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This is a good risk good reward movie... If your into dark movies and go into this movie expected nothing this movie can surprise you... Not overly impressive with anything, but the story goes and I definitely enjoy buying it, watching it, and didn't feel like I wasted a cent. You should watch it see it for yourself...
Dead Birds is a thrilling and intellectually stimulating horror drama that warrants at least one viewing. That being said, there are a few ways in which it falls flat.
There are a number of positive aspects of this film. The scares make you jump out of your seat, and the atmosphere in this movie is so unsettling that more than once I looked away from the film at the room around me, just to make sure that there weren't any unspeakable horrors lurking nearby. The film really makes you want to find out exactly what's behind the rash of terrors that are experienced by a ragtag throng of Confederate Army deserters/bankrobbers at the height of the Civil War. The acting is good, and the movie has an air of mystery and intangibility that can't help but be noticed.
The areas in which Dead Birds doesn't fair so well is in the pacing. The beginning is interesting, but after the first scare there's just a bunch of arguing and plot setup by characters who you don't really care about. Also, gorehounds will be mildly disappointed by the lack of gibbage and thick, red liquid present in this film. Probably half of the gore takes place in literally the first 5 minutes, and it's in no way related to the mysterious horror that the protagonists eventually encounter. My main problem, though, is that the film doesn't really tie together many of the things it hints to look out for at the beginning - namely, why the hell is this movie called 'Dead Birds?'
You should watch this movie, but just keep in mind that the middle part of Dead Birds is quite weak, and it's no 'Braindead' when it comes to the gore department. Even so, it's worth checking out at least once.
Posted By: Protecious at 10:34pm, February 6, 2009
Poor marketing and poor dvd cover really makes this film underated to the masses on that already, but this is one to surely spread from good sites like this to say how good this film really is. I enjoyed it alot, i might be watching it a second time very soon all over again.
If you get a chance to watch this movie then do so as it w`ont let you down. A very creepy, atmospheric horror with splashes of gore thrown in.
Posted By: tcmassacre at 10:08pm, October 29, 2008
Few days ago, a tasteful Flixster user told me that Dead Birds was somewhere described as "the most atmospheric horror movie".
So obviously, I had to give it a go.
Obviously, the above quote is an overstatement.
But that does not mean that this isn't clearly one of the most eerie atmospheric ones to come out in the past few years (Asian horror aside).
This movie can in fact raise some hairs in the back of your neck. You just need to create the right setting around you and you're set to go. This is clearly the best achievement of Dead Birds, along with the way the story unfolds until a particular moment.
The acting is uncompromising for the most of it, and that's good enough for such a story, which is not (let's face it) that original, though they surpass this detail with the way they chose to pick it up. It's not a fast paced movie by any means, so you're very likely to be disappointed if you watch it with such expectations. But its pace is another great accomplishment of it. It starts off slow, stays on slow and you don't even find it incredibly fast when the whole thing blows up in your face.
And that's where they mostly got it wrong, IMO.
Simply put, there are some movies which should only have the single purpose to suggest, rather than to show. This is one of those, as most atmospheric ones are.
It ends up showing too much, and telling too much, and that's its biggest flaw.
There's also some awkwardness felt when you hear suposedly XIX century's characters saying things like "No shit!", I suppose.
But you get over it quickly.
If you're a fan of horror atmospheres, then you should definitely give this one a go, even if the last half of it does not match the first one in terms of build up.
Posted By: Ralph Wiggum at 11:53pm, October 2, 2008
An original concept that delivers! The characters were impressive, as were the creatures that quite simply blew me away. In fact it was this image on the back cover of the DVD (evil child under the bed) that drew me to this film in the first isntance. Although there wasn't an over-reliance on gore, but there was enough to satisfy the horror buff despite some dodgy CGi effects. It's always nice to have an ending that isn't predictable and I sure didn't see this one coming.
Definite elements of both TCM (the visuals on the house) and Children of the Corn (the corn!). Enjoyable film, although still scratching my head as to the title (why 'Deadbirds'?!?).
I loved this movie!!!! It was Really scary.. my 14 yr old brother is hard to freak out and this movie had him wide eyed and pulling covers over his face lmao. I thought the effects were masterful and in my opinion is one of the scarriest movies I have ever seen. It's a must see and it's a shame this wasn't on the big screen.
The premise sounded different, a Civil War ghost story. I liked the film, it had some good jump spots and it was well filmed.
If you get the chance watch this one.
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