SummaryA wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.
Directed By:Alfred Hitchcock
Written By:Daphne Du Maurier, Evan Hunter
The Birds
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
90
User score
Generally Favorable
8.0
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
81% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
19% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
A mysterious army of enemies, with no suggested motive and, what's worse, they're your friendly garden crows. Clamps itself to your recollection and doesn't let go.
100
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.
User score
Generally Favorable
88% Positive
158 Ratings
158 Ratings
10% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
2% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
Feb 25, 2025
10
Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds is a masterclass in suspense, proving that horror doesn’t need a traditional monster to be utterly terrifying. Released in 1963, this film remains one of the most unsettling and brilliantly executed thrillers of all time. The story follows Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), a wealthy socialite who travels to Bodega Bay to deliver a pair of lovebirds to Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor). What starts as a simple romantic pursuit soon takes a sinister turn as the town experiences increasingly aggressive bird attacks. Hitchcock masterfully builds tension, starting with isolated incidents such as a single gull attacking Melanie before escalating into full-blown chaos. One of the film’s most chilling sequences comes when Melanie waits outside a school, unaware that behind her, dozens of crows are silently gathering on the jungle gym. Hitchcock’s decision to use minimal music amplifies the dread, allowing the sheer visual horror of the moment to take center stage. By the time the birds launch their full-scale assault on the town, all sense of safety is ****. The attack on Melanie in the attic, where she’s swarmed and nearly killed, is one of the most claustrophobic and terrifying moments in cinema history. Hitchcock’s direction ensures the audience feels her helplessness, as the birds seemingly act with an eerie intelligence. But what makes The Birds so unforgettable is its unresolved mystery. Why are the birds attacking? Are they exacting revenge? Is this a supernatural event or a reflection of human disruption? Hitchcock never provides answers, leaving the audience trapped in the same uncertainty as the characters. The film’s final shot as Mitch and the others cautiously drive away, surrounded by thousands of silent, watching birds is one of the most haunting endings in horror history. Final Verdict: An atmospheric, nerve-wracking thriller that proves Hitchcock was the true master of suspense. A must-watch for any horror fan.
Jan 21, 2022
10
The Birds is a fantastic film. Both in acting and in the story. And I don't give it much but the film deserves a big ten. Everything is perfect as it should be at Hitchcock. And the ending is a brutally beautiful open lock. And even then, this is one of his very best films. The atmosphere is completely there and if I still see a lot of birds, what do I think of? The Birds!
100
This is Hitchcock at his best. Full of subterranean hints as to the ways in which people cage each other, it's fierce and Freudian as well as great cinematic fun.
100
Genuinely disturbing thriller classic from the master of suspense.
90
Making a terrifying menace out of what is assumed to be one of nature's most innocent creatures and one of man's most melodious friends, Mr. Hitchcock and his associates have constructed a horror film that should raise the hackles on the most courageous and put goose-pimples on the toughest hide.
60
The premise is fascinating. The idea of billions of bird-brains refusing to eat crow any longer and adopting the hunt-and-peck system, with homo sapiens as their ornithological target, is fraught with potential. Cinematically, Hitchcock & Co have done a masterful job of meeting this formidable challenge. But dramatically, The Birds is little more than a shocker-for shock’s-sake.
50
Some of the special effects are amusing, and a few are perverse and frightening, but the effects take over in this Hitchcock scare picture, and he fails to make the plot situations convincing. The script is weak, and the acting is so awkward that often one doesn't know how to take the characters.
Oct 7, 2021
10
Bem atuado, bem dirigido, bom roteiro, o suspense na crescente. Perfeito. Até os efeitos para a época são ótimos.
Sep 25, 2024
6
The title pretty much says it all in this distinctly **** mix of petty social gamesmanship and an abrupt, all-encompassing existential threat. That being the killer birds, obviously, which dive in from nowhere to ruthlessly head-hunt the poor denizens of a sleepy marine village in northern California. It sounds like an odd mix, but it in practice... well, okay, it is an odd mix. The film's sudden about-face, from a slow moving game of flirty pranks to a breakneck avian assault, is disruptive and awkward, its pace a whiplashed tug-of-war between monotonous waits and unanticipated bursts of frenzy. I like the metaphorical idea behind it, a pontification on natural catastrophes and how quickly they lead polite society to break down, but didn't enjoy much of the experience itself. In many ways, The Birds is a precursor to the glut of disaster movies that flooded cinemas in the following decade: one central menace, easy enough to boil down to a single word, which sends everyone scurrying in a desperate, improvised bid for survival. The effects are glaringly bad, too, bad enough to, more than once, completely pull me out of the moment with a snicker or a snort. The last big scare scene, however, is all sound and tension, and works so much better for its restraint and subtlety, putting the more garish, visceral preceding shots to shame by leaning on a few wild-eyed close-ups. I can see what Hitchcock was shooting for, but I don't think he got there.
Nov 19, 2021
6
I have been watching Alfred Hitchcock's movie nowadays. His movies are so different and fun to watch. He made movies which were ahead of it's time including this one. The story shown in the movie had a lot of potential but the ending in which there was no reasoning was a let down. Also, the story felt incomplete. They could have made a proper story with 2 hour runtime but they focused too much on story build-up only. The movie was enjoyable. The direction and performances by the actors were good. There is thrill and drama which keeps this movie on track. Overall, it is a good horror thriller drama which will keep you bounded till the end but the climax portion may disappoint you.
Jun 19, 2018
2
I found the movie quite boring actually, I can't understand the "cult following" this movie keeps getting, but that's just me i guess...
Apr 23, 2021
1
I hated everything about the movie it was absolutely garbage and the acting was absolute crap
Production Company:
- Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
- Universal Pictures
Release Date:Mar 29, 1963
Duration:1 h 59 m
Rating:PG-13
Tagline:Please Do Not See The End First!!! See it from the beginning.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
DVD Exclusive Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
