Alfred Hitchcock | 31 Days of Horror

Category Archives: Alfred Hitchcock

31 Days of Horror Movie: The Birds (1963; PG-13; 120 min)

Posted on October 18, 2011 | 1 comment

I couldn’t let my 31 Days of Horror go by without viewing one of Hitchcock’s classics, with all its suspenseful, if kitschy, drama. So I chose The Birds, one of my favorites I hadn’t seen in a long time.

Melanie Daniels is a blonde, stylish, chain-smoking socialite in San Fransisco. Upon visiting a deluxe pet shop, she has a run-in with Mitch Brenner, a lawyer who is looking for a pair of lovebirds to give his extremely younger sister Cathy (yes, she really is his sister…this is the 60s after all) for her 11th birthday. Melanie decides to surprise Mitch by dropping off the lovebirds at his Bodega Bay farm, north of the city. She rents a skiff and motors across the bay in a green skirt and jacket, high heels, and pearls, with her legs crossed the whole way. Then she opens his door and goes on in, leaving the birds and a note. Upon returning from her prank, she is attacked by a seagull, but never fear as Mitch has spied her arrival, driven around the bay to meet her, and saves the day.

In no time flat, Mitch is introducing Melanie to his insufferable mother (whom he calls “dear” and “darling”), the lovely Jessica Tandy. Cathy, who looks to be about 14, becomes immediately attached to Melanie and invites her to stay for her birthday party the next day. At the party, the children are attacked by a flock of seagulls. Later, having retired to the living room for tea and cigarettes, Melanie and Mitch’s family are attacked by hundreds of yellow-winged sparrows (huh?), who fly out of the fireplace and amazingly do not leave a single “poo bomb” in the room! All Mitch can think to say is, “Sure is peculiar…”

Soon, flocks of birds are attacking other townspeople, killing some too. Crows, seagulls, sparrows. But a manly (yet female) elderly ornithologist, while lighting up, declares it impossible for birds of different species to flock together. Hmmm. And another woman in town tells Melanie it’s all her fault, because she is “evil, evil”! Hmmmmmm. As the birds continue to attack, the brandy flows, and the cigarette supply runs low, the townspeople finally decide to start believing this can really be happening. And meanwhile, Melanie’s same green suit continues to look fresh and clean, and her complicated up-do is always lovely as can be. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Top Scare: All of the bird attack scenes
Heartbeats: 2 out of 5
Gore Factor: 2 out of 5
Suspense Factor: 3 out of 5
Recommended for: 13 and up

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Posted in 31 Days of Horror, Alfred Hitchcock, Movies

Tagged Birds, Entertainment, Halloween, movie, October

Horror Movie: Psycho (TV-14; 1960; 109 min.)

Posted on October 19, 2010 | Leave a comment

This movie that kind of started it all is considered a classic for a good reason…it features great characters, suspense, a psycho on the loose, and even a dark, stormy night. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, how could you ask for more?

Psycho stars Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, an office worker who decides to steal $40,000 from her employer’s client and flee to another town to marry her boyfriend. On her way out of town, the skies let loose and she must pull off the road at the small Bates Motel for the night. There she meets Norman Bates (played oh, so deliciously by Anthony Perkins), the owner of the motel, who invites her “up to the house” where he lives behind the motel, for a bit of dinner. Since she can’t get out in the storm to look for food, she accepts. But as she “freshens up,” she overhears Norman and his elderly, ill mother argue about her joining them, so she simply eats with Norman in the hotel office.

Over sandwiches she discovers Norman’s interest in taxidermy (knew that was coming, didn’t ya?), and talks to him about his long, lonely days and nights spent caring for his mother. Perhaps he should put her in a “home?” Wrong thing to say, honey! How do we know? Because as Marion showers before bed, Norman’s mother opens the shower curtain and slashes her to death!

Norman quickly cleans up the evidence of Marion’s visit to the motel and her death. Which is a good thing since a private investigator has already begun looking for her and has tracked her to the Bates Motel. He asks a few too many questions though, so when he slips into Norman’s creepy, old house on the hill to talk to his mother, he discovers Momma isn’t such the invalid he thought. Bye-Bye Mr. Investigator!

Well, by this time Marion’s sister and boyfriend haven’t heard back from the P.I., so they also head to the B.M. (Bates Motel, not the yucky swamp-like land behind it which looks like a big toilet bowl). They devise a strategy to search the motel and the house, but when Norman grows suspicious, he takes off after them for one last showdown starring him and his UGLY Momma!

Top Scare: Shower scene!
Heartbeats: 4 out of 5
Gore Factor: 1 1/2 out of 5
Suspense Factor: 4 1/2 out of 5
Recommended for: 14 and up

Next up: Whiteout