Except this movie. Stay as far away from this movie as you can.
DAY 1: The Wolf Man (1941) DAY 2: Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987)
DAY 4: The Birds (1963)
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| Personally, I don't know that "A fascinating new personality" is a great way to describe your lead actress... |
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| Even the opening credits of this movie are terrifying, and its just birds flapping around. |
For those who haven’t seen it: Birds get mad, people get dead.
The Plot: Wealthy socialite Tippi Hedren goes to the sleepy town of Bodega Bay, California to visit sexy Rod Taylor, who she loves because he insulted her in a pet store. There she falls hard for Rod and goes to a very nice birthday party. Oh yeah, and seagulls are killing indiscriminately.
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| They also hog the monkey bars. |
Why I Love It: There’s no better director, for me, than Alfred Hitchcock. I watched Rear Window, Rebecca and Psycho over and over as a child until I broke the VCR. To be honest, this movie still scares me. The undisputed master of suspense, Hitchcock has shown us his capabilities with the psychological thriller, this time around we learn that he’s also got a decent handle on a straight-up monster movie, as well.
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| "Oh come on, it's not like you better to do than ride in the car with Mel Gibson. |
The main reason why I love this movie is because, to me, this film feels so real. You follow one group of people through everything in the film, and there’s never an explanation given for why the birds are so upset and murder-happy. They just are, and nobody can really say why (much like real-life, I think, if something like this ever does happen).
Why You Should Love It, Too: The Birds is such a great movie, without any of the allegorical overtones or metaphors that so many other films throw at their audience (though people have certainly prescribed some to it over the years). There is no reason why the birds attack. They just do, and you’d better get out of their way. That unanswered question makes the film even more terrifying because Hitchcock doesn't ever tell anybody anything. We as the audience don’t know what’s happening any more than Tippi and the rest of the cast do. We are just as scared for their safety as they are, and he’s able to really frighten us because of it.
There are several suggested reasons for why the birds might be attacking, but in the end Hitchcock leaves it up for you to decide. Some have said it’s God’s punishment or nature finally fighting back for everything we’d done to it over the years. Personally, I’ve never given much thought to why they do what they do. I just know I don’t want to be anywhere near them when they do it.
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| This is what happens when you watch "The Cleavland Show" |
I’ve never really been afraid of birds (an obvious statement for anyone who really knows me), but this film definitely gets my fears going. Hitchcock was able to take a simple, harmless concept (cute little tweety birds) and make them into something of pure terror. And he does it in such a convincing way. By letting the film build up on its own we get drawn into the lives of these characters. We care about them and what they’re doing and when the shit hits the fan we truly worry about them.
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| "Mine." |
| Add to that the lack of traditional soundtrack and the great use of synthesizers (which were used for both the bird calls and wing flaps) and it becomes something else. The sounds aren’t natural, and we know that. It gives them whole film an unnatural feel that really gets under your skin. |
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| Oh that is just wrong... |
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