Birdemic: Shock and Terror
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 You hear that buzzing? That's Alfred Hitchcock spinning in his grave at 10,000 rotations per minute.
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"A BILLION DOLLARS?!"
— JonTron
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (aka Birdemic for short) is a 2010 American independent romantic horror film written, directed, and produced by James Nguyen. Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, Birdemic tells the story of a romance between the two main characters as birds attack their small town.
Birdemic was made with no studio support, largely self-financed, and produced through Nguyen's Moviehead Pictures company for a budget of less than $10,000. After a limited theatrical release, the film gained a cult following and was picked up for distribution by Severin Films in 2010. A sequel called Birdemic 2: The Resurrection was even made in 2013.
Plot
Rod (Alan Bagh) is a young software salesman living a successful life in Silicon Valley. He meets up with old classmate and aspiring fashion model Nathalie (Whitney Moore) and begins dating her. Things go well for the couple, with Rod receiving a large bonus that he uses to start his own business, while Nathalie is chosen as a Victoria's Secret model. As they grow closer, the couple remains oblivious to signs of something going wrong around them, such as unexplained wildfires and the carcasses of diseased birds turning up on beaches.
After consummating their relationship in a motel, Rod and Nathalie wake up to find that their town is under attack from eagles and vultures that spit acid and explode into flames upon striking the ground. Rod and Nathalie escape from the motel by joining up with an ex-Marine named Ramsey (Adam Sessa) and his girlfriend Becky (Catherine Batcha). As they leave town, they rescue two young children, Susan (Janae Caster) and Tony (Colton Osborne), whose parents have been killed by the birds.
The group drives from one town to the next, fending off more bird attacks along the way and briefly meeting a scientist named Dr. Jones (Rick Camp) studying the phenomenon. The birds kill Becky, and Ramsey, in an attempt to exact revenge, tries to save a busload of tourists. As they leave the bus, Ramsey and the tourists are doused in acid excrement by the birds and all die.
Rod, Nathalie, and the kids continue to flee from the birds, driving into a forest where they briefly meet a "Tree Hugger" named Tom Hill (Stephen Gustavson), who explains to them that the birds have only been targeting gas stations and cars and that the attacks are the result of global warming. After escaping a forest fire, the quartet ultimately settles on a small beach, where Rod fishes for dinner. As they prepare to eat, they are attacked by the birds, which are suddenly—and for no explained reason—chased away by doves. The film ends as Rod, Nathalie, and the kids watch the birds fly off into the sunset.
Why It Will Shock and Terrorize You For The Rest Of Your Life
- It is an obvious imitation of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds."
- The acting is comically poor.
- The CGI animation of the birds is extremely subpar and comical, making them resemble transparent stock GIFs. They also appear quite incongruous within the live-action setting.
- Poor film and sound editing are evident, notably the notorious "HI!" at the start.
- The editing in the conference room scene resembles something one might create using Windows Movie Maker.
- It appears that the audio in the specified conference room clapping scene intermittently cuts out and there's also a scene where two guys are doing... something else.
- Although it aims to convey a positive environmental message, it lacks subtlety in its approach.
- The characters are idiotic. There can be an entire subsection devoted to this.
- Several scenes drag on for way too long. There is SO much filler in this film that most of it was presumably justified to fill its length.
- There's a scene where Rod speaks with a contractor to build a solar panel on his house that contributes absolutely nothing to the plot.
- When a company CEO announces that their stock has skyrocketed, there's a clapping scene that goes on for way too long, due to bad scene shooting.
- In the film, the birds are scarcely present. The true element of horror emerges only around the 45-minute mark.
- The movie poster appears inexpensive, unprofessional, and seems as though it was created with a basic graphic design program.
- It is filled with countless moments that are strange, illogical, and utterly nonsensical.
- During the "Birdemic," Rod, Nathalie, Ramsey, and Becky take refuge in a motel for safety. Rather than remaining indoors until the event passes, they choose to venture out and confront the birds using coat hangers as weapons.
- In a tense moment, a man confronts the protagonists with a gun and demands that they sell him gasoline, rather than simply stealing it.
- Following the character's death by a bird attack, the protagonists inadvertently leave their gas tank behind, leading to an inevitable depletion of their fuel supply shortly thereafter.
- The children appear indifferent to the fact that their parents have passed away.
- A man on the bridge firmly instructs Rod, Nathalie, Ramsey, and Becky to keep their distance from the nearby pond, but his demeanor softens when they assure him they only wish to have a conversation.
- The birds cease their attacks only when doves are present, which is quite puzzling given that doves are birds as well.
- In the scene depicting the onset of the "Birdemic," the birds are portrayed as having the capability to explode upon contact with the ground, reminiscent of 1940s Kamikaze planes, complete with the sound of diving planes.
- Additionally, in another scene involving a bird attack, the birds assail a group of individuals by expelling acid at them.
- Vultures are depicted as attackers, yet in reality, they are predominantly scavengers and do not attack living creatures.
- In one scene, Rod and Natalie prepare fish on the beach, potentially attracting the birds.
- In one of the news report scenes, the Formula 1 racing stock footage displays the Getty Images watermark.
- One scene clearly shows the actress playing Nathalie's mother flubbing her line.
- Traffic going down the road as usual during the scene where Rod and Ramsey discover the two kids whose parents were killed by the birds.
- Very laughable and nonsensical dialogue.
- Although it's a horror movie, the film falls short of being frightening due to the previously mentioned issues that undermine its seriousness.
- The film plays out more like a meme than a film, an example being the exploding birds.
- Overall, this film, despite trying to its environmental message, utterly fails at that and would likely cause people to do the opposite.
Redeeming Qualities
- The subpar acting and visual effects can result in unintended comedy.
- Nat's mom, portrayed by Patsy van Ettinger, stands out as the film's most charming character. Her genuine nature highlights her exceptionally likable and remarkably sweet personality, to such an extent that it's almost overwhelming.
Trivia
- Actress Bonnie Steiger, who portrayed a tourist in the movie, stated that none of the actors, actresses, or child actors were compensated as agreed upon. Initially, Nguyen had promised her $100 for her role but subsequently declined to pay, citing a lack of funds.
- The movie is ranked at #5 on IMDB's Bottom Rated Movies list, with a score of 1.8 out of 10.
Videos
Reception
Birdemic has been noted for its poor quality, with reviewers calling out its wooden acting and dialogue, amateurish sound and editing, nonsensical plot, and special effects, consisting entirely of poorly rendered CGI eagles and vultures that, in addition to performing physically awkward aerial maneuvers (non-animated bird sprites in the background will simply rotate 360° in mid-air), spit acid and explode with unrealistic smoke upon impact with the ground with a plane dive sound effect. It has also been noted that the birds do not appear until nearly halfway (47 minutes) into the film.
Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 18% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 17 reviews with a weighted average rating of 2.55/10.