[Pet Health Admin]

Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the underrated Marnie. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton
Customer Review: Who else wants to visit Bodega Bay after seeing this film?
"The Birds" is only the second Hitchock film I've ever seen, and I can see why people call it one of his masterpie ces. The film shows us something that we'd never imagine happening in a way that truly makes us look at birds in a different light. Honestly, when was the last time you looked at a seagull and didn't think of this film? Apart from the thrills this film is interesting. The scene where they debate the birds' onslaught in the diner is one of my favorite movie scenes ever, probably because it makes their attack all the more impossible. Truly one of the creepiest films ever made and likely won't be surpassed by any that try to imitate it. One question: are the DVD extras any good, particularly "All About 'The Birds'?"
Customer Review: Hitchcock at his campiest
Alfred Hitchcock was not only a talented unique director, but he had a special wimsy on his subject matter, and how to make the simple seem incredible. Every time I see this movie, I see a comedy that is taken too seriously. For some reason, I don't feel the terror as much as the involvement with the small community of Bodega Bay that must handle, and sort out the bird invasion situation. Alfred always said that sometimes the situation is an end to a means, and the stars here are not "the birds", but the repurcussions the mass bird attacks spawn with the people who are at the recieving end. I don't even classify this movie as a typified horror movie, but rather the suspense "macabe" vehicle meant to showcase the combining of people's efforts amidst a destructing force whipped upon them. It's sad to say, but sometimes tragedy brings out dimensions in people that might have never come into fruition, had unusual circumstances such as this-never happen. Miss Tippi Hendren has become a semi-cult horror figure due to this movie, and one of my favorite scenes (that I literally play out) is the irrate woman slapping sequence. OMGD!


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