The Birds (1963 Alfred Hitchcock)

So then we watched THE BIRDS, which always did have too many special effects and process shots that Blu-Ray now emphasizes.

It takes a long time building (50 minutes before an attack) and feels very much like the later zombie film cycle. With the danger not emanating from people for a change, it's Hitch's most atypical piece. It doesn't have quite the same sense of style as his best films, e.g. in the petrol station explosion the cuts between Tippi's turning face look absurd.

Some great pure horror scenes and a somewhat anticlimactic ending.

Rod Taylor on good form as always. Jessica Tandy keeps looking like Lili Palmer as over-protective mother who finally accepts motherless Tippi. Also Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright (kid), Ethel Griffies (ornithologist).

Still, note wonderful silent film sequence as Tippi rows out to Rod's place. Usual multiple camera positionings / angles in diner sequence. Classic sequence at school playing ground.

Poster: Saul Bass