The Birds (1963)
Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 46
Fresh: 44 | Rotten: 2
Proving once again that build-up is the key to suspense, Alfred Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying villains in horror history.
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 2
Proving once again that build-up is the key to suspense, Alfred Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying villains in horror history.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 150,995
Movie Info
The story begins as an innocuous romantic triangle involving wealthy, spoiled Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), handsome Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), and schoolteacher Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette). The human story begins in a San Francisco pet shop and culminates at the home of Mitch's mother (Jessica Tandy) at Bodega Bay, where the characters' sense of security is slowly eroded by the curious behavior of the birds in the area. At first, it's no more than a sea gull swooping down and pecking
Mar 28, 1963 Wide
Mar 28, 2000
Universal Pictures
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Cast
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Rod Taylor
Mitch Brenner -
Tippi Hedren
Melanie Daniels -
Jessica Tandy
Lydia Brenner -
Suzanne Pleshette
Annie Hayworth -
Veronica Cartwright
Cathy Brenner -
Ethel Griffies
Mrs. Bundy -
Charles McGraw
Sebastian Sholes -
Ruth McDevitt
Mrs. MacGruder -
Malcolm Atterbury
Al Malone -
Joe Mantell
Salesman -
Karl Swenson
Drunk -
Elizabeth Wilson
Helen Carter -
Lonny Chapman
Deke Carter -
John McGovern
Postal Clerk -
Richard Deacon
Man in Elevator -
Doreen Lang
Mother in Cafe -
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Suzanne Cupito
Schoolchild -
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Bill Quinn
Farm Hand -
Doodles Weaver
Fisherman -
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All Critics (46) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (2) | DVD (21)
Drawing from the relatively invisible literary talents of Daphne DuMaurier and Evan Hunter, Alfred Hitchcock has fashioned a major work of cinematic art, and "cinematic" is the operative term here, not "literary" or "sociological."
Few films depict so eerily yet so meticulously the metaphysical and historical sense of a world out of joint.
Hitch's much misappreciated follow-up to Psycho is arguably the greatest of all disaster films -- a triumph of special effects, as well as the fountainhead of what has become known as gross-out horror.
The movie flaps to a plotless end.
Top CriticBeneath all of this elaborate feather bedlam lies a Hitch cock-and-bull story that's essentially a fowl ball.
Alfred Hitchcock's most abstract film (1963), and perhaps his subtlest, still yielding new meanings and inflections after a dozen or more viewings.
The Birds represents better than any other Hitchcock film the extreme polarities of his universe: vicious unpredictability and moral and emotional disorder on the one hand, and rigorous stylistic control and formal organization, on the other.
Classic Hitchcock horror film still gives the chills.
The only thing dated is the special effects. The suspense holds up very well.
Although not as horrifically shocking as "Psycho," "The Birds" is a more sophisticated film, and represents a high watermark in the prolific career of a true maestro of cinema.
Perhaps only a director of Hitchcock's caliber can make such a fowl story fly.
Feels like it was made by a brilliant filmmaker who simply felt challenged by the enormity of the task. In that regard, it's close to 100 percent successful.
Hailed as one of Hitchcock's masterpieces by some and despised by others, The Birds is certainly among the director's more complex and fascinating works.
Maybe not quite the pinnacle of Hitchcock's career but definitely in the top five.
Genuinely disturbing thriller classic from the master of suspense.
Inventive classic.
This masterpiece is one of Hitchcock's purest forays into cinema; it's such a complete piece that it even gets by with two mediocre actors.
Mediocre as melodrama, but the signature avian attacks are without equal.
What sets The Birds apart from the other films in Hitchcock's incredible ten-year run between 1954 and 1964 is its remarkable chilliness.
Audience Reviews for The Birds
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Schoolchild: The bad teacher touched me here (points to doll's crotch).
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- Salesman: Wanna buy a monkey?
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- Postal Clerk: Message for you, sir.
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Featured
Movie: ID: 10078 Title: The Birds Release Date: 1963-03-28 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 3 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Die Vögel (DE)
- Les Oiseaux (FR)
