The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963)

The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963)
Rating: 4.7

I'm going to be honest, I have only seen three Hitchcock films, and feel underqualified to criticize a man who is considered a genius by many. Maybe it's because I've grown up in a time where audiences have become desensitized to violence, suspense, and horror films. To me the entire concept of birds attacking and killing humans belongs in a straight to video release. The dated effects and situations in general are mostly laughable although during their time I'm sure these effects were spectacular. I suppose most of the flaws I found in this film aren't necessarily his fault, but perhaps that of a pathetic script. The dialogue seemed to forced as ridiculously over dramatic characters shared unprovoked backstories with each other, and a romance between Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) and Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) seemingly blossoms out of nowhere, almost as if an entire scene is missing. On a more positive note, the sounds effects were great and I found myself enigmatically attracted to Tippi. I didn't find her to be overly beautiful or even a great actress, but something about her voice and the way she delivered lines perked my interest. I'm going to go ahead and call this film overrated at this point, but I'm probably wrong. Pfffft.