MoFo Top 100 Horror Movies: The List

I used to love The Birds but it's been ages since I last watched it.

I'll get these out of the way...

Carrie was on fire.
Dracula sucked.
Some people are for the birds.

Love live the new flesh! Videodrome was on my list at #21. Iro did a great job talking about the film already, and I don't really have anything worthwhile to add.

Before I first saw The Birds, I had seen about a dozen parodies of it, which I think hurt my impression of the film a little bit. It's probably been a decade since I last saw it, so it's definitely due for a rewatch. It actually played at the local theatre a few months ago, and I fully intended to go watch it again, but it was never playing at a convenient time for me.

Seen: 47/60
My List: 7

02. Re-Animator (1985) - #88
07. Cabin in the Woods (2011) - #52
...
16. Event Horizon (1997) - #49
17. The Wailing (2016) - #69
18. It Follows (2014) - #78
20. The Babadook (2014) - #63
21. Videodrome (1983) - #42
...
25. The Void (2016) - DNP/1 Pointers List

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The Birds was one of the first films I remember watching every time it was on TV. I was always freaked out by that farmer, and yes, they showed that part on TV back then. There was a period in the '80s where I thought maybe a half rating less of it, but that's long gone. In fact, all the scenes which many people may think of as hokey, I like, such as the staged scenes where Tippi Hedren, filmed as not moving and edited together like still photos while she reacts to the birds attacking Bodega Bay during the fire. It's just a fun, scary time that they can't seem to make anymore, but Hitch has been gone 40 years now.

Romantic comedy with eeriness that slowly and inexorably turns to dread when birds get together and kick the stuffing out of us measly humans. The subjective camerawork looking up the stairs near the end may be the scariest scene Hitch ever filmed.

Many people love The Birds because it has terrifying moments concerning primal fears. Hitch tried to top himself in the scare department after Psycho and the actual attack by the Birds at the end is nerve-wracking. Plus the scene with Suzanne Pleshette is super freaky.

Lots of people have come up with various interpretations of the movie. The birds obviously mean something which Humankind cannot control to any particular extent. You can accept it in multiple ways. Perhaps the Birds are just physically reacting to something humans did to poison their environment and somehow turn them evil or more violent, almost in a humanistic form of violence with almost no rhyme or reason. Then again, maybe the Birds are taking things "very personal" and just cannot take any more bird hunting seasons or Thanksgiving dinners. In this case, the Birds are reacting "emotionally" and in self-defense. The Birds could also just be used as a sign of the End Times. If you believe in something resembling an Apocalypse, then the Birds could be God's (or Nature's, if you prefer) way to bring about the end of the Human Era. It happened to dinosaurs, so it can certainly happen to Man.

When Hitchcock says that they had no meaning, he means that the "'play's' [film's] the thing", so what we have here are basically "monster birds". Something which we just take for granted suddenly becomes our worst enemy. Same thing with Jaws, except that Jaws brings some closure. The ending of The Birds is obviously open and can be interpreted more than one way. Maybe the Birds are just playing it cool and having a small quiet before the next storm. Or maybe, as the sun rises at the end of the movie, the Birds have mysteriously gone back to being more-pacifistic and it really is the dawning of a new day. You have to decide if that Dawn represents a "brighter day" and the reemergence of Man as superior or if it's the Dawning of a new cock on the block, the Birds.

As far as to how The Birds specifically relates to the era in which it was made, that was the era of the Cold War which also held with it the promise of a nuclear armageddon. I don't really see anything in The Birds which signifies that it's really a Cold War/Nuclear Parable, but I wouldn't be surprised if others did or if I did if I thought about it a bit more. It was very close to making my list.

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Voted for The Birds, it’s actually my #27, but forgot two other horror favs when I sent in my list, I’ll save the Hitchcock fanboy talk for another one of his films i’m sure will come up later.

My list:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. Bram Stoker's Dracula (# 50)

10.
11.
12. Event Horizon (# 49)

13. Train to Busan (Did not place)

14.
15.
16. Interview With The Vampire (# 44)

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23. The Babadook (# 63)

24. The Birds (# 41)

25.

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Videodrome was on my watchlist for this countdown, but I decided against watching it after reading a little bit about it. It just sounded like it might be a bit too graphic for me to watch.

I've seen The Birds many times over the years, and I strongly considered it for my list, but it just didn't make it onto my final list. In retrospect, I think it was a mistake leaving it off of my list because it's probably the first horror movie that I ever saw, and it's the reason that I have a fear of birds to this day. The same way I don't swim in the ocean due to the movie Jaws, I stay away from birds because of Hitchcock's movie The Birds. I even tried getting over my fear of birds when I was younger by buying a small parakeet, but I was afraid to let it sit on my finger, so I wore padded gloves whenever I tried to play with it.

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I haven't seen either The Descent or Get Out.

I've seen them and they're very good but no points.

The Birds is solid. Like mark, I remember seeing it on TV and having it leave an impression - I think it was the first time I had ever seen a movie end like that and it was truly a surprise, plus the movie leading up to it was solid. However, as with virtually every other Hitchcock I never really feel like revisiting it so I'm unsure how well it holds up.

I remember The Descent being solid and probably Neil Marshall's best movie, but I didn't vote for it.

Get Out is definitely a worthy choice, though I didn't vote for it.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

The Descent is a great film to watch with someone who is claustrophobic, since the film does a great job replicating that trapped feeling. Seeing how uncomfortable some of those shots through narrow passages made my roommate really added to the experience. It was on my list at #11.

Some of the themes in Get Out are a little on the nose, but I still like it quite a bit. I've already mentioned how I initially thought the film was a joke based on its trailer, so I was surprised that it was actually a competent, well crafted film. It wasn't in contention for my list though.

Seen: 49/62
My List: 8

02. Re-Animator (1985) - #88
...
07. Cabin in the Woods (2011) - #52
11. The Descent (2005) - #40
...
16. Event Horizon (1997) - #49
17. The Wailing (2016) - #69
18. It Follows (2014) - #78
20. The Babadook (2014) - #63
21. Videodrome (1983) - #42
...
25. The Void (2016) - DNP/1 Pointers List

My list:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. Bram Stoker's Dracula (# 50)

10.
11.
12. Event Horizon (# 49)

13. Train to Busan (Did not place)

14. Get Out ( # 39)

15.
16. Interview With The Vampire (# 44)

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23. The Babadook (# 63)

24. The Birds (# 41)

25.

Just had a few films to show up.

The Haunting was my number 20, Peeping Tom #16 and Videodrome #6.

Also some of the older stuff i voted on, probably wont show up at this point

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Like pretty much every Hitchcock I've seen it's been a long time since I saw The Birds (from TV when I was a kid). Considering how much he's valued I probably should rewatch at least some of them. No real comments about this one. The Descent was my #16. Marshall surely made an impact with his first two films. The best thing about The Descent is how he managed to build proper characters in addition to making his film so damn claustrophobic. I haven't seen Get Out. I've planned watching it but it's poster/cover on my streaming service keeps putting me off (it looks like a damn Wayans brothers film - I know it isn't like them but can't help the impression).

Seen: 51/62

My list so far...

7. Ginger Snaps (2000) - 91st
12. The Beyond (1981) - 93rd
14. Deep Red (1975) - 66th
16. The Descent (2005) - 40th
21. Dog Soldiers (2002) - 94th
25. Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973) - 1 pointer

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The Descent was a strong contender for my list. Get Out was not, but I liked that too.

"The Descent" was #9 (17 points) on my list.

I think The Birds is a genuinely bad film, but apparently a lot of voters disagree.

The Descent was OK, but like other films, I prefer it when it is building up tension and creepiness than the outright bloodbath.

Get Out is a well made film with shades of other 'something's not quite right' films like Stepford Wives or Invasion of the Body Snatchers and classic sci-fi horror like Seconds, with a layer of modern race-relations anxiety. I like the scene where the main character's best friend goes to the police station to try to explain the plot, and it makes it sound ridiculous... but at the same time it sort of undermined the film as that ridiculous sounding plot actually is the plot of the film. There may have been a metaphor in there for people not taking racism seriously, but I'm not sure.

Get Out was a huge surprise for me, and really well done. I had it at 16.

11. The Bride of Frankenstein
12. Peeping Tom
16. Get Out
21. Freaks
22. A Quiet Place
24. The Babadook
25. The Invisible Man