BEAKS: THE MOVIE (1987)
Tagline: You don't have a wing of a prayer!
(Horror, Thriller, Angry Birds) [R]
Note: This movie had a couple of other titles like BIRDS OF PREY and FALCO TERROR and was even promoted in Italy as the sequel to THE BIRDS.
In this one, a reporter named Vanessa and her cameraman Peter are sent to Spain to investigate a bird attack. While there they are alerted to another attack and it becomes clear that this is a thing now. All the birds are doing it. Of course, the birds are pissed because of something ecological that is never explained, but hey…watch out for your eyes, because they are going to pluck them right out of your head! Can Vanessa and pretty much everyone else survive the wrath of pigeons and sparrows and what not?
First off, I will say this movie is nowhere near as bad as BIRDEMIC. We actually get some gnarly effects where people are just getting eaten alive by birds. Again this is all happening for no real reason, but who cares. Even though this movie was filmed in 1987, it still feels very much like an early 70’s movie regarding the score, etc. I am not sure if this was done on purpose or not.
The acting overall is pretty rough, but I have definitely seen worse. Michelle Johnson plays Vanessa and she’s actually been in quite a few movies including FAR AND AWAY and DEATH BECOMES HER. I liked Christopher Atkins quite a bit less in this movie, but he is actually still around in Hollywood. He is most famous for THE BLUE LAGOON. This movie was not helped in any way by the script. Also apparently in the ’80s newspapers had an endless supply of money to send their reporters out investigating random bird attacks.
All of the effects in this movie are practical. So when you see a bird attacking someone, that is very likely just a crew member throwing the bird at the actor or actress. There is absolutely zero doubt that either one of these birds actually was super pissed or basically the entire crew was. The approach works in regards to the horror elements. There are versions of this movie with a lot of the gore cut out because it’s just all pretty nuts.
Pacing wise this movie moves pretty slow during the first half, but once it hits this crazy kids birthday party bird attack, it’s on. The soundtrack and score both pretty much suck. Cinematically this thing is burdened by a lot of slow-motion sequences that make little to no sense and don’t add to the horror aspects of the film.
Overall I found this movie fairly entertaining, and we do get just a ton of birds attacking people so the movie deliverers on that. I cannot recommend this for your horror-o-thon lineup, but if you get a chance to check it out it does fall into the “so bad it’s good” territory. Even the dubbing helps the overall campiness. For me, this is a 2 out of 7. I mean you have to at least have some sort of story even in a film like this.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF ONE ASCOT ENTERTAINMENT GROUP AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless.
Comments
Post a Comment