TERROR BIRDS (2016)

TERROR BIRDS (2016)

Tagline: They're not extinct

(Action, Comedy, Extinct Birds That Will Kill You) [PG-13]

Note – This movie wasn’t given a rating by the MPAA, but if it was, I think it would land at a PG-13. 

You kids are the only ones that cost innocent lives today…

In this one, a college kid named Maddy Stern goes to find her father who is missing on a trip to find a rare long-extinct bird. 2 friends and a couple of acquaintances go with her to find him in a forested area of Texas. Turns out the birds are owned by a crazy scientist who is trying to find out a way to breed more and sell them.  

Unlike a lot of the “birds will kill you” movies out there, TERROR BIRDS actually involves more a dinosaur-bird species called Phorusrhacids also known as “terror birds”. They are thought to have eaten meat and were apparently flightless. So this is like running from a couple of ostrich’s that can bite your entire head off with one chomp. 

First off, this movie falls into the same line of movies as most ASYLUM movies would. It’s a full-blown b-movie through and through. We do get some okay acting in this. Lead actress Jessica Lee Keller plays Maddie and has a bit of acting under her belt. She has been in a few mainstream movies including “The Adjustment Bureau”. Greg Evigan plays the crazy rich scientist and he is actually decent in this as well. He is best known for the movie DEEP STAR SIX. Evan Miller stands out as Brett as does Dillon Cavitt as Justin. Both have done mostly b-movies. I am sure Lindsey Sporrer has had better roles, but in this, she plays a pretty good “chick that will die because somehow the killers know she’s a pain in the butt”. Almost every other role is forgettable though and the first two henchmen we run into are exceptionally bad. 

So in the b-movie genre, you have some that are pretty decent, very few that are good, and hundreds that are terrible. This one falls into the “pretty decent’ category. The premise isn’t spectacular but it’s also totally fine. There is nothing in that that isn’t a least remotely plausible while still being a bit fun with some of the elements I loved from old horror flicks. While this is probably more in the “JURASSIC PARK” area of being more adventure than horror, it isn’t without a few gnarly sequences. The fact that we get a group of teens going into the forest to find someone follows just enough of the “let’s see how this goes” horror tropes to keep me interested. 

This is actually one of the better b-movies I have seen especially recently and I wouldn’t mind watching it again at some point. The effects are also not totally bad by b-movie standards. Yes, the dino-birds look like cracked-out turkeys from outer space, and yes some of the acting is “first day of acting school” bad, but I enjoyed this one. 

Overall, I have to give it a solid 5 out of 7.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF SPIDERWOOD SOUND STAGE AND STUDIOS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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