by this in the movie (in fact, they kill a fisherman before the opening credits start). Once the would-be-pet bird is strong again, it escapes. This does not stop the attacks, and has no effect on the plot.
Apparently there was a son in this family before the events of the movie, but he died in a car accident. This has nothing to do with the plot, is mentioned exactly twice, and does not influence anyone’s behavior.
The mom of the family (Field), who works for the local newspaper, goes out to the bar with her photographer (James Naughton), and the father (Johnson) shows his jealousy at the amount of time his wife spends with her boss. The boss once tries to kiss her but she pushes him back. This also has nothing to do with the plot or anyone’s behavior.
Another thing that has nothing to do with the plot is that the girls are scared of Jan Rubes, which is similar to “Home Alone.” Also, another thing that they stole from a movie is “Jaws,” where the mayor of this town, who also happens to be the doctor, played by Richard K. Olsen, doesn’t believe that birds are attacking so that people aren’t scared to come to this town for tourist attractions.
Will Tingle mentioned in his review, “I always think that if you’re going to re-make a movie, do something different with it, at the very least fix the original’s flaws.” Actually, “The Birds” only had one flaw: the (non) ending. Even though “Land’s End” makes some small attempt to be a little less vague than the original, it’s still a quick, motivation free, end. Certainly nothing acceptable though, and not necessarily different to the original that it was worth the effort of sitting through the movie to get there.
In the positive, (most of) the bird attacks look quite good, using close shots and lots of cuts to both highlight the furious nature of the attacks, and hide any flows in the effects themselves.
Tingle ended his review by saying, “If you want to see a good killer bird movie, see The Birds. If you want to see a bad one, see Birdemic: Shock and Terror. If you want to see a mediocre killer bird movie, take stock of your life, but failing that, see The Birds II: Land’s End.”
My advice to everyone is don't watch this sequel. It's so not worth the trouble to go out and find a copy of the movie, nor is it worth the time and trouble to watch it. Just watch the original Hitchcock movie and not this.
Anyways, just stay tuned tomorrow to see what else is in store for "Halloween Month."
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