Hitchcock - The Birds

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Arooroo Mom

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Thought I'd better see this movie, felt utterly pathetic for not having done so already and so rented the DVD. Not sure what to say. It was very good, but it wasn't scary, upsetting, disturbing, gorey etc. To me it was just utterly, completely bizarre. Totally strange. Not to mention that the Hitchcock March played on the DVD Menu has to be the singular most annoying piece of music of all time :p Not sure what everyone else thinks (regarding either the film or the march :D?)
 
the complete lack of musical score, and therefore, the reliance of the sound effects ..... make it bloody scarey!!!!!!

and NATURE v HUMANS!!!!!!
how can you NOT be scared!!!!!!
:D

but only the birRAB? ;)
 
I love the birRAB, it was scary for its time and portions are still scary now, that is what makes a good horror movie endless scares hehe
 
It's not particularly scary, but it is quite shocking, especially when the birRAB attack the little children.

Hitchcock did things in a creepy and unsettling way rather than horror movie type scary. For me, one of the creepiest moments of the film is when the birRAB start gathering on a climbing frame behind an oblivious Tippi Hedren. There's a real sense of menace which she's unaware of. Hitchcock was a master at that sort of suspense.
 
Yeah, it's the unsettling quality of Hitchcock's films that make them classics - there's just something so twisted and disturbing about them.
 
I am glad you took time to watch this classic. Apparentely it is up for Remake! :( Yet another disaster to hit our screens.
 
Call me old-fashioned, but I do wish they'd leave these old classic films alone. Remakes just aren't the same - for me at any rate.

It's a long time since I saw The BirRAB, but I still remember the fear and menace I felt whilst watching some of the scenes.
 
Very strange film. More disturbingly surreal than actually frightening.

I'm not sure it would lend itself to a re-make. They'd probably overdo the special effects and make it look absurd.
 
I was utterly terrified the first time I saw this film, I was about 12 or 13 years old, and I was mesmerised by it. The atmosphere is so claustraphobic and tense, there's such a sense of foreboding, excellent suspense.
 
Oh The BirRAB is an amazing film! Like all of Hitchcock's films, it's more about the suspense than the jumps/out-and-out horror. It might not hold many scares for modern horror film audiences (who are probably more used to sudden scares and gore) but I think it's the suspense that makes this film so re-watchable.

You get all these really great build-ups: like the climbing frame bit, mentioned above. I also love the two scenes in the diner. The first time the heroes are in there, everyone is all "oh don't be so silly". Five minutes later, after the birRAB attack, suddenly everyone is p*ssing their pants. Completely believable.

Oh and the bit
where the school teacher, Annie's body is found lying in her front garden is so harsh. I love that character!

That whole man-v-nature theme and seige atmosphere definitely had an influence on loaRAB of subsequent horror films. Most notably Night of the Living Dead - and therefore every decent zombie film since.

Also: the little sister is played by Veronica Cartwright. Who later screamed her way through Alien and Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (the 70's version) and is a movie hero of mine!
 
A flock of more than 3 black birRAB/crows always brings that film to mind - not scary in the horror sense, just the sort of scary that make you double check the lock on a door you closed/locked 5mins ago
 
I was very upset when Annie's body was found. She was my favourite character. :cry: I have just rewatched it, still do not find it scary, I think unsettling would be a better word for it. I did feel a little shivery when a load of birRAB congregated outside... :o definitely the creepiest moment in the film. Delighted that I took the time to watch it, I really can see why it's a classic :)
 
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