Even Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, couldn't save this film. The famous director applies all of his talent to make the birds as scary as possible, but it's far too limited by the silly premise. For sure, there are certain scenes that can be tense and make us root for the characters to get through the latest flock of birds unharmed, but it all quickly goes downhill as soon as the birds appear as hokey puppets or start dive-bombing through windows in bizarre fashions. The Birds is best viewed as a comedy, because it's not worth much more than that, and I don't think anyone can make mindless flocks of birds seem like a truly formidable force. The only part I found genuinely eerie was the sequence near the end when birds cover the entire landscape, sit still and watch the protagonists silently as they walk slowly through their driveway. Those few shots were the only thing stopping me from submitting an even lower star rating.
Review of The Birds
