It seems as though Halloween brings out my retro side, considering most of my ‘Retro Reviews‘ so far have been classic horrors or thrillers and my latest first time viewing continues that tradition, as I take another dip into the film catalogue of the great Alfred Hitchcock with his 1963 offering, The Birds.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright

Awards: Oscar Nominee – Best Effects

Wealthy socialite and daughter of a newspaper tycoon, Melanie Daniels led the kind of loose and carefree life that, in 1960’s San Francisco, earned her a bit of a reputation as something of a prankster. When visiting a pet shop to purchase a bird for her aunt, she bumps into handsome lawyer Mitch Brenner who is looking for a pair of lovebirds for his sisters birthday. Thinking he has mistaken her for a sales assistant, Melanie plays along revelling in the game but when she discovers that he was playing a trick on her, she decides to get her own back by buying the lovebirds he was looking for, following him out of the city to the small town of Bodega Bay, breaking into his house and secretly delivering the birds along with a handwritten birthday card. (The sixties were a strange time!!)

Mitch intercepts as she is attempting to sneak away but their strange little flirtation is interrupted when a seagull swoops down and attacks Melanie. As Mitch is tending to her wound, he persuades her to stay the weekend and attend his sister, Cathy’s birthday party. Unfortunately for the residents of Bodega Bay, the seagull attack was just the start and a large variety of birds start attacking at ever increasing frequencies and ferocity, turning the weekend into one from hell.

As I stated in my review of Psycho, it’s pretty clear to see why Alfred Hitchcock is so revered as a filmmaker. Whilst the ‘horror’ aspect of the film may have been diluted by the passing of time and modern day leanings towards jump-scare tactics or excessive gore, the story itself has a simple timelessness about it that sucks you in and holds your attention from the first to the very last frame.

Once again, Hitchcock’s direction and shot selection turns a fairly simplistic story into something captivating but it is the use of music, or lack thereof, that makes The Birds truly memorable.

If I have one gripe, it would be the fact that there wasn’t very much explanation as the why the birds were reacting in such a violent and uncharacteristic way although Hitchcock did subtly hint that the phenomenon did extend beyond the borders of Bodega Bay.

Overall, my second foray into the work of Alfred Hitchcock did not disappoint. Watch this space for my next ‘Retro Review’.