Dead Birds
1.5/4
Starring: Henry Thomas, Nicki Aycox, Patrick Fugit, Isaiah Washington, Michael Shannon, Mark Boone Junior
Rated R for Strong Violence and Gore
I first saw this movie at Blockbuster Video. Normally wary of direct-to-DVD movies (although considering the decline of theaters and the rise of Netflix and other streaming services, such a view doesn't necessarily apply anymore). Yet I watched it because something about the minimalist title and box art stuck with me. Dead Birds. I decided to take the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover" to heart and rent it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It isn't either good or bad enough to provoke any kind of emotion. So the question now is why am I reviewing it now? Well, I saw it on Amazon for five bucks and decided to give it another shot. My opinion hasn't changed much.
"Dead Birds" is a movie so inane and empty of thought and creativity that while you're watching it you forget what happened five minutes previously. The plot is vapid, character development is limited only to the explanation of what's going on, and there are no scares. Okay, there's one jump shock that's halfway decent.
Rare for a horror movie, this one takes place in the past. During the Civil War, to be precise. But that's as far as this movie goes in terms of creativity. A group of thieves has just absconded from a bank with a haul of gold. William (Thomas) is the leader. Sam (Fugit) is his brother. Annabelle (Thomas) is his girlfriend. And Clyde (Shannon), Joseph (Boone Junior) and Todd (Washington) round out the gang. On their way to Mexico, the group stops by the plantation of a fallen comrade. Soon they realize that escaping the law been eclipsed by the need to survive the night.
When it comes to making movies, or doing anything for that matter, there's a big difference between knowing what to do and how to do it. Director Alex Turner knows all the tricks of making a good horror movie: ominous atmosphere, things that go bump in the night, long takes, and scary special effects. The problem is that none of it works. Rather than creepy, the plantation house just looks dark. The jump scares have next to no effect. And while I'll concede that the monsters look cool, they're not especially scary. I'll take Bughuul any day of the week. And twice on Sunday.
There's a considerable amount of gore in this movie. Slit throats, cannibalized corpses, and even an exploding head. Perhaps the idea was to compensate for the fact that it is completely devoid of wit and intelligence. A certain amount of stupidity is necessary in a horror movie, but it can be overlooked by some solid scares. That's not the case here, and these characters are some of the dumbest that have ever wandered into a horror movie. They're so dumb that it's hard not to root for the monsters. And no, the fact that it takes place 150 years ago doesn't apply. But kudos for trying. I was surprised to learn that this movie was written by Simon Barrett, who ten years later would go on to write "The Guest," one of the best horror movies in recent memory. Practice makes perfect, I guess.
Not much can be said about the acting, except that it's hard to imagine what drew a cast of this caliber to a screenplay this insipid. Maybe it was studio or producer interference. Maybe Simon Barrett had written a brilliant screenplay that these actors were desperate to be a part of, but Alex Turner gutted when he came on board. Whatever the reason, none of them stand out. Even talented character actors like Michael Shannon and Henry Thomas are sleepwalking through it. Everyone has to pay the bills, but seriously.
"Dead Birds" can hardly be called a horror movie. It's as scary as a Raffi concert and as bland as tofu. What it needs is a script with real intelligence and wit. Characters worth caring about. And a decent sense of atmosphere. And a story that won't put an audience to sleep (which it did to me. Twice). Some decent shocks at the very least. And perhaps a camera that doesn't make it appear to have been funded by the director's paper route.
In other words, it needs a reason for an audience to sit through it.
Starring: Henry Thomas, Nicki Aycox, Patrick Fugit, Isaiah Washington, Michael Shannon, Mark Boone Junior
Rated R for Strong Violence and Gore
I first saw this movie at Blockbuster Video. Normally wary of direct-to-DVD movies (although considering the decline of theaters and the rise of Netflix and other streaming services, such a view doesn't necessarily apply anymore). Yet I watched it because something about the minimalist title and box art stuck with me. Dead Birds. I decided to take the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover" to heart and rent it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It isn't either good or bad enough to provoke any kind of emotion. So the question now is why am I reviewing it now? Well, I saw it on Amazon for five bucks and decided to give it another shot. My opinion hasn't changed much.
"Dead Birds" is a movie so inane and empty of thought and creativity that while you're watching it you forget what happened five minutes previously. The plot is vapid, character development is limited only to the explanation of what's going on, and there are no scares. Okay, there's one jump shock that's halfway decent.
Rare for a horror movie, this one takes place in the past. During the Civil War, to be precise. But that's as far as this movie goes in terms of creativity. A group of thieves has just absconded from a bank with a haul of gold. William (Thomas) is the leader. Sam (Fugit) is his brother. Annabelle (Thomas) is his girlfriend. And Clyde (Shannon), Joseph (Boone Junior) and Todd (Washington) round out the gang. On their way to Mexico, the group stops by the plantation of a fallen comrade. Soon they realize that escaping the law been eclipsed by the need to survive the night.
When it comes to making movies, or doing anything for that matter, there's a big difference between knowing what to do and how to do it. Director Alex Turner knows all the tricks of making a good horror movie: ominous atmosphere, things that go bump in the night, long takes, and scary special effects. The problem is that none of it works. Rather than creepy, the plantation house just looks dark. The jump scares have next to no effect. And while I'll concede that the monsters look cool, they're not especially scary. I'll take Bughuul any day of the week. And twice on Sunday.
There's a considerable amount of gore in this movie. Slit throats, cannibalized corpses, and even an exploding head. Perhaps the idea was to compensate for the fact that it is completely devoid of wit and intelligence. A certain amount of stupidity is necessary in a horror movie, but it can be overlooked by some solid scares. That's not the case here, and these characters are some of the dumbest that have ever wandered into a horror movie. They're so dumb that it's hard not to root for the monsters. And no, the fact that it takes place 150 years ago doesn't apply. But kudos for trying. I was surprised to learn that this movie was written by Simon Barrett, who ten years later would go on to write "The Guest," one of the best horror movies in recent memory. Practice makes perfect, I guess.
Not much can be said about the acting, except that it's hard to imagine what drew a cast of this caliber to a screenplay this insipid. Maybe it was studio or producer interference. Maybe Simon Barrett had written a brilliant screenplay that these actors were desperate to be a part of, but Alex Turner gutted when he came on board. Whatever the reason, none of them stand out. Even talented character actors like Michael Shannon and Henry Thomas are sleepwalking through it. Everyone has to pay the bills, but seriously.
"Dead Birds" can hardly be called a horror movie. It's as scary as a Raffi concert and as bland as tofu. What it needs is a script with real intelligence and wit. Characters worth caring about. And a decent sense of atmosphere. And a story that won't put an audience to sleep (which it did to me. Twice). Some decent shocks at the very least. And perhaps a camera that doesn't make it appear to have been funded by the director's paper route.
In other words, it needs a reason for an audience to sit through it.
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