Scary movies # 11 - The Birds

Year: 1963 Director: Alfred Hitchcock

The Birds - surely even a rudimentary scarecrow could have helped the situation.

A wealthy socialite pursues a gentleman him to a coastal town where she gets attacked by a gull (probably after her pastie and chips). The instances of bird attacks on humans increase, to the point where homes are barricaded against the birds, but the birds are now organised enough to be able to break through into the houses.

Alfred Hitchcock, master of Psychological thriller, outdoes himself here with the gradually increasing bird attacks snowballing into all out terror. The special effects were excellent, especially the long shots of the swarms of birds - which has a particularly high beak count. The Birds seemed to be the pinnacle of all of Alfred Hitchcock's work and it is here in The Birds that his genius is most apparent.

Click to read our full synopsis and review of The Birds .

The Birds, number 11 in our interactive Haunted House of Horror list of our favourite scary movies.