Dead Birds (2004)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Alex Turner

Writer:

Simon Barrett (written by)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

There are worse things than dying

Plot:

A group of Confederate soldiers who hole up in an abandoned plantation after robbing a bank, and find themselves at the mercy of supernatural forces.

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Supernatural | Racial Tension | Overnight In A Haunted House | Racist Comment

Cast

Henry Thomas	...	William
Patrick Fugit	...	Sam
Nicki Aycox	...	Annabelle
Michael Shannon	...	Clyde
Muse Watson	...	Father
Mark Boone Junior	...	Joseph
Isaiah Washington	...	Todd
Harris Mann	...	Jeffy Hollister
Melanie Abramoff	...	Girl Ghost
Donna Biscoe	...	Black Woman
Brian Bremer	...	Hysterical Man
Russ Comegys	...	Kormer (as Russell Durham Comegys)
David Dwyer	...	MacCready
Michael Faella	...	Johnson
Steve Green	...	Boy Ghost

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Video rating) | USA:R (certificate #40961) | Brazil:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Mobile, Alabama, USA

Company:

Silver Nitrate Pictures

Trivia:

The town scenes were shot on the old sets of 'Tim Burton''s Big Fish (2003).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Annabelle is removing the bullet from Sam's shoulder, there are two wet rivulets of blood descending from the hole at a 45-degree angle down to the right. When the camera cuts in for a closer shot, those rivulets are gone, and all that is there is one thicker, dried-out trail going straight down.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Making 'Dead Birds' (2005) (V)

Hit and miss

In terms of production value, the film looks great. It's got better actors than most horror flicks and the FX and monsters are good. It also has a good creepy vibe to it and some good scares. The problem is, the script doesn't really go anywhere after they get to the house... Its basically a series of creepy scenes where the cast dwindles as we go along, but you don't really have a sense of escalating tension.

The first half worked fairly well, but it doesn't change much as it goes along. We get some backstory as we go that wasn't that creepy to me, and its also pretty clear they didn't know how to end it. The ending they have just doesn't work at all.

My biggest complaint though is the soundtrack which is way too repetitive and is basically a ripoff from the Shining soundtrack.

Its okay if you want to get some decent scares, but its not going to blow you away.