SPEAKER_04 0:04

They know what they're doing. We don't need to help. They don't need your Cheez Its.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. It's the end of the world. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack. A total joke, a waste of time, or a slash. Totally killer pun intended. We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspective we've all gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the gore lover Alexis, hey everyone, and the cowardly creeper Ryan. Hiya. The bird is the word this week as we're traveling back to 1963 to check out the last Hitchcock film to ever be nominated for an Academy Award.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Before we get down to business then, we have some follow-up. This week we are following up on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. We put out a poll on our Twitter, and the results are as follows 75% of our followers gave this movie a hack, while 25% gave it a slash.

SPEAKER_04 1:15

I'm actually a little surprised that it's as high as it is for 70%, like 75%. Sometimes we only get like a, you know, like a 50-60.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Yeah, like this is pretty like definite hack Tori.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Feels like it must be a small sample size.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Yeah, it probably is. And we have a few comments from our followers, including our patron Freya. She said, I just finished watching this and honestly, I feel a bit violated after watching Leatherface simulate a sex scene. More ass shaken and gyrating than I ever expected in a Texas chainsaw massacre film. As much as I did love the chainsaw fight between Letty and Leatherface, I'm hacking this one. I prefer Leatherface as a killer, you kinda empathize with, but not with a romantic interest. Yeah, I gotta agree.

SPEAKER_04 2:02

The the hip gyrating, it's really the last thing you need from a man building a chainsaw.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

For sure, a cross between Elvis Presley and Ricky Morton. Ooh. Shake it is bonbon all over the place.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

I know. It made it just a little too too comical for me. But it was still kind of funny because I've never seen Leatherface like that before. Um, we also have a comment from our Twitter follower, Rob, who said it was an absolute slash. It's too much fun not to love. Yep. I gotta disagree, Rob. Gotta disagree, but it's all right. And lastly, we have a comment from Jason who said, Oh man, I get these mixed up. Which one is which? They're all blur after the good one, which is part one. And either way, not as great as I remember, definite hack for me. That's a good, good smart man right there. Smart. I guess I do kind of get them confused, but I mean the first one's so iconic. Yeah. And for me, this one was kind of iconic too, because I remember some of the scenes from it, although have not seen have not seen this before.

SPEAKER_04 3:02

Sometimes iconic is not good.

unknown 3:04

You know?

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Iconic can be bad, yes, I agree. Maybe infamous. And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

In 1955, famed director Alfred Hitchcock optioned the rights to a story by Daphne Dumore, which centered on a British man protecting his wife and children at an isolated cottage in the midst of a bizarre avian attack. In 1961, the Santa Cruz Sentinel published an article detailing how coastal homes face similar attacks when flying creatures mid-migration crashed into cars, buildings, streetlights, and attempted to enter homes. After reading this, Hitchcock combined the two premises and began work on a 1963 film which featured the screen debut of famed actress Tiffy Hedron. After its airing on NBC in January 1968, this film became the highest rated movie ever shown on television up to that point and even held that record until October 1972. This film explores the story of a San Francisco socialite who follows a lawyer to a small bayside town where its residents eventually suffer inexplicable attacks. This week we're talking about The Birds. Who's seen this one before?

SPEAKER_04 4:09

I have very shocking news. I have seen this movie before. My dad is definitely like 60s-era horror fanatic, and so I've watched this with him. He's like the kind of guy that's watching like the crazy like black and white horror. So I watched this with my dad many moons ago. I didn't remember all of it for sure, but I have seen it before, which is honestly surprising for me.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

I have not seen this, but I am aware that this movie exists. And it's actually been on like my watch list for a while because I know it's so iconic and I'm terrified of birds. So I was like, okay, cool. Like I want to watch this and I'm glad I got the opportunity tonight to watch it.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

So this movie actually has a pretty special place in my heart. When I was younger growing up, watching movies with my sisters, we'd often watch really old movies. You know, we'd think about like 40s, 50s, 60s. We'd think about, you know, watching Doris Day, Carrie Grant, Catherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, uh Rock Hudson, etc. We watched all these old films that often were romantic comedies in a way. So I watched this for the first time, and we'd already been watching a couple movies that day, like Send Me No Flowers, etc. And when I watched this, I didn't know anything about it beforehand. And I started this movie thinking it was another romantic comedy, another love story, another classic tale. So when the bird stuff starts happening, things took a turn, and this movie left quite the impression on me. But, you know, for not having seen this before, what were you expecting?

SPEAKER_02 5:37

I was definitely expecting some bird killing in here. Um the birds doing the killing, let me uh paraphrase that. But um also filled with, you know, some Hitchcockian flavor. Thanks for that. But yeah, I know I was expecting stuff like Psycho. You know, you have the blonde, you have um, you know, kind of a twist ending, you have um a lot of dialogue, meaningful dialogue, especially. So I was expecting those flavors to be intertwined in this movie for sure.

SPEAKER_04 6:05

You know what? I don't know if I've actually seen a Hitchcock movie before, besides this.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

You've never seen Psycho?

SPEAKER_04 6:11

I don't think I've seen the original Psycho. No. I don't know. We haven't reviewed it on the podcast. You guys did it before I was here.

unknown 6:18

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 6:19

And we haven't rewound it.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

But just the idea of you not having seen it at any point in your life.

SPEAKER_04 6:24

I know some things about it. I know like the obvious things. Right, yeah. You know Jamie Lee Curtis's mom is in it? I don't know, but I've seen the birds, so um I could be shocking today. Who knows? I don't know, but I I don't I don't know. I guess you kind of go into this just expecting crazy birds, right? Like for me, I didn't I didn't expect much from the story. I just expected birds attacking people. I expected a shorter runtime. That's something I expected. Uh this runtime shocked me. That was like a a very surprising part for me.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Hitchcock takes his time.

SPEAKER_04 6:58

Yeah, it definitely takes his time. That's can confirm.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

So this is the first time I've seen it in maybe about 15-ish years, right? I don't think I've seen it since I was a teenager. This is the first time that I've ever watched it and then really just soaked in what a technical marvel it was for the time. You know, looking at this movie, there are nearly 400 shots that have effects in them or some kind of compositing. And even like the last shot of the movie has like 32 separately filmed elements that are all composited together. And I think that's something that, you know, I'd watched this as a kid. I was learning things about it in college, studying digital cinematography, and this is the first time I've like stepped back and watched it and experienced it again with fresh eyes that way. So I hear you, the movie runtime is long. He your man does take his time for sure, but I actually was surprisingly entertained every step of the way. Like it felt to go at the pace that I enjoyed for the story.

SPEAKER_04 8:01

I was honestly pleasantly surprised by how I felt throughout this movie. I felt connected to these characters a lot more than I expected to, especially with how old this movie is. Sometimes they can go into this territory where I'm just like, who are these people? Have people like this ever existed? Yeah, they're like not relatable. Yeah, like literally don't seem like humans in 2021, you know. But I I was like enjoying the characters so much, obviously enjoying the lovely location of this movie. It's beautiful. And I don't know, I I guess I was surprised by how intrigued I was during this.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Yeah, your boy definitely knows how to keep a slow burn for sure. Um that's one way to say it. Yeah, it's weird because I, you know, an hour and a half in when I felt like the pace was picking up, I was still like, oh wow, there's still 30 minutes left. But you know, there's a lot of movies, and you guys know I love my, you know, 90-minute movies, and I didn't feel that way about this. I wasn't like, oh my gosh, is this ending? Um, I was just so captivated during this movie. I think it was had a lot to do probably with not having some score in the background that I was just a lot of my attention was just drawn to the dialogue, was and I I am going to definitely admit this, and I've watched a ton of movies. This is the first one I like truly like paid attention to. I didn't have my phone out. I mean, I wrote some notes, obviously, but I was very ingrained in what was going on in this movie.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Wow, you put down the Instagram, how nice. I did for a second.

SPEAKER_04 9:35

Honestly, surprising when we're watching a movie from the 60s.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

It really is, but it didn't feel like it. I don't know if I watched a remastered version or what. I don't know. It looked good. It looked really good. That surprised me how good this looked. And also what surprised me was I thought this was just gonna go into a plot line full filled with like just birds. I didn't know that there would be some other things going on with the plot, you know, with the characters and everything like that. That I thought we were going to get something, okay, bird attack in the beginning, like you know, or some build-up to that.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

But um, I was surprised by that and I actually really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

That's not uncommon with Hitchcock, though. Like, think about Psycho in the beginning of that movie, it's totally separate from the rest of the movie. Like, obviously, it's still connected, uh, it's very relevant, but it sets you up to be one thing and then it goes in a completely different direction. So it's definitely not uncommon.

SPEAKER_04 10:27

Yeah, I have to agree that it it seems like you might go in and just get some immediate like bird action, and we get some story that that takes us on a ride, you know? And I we get invested. I don't know, maybe everyone doesn't get invested. I think it all depends how you feel about Miss Daniels, but I was surprised by how invested I was, and I was also surprised by how much time they spent on these bird attacks. It is impressively long, the detail included for individual bird attacks in this movie, and it was shocking to me. I because I was definitely expecting like a bird swoops over somebody's head and they're basically like dead. You know, that that's the kind of experience I was expecting to be on camera. And it is not that. They take their time, okay? We're here for a while. You're getting plucked apart by birds on camera.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Those beaks are only so big, you know? It looks like you can't decapitate someone in one bird bite. You know, it's the 60s, you never know what people are gonna do. So it's very difficult for me to be surprised about many things in this movie, especially having seen it so many times. And to be honest, I don't actually have very many disappointments apart from obviously looking at it from a 2021 lens, which is an an unfair thing to rate this against when you look at like just the patriarchal tones in this movie, right? I cannot stand the main dude, Mitch Brenner. I'm not a fan of him. I don't think I've ever really liked him to begin with. I think watching this, I all I kept thinking was like, oh, I want a modern remake and I want there to be lesbians. Like, that's what I really want, just to be completely out there. But I think the other thing that was running through my mind as I was watching this is just remembering the fallout and like the revelations that have happened in the last several years with Tippi Hedron coming forward and talking about the obsessive abuse and toxicity that she experienced on set, you know, especially like in particular from Alfred Hitchcock and how he obsessed with her and she stood up for herself. And you know, she didn't she she didn't go on to have the most illustrious career. She certainly kept herself busy. She's had a number of great films, but it's just so refreshing to like go back and watch this movie and know how strong-willed her character D Miss Daniels is. And looking at that, and then looking at the strong, strong-willed woman who portrayed her and was the earliest indication of like, no, I'm not gonna stand up for this. No, I'm not gonna let you just treat me however you want to treat me. Uh no, I I absolutely am gonna talk about this. So I absolutely I absolutely just loved having that in the back of my mind watching this movie, as much as it disappoints me to watch Hitchcock movies with that in mind.

SPEAKER_04 13:09

Yeah, this is something that I didn't even know, but it's really exciting to see that her character is strong on camera and behind the cameras as well.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Yeah, I definitely can't wait till we talk about uh her and the other characters in the second half.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah, I'm actually gonna drop a link to a variety article, and the headline is Tippy Hedron on why she went public about being sexually abused by Alfred Hitchcock. And it's a really incredible article that is just like an interview style and QA style between the variety writer and Tippi Hedron. And did you know that she's actually Dakota Johnson's grandmother? Did not know that. From Fifty Shades of Grey. That's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

I I didn't know that at all. You know, I don't know who people are.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

I've never seen or read Fifty Shades of Grey, but Dakota Johnson has done a number of things, but I just love seeing generations. I know like people say like generational wealth and and like the Hollywood elite, whatever. I love knowing that Tippi Hedron stood up for herself, right? And has come forward and talked about these things, and there's a long line of women behind her within her industry, and it's just like this incredible example of like her making the world better for her daughter and her granddaughter.

SPEAKER_04 14:16

Very true. Absolutely love that. With all those lovely details about this movie and these characters, I'm gonna pivot completely to this movie's not scary at all. However, I think it was horrific when it came out.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Yeah, I'm sure it was definitely horrific. Um, me personally, still scared. Um Are you scared of birds? Yes, I'm definitely scared of birds. If you're a patron and got to hear R B sides, you got to hear a whole bunch about it. Yeah, definitely scared. I don't know. When I go to the beach, seagulls terrify me. My sister's one of those people that will throw the food. I'm like, don't be annoying. I hate those people. I hate it. Why are people that way?

SPEAKER_04 14:52

Stop feeding birds. They're birds. They're good, they're fine. They good. They good though. They know what they're doing. We don't need to help. They don't need your cheeses.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

I will say though that while this movie isn't scary, especially if you're watching it now for the first time, I think it is very easy to see how suspenseful and how thrilling this movie actually was when it came out in the 60s. Definitely, definitely. Especially even looking at the ending and the way Alfred Hitchcock wraps up this movie. He does it very intentionally, and it's it's pretty different from how he usually does. He had the idea of uh never-ending terror in mind. Right? So he doesn't wrap it up in a way that, you know, gives you, I think, the the closure that maybe a lot of folks are looking for, um, which I think can add to this movie having a lasting impact on people.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Yeah, I could definitely totally see that because I was watching this and literally I looked up for a second. I I think I was writing a note or something, and I looked up and it was over, and I was like, I must have missed something. So I went and rewound the whole entire well had to fast forward through the entire movie to watch the end. And I was like, oh, okay, that's exactly what it was. But yeah, I could totally see that.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Girl, are you watching this on VHS?

SPEAKER_02 16:05

No, but it's for some reason on Amazon Prime, it restarted. I was like, oh, come on. Don't ask me. I'm I'm like an old soul. I don't know how to go to jump to the end. I don't know how to do that if that's possible.

SPEAKER_04 16:18

You know what's funny is I actually had to do the exact same thing. I watched through the ending and I was just kind of like chilling by the time we got to that point. There was like a a long ending here of very similar things happening. So then all of a sudden I was like, wait a minute, what? What are those what what do they do? I was like, you know, I was zoned out for a minute, and I had to run the whole thing back and watch the ending again. And then I was like, exactly what you said. I was just like, oh yeah, I I I didn't really miss anything. It was just it is what it is. But I'll say I don't know if that I don't that didn't do it for me. Like it I don't have I don't have great feelings about the ending of this movie. And it's hard to say anything without kind of going into what I feel in general, but I could have gotten more from this ending than what they gave me.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

Yeah, I think this this ending served well when you look at just what audiences have been exposed to to that point. And when we look at like the levels of horror that have existed throughout time and we look at how that's evolved and changed, I think if you remake this today, you cannot have the same ending. Uh you have to if if you try to go with the same like this general scene is occurring as the credits are rolling, you're gonna have to add some kind of pizzazz, because I think it just won't hit the same in modern day.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

Yeah, I completely agree. It's it's abrupt, but it's also like I don't know. I think nowadays you're I'm so used to like a roller coaster of an ending or a twist turn, even in the books I read. But you know, sometimes it doesn't end up like those kind of endings don't end up being like original. Um, because I've read so many books, I'm like, oh, I know it's coming. It's the same one that was in like the past five books I read, which is probably why I read the same books all the time. Yeah, maybe you need to read more authors. Probably. I mean, I I flip between the same five, but to me that that ending is kind of original, and I think the movie entirely is original to be like taking this sort of antagonist as a bird and you know making it creepy, and you know, some of the effects that you do, you know, I think I think it's pretty original.

SPEAKER_04 18:23

Yeah, I think I have to agree with you. I I'm I know that there are I don't know, I guess this comes at a time where like a creature feature type of thing, like creatures attacking, that's kind of more common during these times in movies, but I just think this entire concept, I mean, to be fair, it was basically a real thing. So it real is if real life is original, this movie's original.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Yeah, I mean one thing that I would also add to this is consider the fact that when examining the events that play out in this movie, it's less about the birds and more about the people and how quickly they unravel and how quickly they bond together. This movie is very akin to what you'd find in a zombie movie. It absolutely is. And then think about the fact that the movie that pioneered zombies as we know today, Nine of the Living Dead, came out five years l after this. So just consider that, right? Like this is a movie that you know Hitchcock for for all of his flaws and for all the shitty stuff that he has done, he is someone who even Tippy Hedron has said he's brilliant and he knows exactly what he wants to do, and he executes things in a particular way, and he's very hands-on and involved. And I think this is just an example of that. I think he's the only one who could pull off a movie ending the way this does, a movie that's paced the way this one is, a movie that has these type of characters and type of beginning, uh, and for it to still be an iconic classic. So we'll see how this shakes out. Uh it sounds like you know, there are some some ways that this movie could have been better. Maybe there's some pain points for you both, but let's go ahead and start making our way into our ratings. But before we get to the scoring, Alexis, how many people died in this movie?

SPEAKER_02 20:03

We had three bodies, human bodies that perished in this film.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

And you know, it's a movie about birds, so what's up with the animal report?

SPEAKER_04 20:12

You know, Chris, in the flight of life, some fly longer than others. And that's the basis of this animal report. You know, there's a lot of birds here. Some make it, some don't, but they're vicious, so you don't feel that bad about it.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Ten points for creativity on that one. I think if if you're someone who is very fond of birds, if you have devoted your life to ornithological studies, then you know maybe you might be a little bit hurt. But I feel like this movie is pretty well balanced in that regard.

SPEAKER_04 20:42

As in the humans hurt as much as the birds, yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But let's go ahead and get into the official ratings here: the birds from 1963, an Alfred Hitchcock classic. Is it Hackerslash?

SPEAKER_02 20:54

There are some flaws, but honestly, I can only think of really one, and we'll we'll talk about that later. But honestly, this movie just had my attention throughout the entire running time, and that was just so crazy that I was able to do that. I was hyper focused on the dialogue. I really cared about the characters. You know, I was trying to discover and, you know, figure out where the plot line was going. So I was fairly invested in this movie. And for some reason, I didn't think I would be, but with my track record on the podcast, I've actually tend to like uh the movies from the 50s and 60s, and I'm gonna add this definitely to it and give this one a slash for sure. I am not the least bit surprised.

SPEAKER_04 21:36

Let me let me take you guys on a journey, okay? Miss Daniels is everything that I want, okay? In a person, in a human, in a woman, all right. Miss Daniels has the look, okay? She's got the fur of your dreams, all right. She's got the convertible, she knows how to handle an outboard. She most importantly knows how to handle a man man splaining. Where something is across the bay. She knows how to handle flirting. Excellent flirter. Okay? Go out of your way, drive up the coast to flirt and drop off some birds. 10 out of 10. She knows what she's doing. All right. She stocks up for herself. She makes her own decisions. Although she's a little bit simp in for Mitch, you know, it is what it is. She can, you know, he's handsome. I get it. I love Miss Daniels. And I think that how you feel about this movie will either be based on you relating to Miss Daniels or being attracted to Miss Daniels. Personally, I want to be Miss Daniels. So it's a little bit of both then? A little bit of both. I want to ride down the coast in that convertible. That is who I want to be as a human in like 30 years.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

I mean, I love the balls she has for sure, but I know we'll talk about that later.

SPEAKER_04 22:44

She's got the balls. And also watching this movie just made me think, why don't I wear more fancy clothes all the time? Why am I not this person? And the reason is because I don't have the patience. She honestly just wore one outfit. To be honest. Very good point. And also the green, the whole color coordination of it all. So good. Beautiful. However, I love Miss Daniels and the first half of this movie because it feels like I'm watching an old James Bond movie. Except, except James Bond is a woman, maybe. You know? It's got that energy. It's like you watch an old James Bond movie with like Sean Connery, and like it's not good, but it's not bad. You know, like it's some crazy stuff going on, and you just go along with it. Whatever boat he's sailing on, whatever car he's driving, you just go with it. And that's exactly where I was throughout this movie. And I'm rolling and I'm riding in the convertible with Miss Daniels, you know. We're going to hang out with Annie, you know, we're doing all the things. And then there's an hour of bird attacks. And it's just like a lot for me. And I don't want to be this person. I wish I was a different person. I wish I could just say I really enjoyed this, but there's a lot of bird attacks. And I understand the movie is called The Birds, but it's a lot and it's a little too much for me. And so this movie I really enjoy and will watch again one day, but it's a hack.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Well, Ryan, I'm I'm not mad. I'm just a little disappointed, although I'm not surprised one bit. It's very simple for me. This movie is a classic. It's one that helped me fall in love with Hitchcock's films. When I think about the best of his work, Psycho is obviously iconic and legendary, but it is only among my favorites. This movie is is a technical feat. And I think that's where a lot of my love for it is. Whereas you drew your connections to a character who's an incredible character, by the way, she's one of my favorites. My love is spread so evenly for other things in this movie. Yeah, like Annie, for example, for the length of the bird attacks, because the technical feat to not only pull off those shots, but looking at how the set was constructed, looking at the bits that were filmed on location, looking at the way this movie incorporates composites and also paintings in its in in it in its shots, this movie is too much of a technical masterpiece for me to see it as anything other than that. So I think if if you're watching this movie for the first time in 2021, you're like, oh, I'm afraid of birds, is this gonna be scary? I d I don't think it's gonna be that scary. But I think if you're looking for a classic film that has really great characters in it and takes you on a ride between starting off as one thing and ending up somewhere entirely different, if you want to see the early blueprint for what zombie movies are, I think this is an excellent example, and it's a hundred percent a slash for me.

SPEAKER_04 25:51

And may I just add, I don't disagree with any of that. And anyone should watch this movie. It is worth watching and technically absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Not even a soft slash, huh?

SPEAKER_04 26:02

I can't do a soft slash. There are some things that just can't let it go. Yes, and I will mention this is an honorary Paris hack confirmed from the source himself.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Well, with that, the bird is only partially the word because the birds from 1963 has earned two slashes and one hack. You can find this movie available for rent online. It may have gotten a hack from Ryan, as much as that breaks my heart, but it sounds like for the majority, we still recommend it. So check it out and join us in the second half so you can continue hearing about Ryan fawning over Miss Daniels. See you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Are your pets getting a little too pesty? Are your flying friends getting a little too friendly? Are you feeling under the weather from all those feathers? Are you a bit weak from seeing all those beaks? Are you tired of the stings from all those wings? With our fast-acting laxative pellets, those birds will let it fly. Hopefully, in the yard of some other guy. Grab him by the talon and pick up a gallon of Bird Be Gone Today and make your aviary problems fly away.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Welcome back, folks. You are now entering the spoiler zone for the birds, which has earned two slashes and one hack that really sounded like a slash most of the way. Now we have a lot to unpack here, but before we get into the specifics of these feathers, we have the matter of gore to get to. So, Alexis, what is the gore score for the birds?

SPEAKER_02 27:38

The gore score is looking pretty low this week, and I only say that because I'm putting it in our current time frame of 2021. If you were back in this time and we've talked about it earlier, like for this time, anything I feel like remotely bloody or was like super shocking. So I'm sure seeing, you know, some of these, you know, quick scenes, um, you know, maybe there's just a handful of them, are pretty disturbing and shocked a lot of viewers seeing this.

SPEAKER_04 28:07

Yeah, it seems like in the 60s, like 50s, 60s, people didn't like know what blood was. Like, were there accidents in person? Because it's like you put blood on a movie and people are like, Oh my god, it's horrific.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Like, don't you guys have accidents at home? Horrific imagery was really reserved for people who served in wars. Like, that's the reality, right? You only saw that kind of violence in war. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

That's a good point. That does make sense. I know the most graphic thing I to me was I wasn't sure I had no history with this movie prior to this, so I wasn't sure what the gore was gonna look like or what the kills were gonna look like. So when I we saw Dan Fawcett, uh, the farmer, his body, I was like, Oh, we're only gonna get the legs. Like, I definitely did not think we would see his eyes pecked out. So that was like really disturbing for me and possibly my favorite kill.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Yeah, like and the also the cuts zooming in with like no other added sound effects on top of that. Oof, so good.

SPEAKER_04 29:06

So good. What about you guys? Unfortunately, I do have to agree, my favorite is Dan Fawcett, which is a very dramatically spelled last name. It's just like exactly what you said. You see the legs with some cuts and stuff, and you're like, that's totally all they're gonna give us. Because so far, all we have is like a scratch on Miss Daniel's head, and then they cut away, and then they cut to his face with his I mean, with no eyeballs. Like it was just like a wreck of a scene, and it was very exciting to me because I did not think it would go that far. I thought we would get absolutely nothing for the gore score here from this movie. So it was really, really nice. It was really, really nice to see a guy with his eyeballs cut out.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

I hear you, because even when you consider Psycho, which had come out a few years before this, there wasn't really a lot of blood in there. It's it's definitely there's some horrific things that happen, but there isn't a lot in in terms of like what you actually see on screen. It's more like tight close-ups and you know, looking at the shower drain as the blood comes down and uh some blood on someone's face later on in the movie. But obviously, Mr. Dan Fawcett, he definitely has a an intense death. Let me uh go with the other two people who died in this movie though. Annie Hayworth is the one I didn't want to see go, for sure. Uh I have a lot of thoughts on her when we talk about our characters in a little while, but what a heartbreaking reveal, just dead on the floor, mere feet from safety, and to hear about the way she went out throwing Mitch's little sister into the house while the birds were ascending on her. Very tragic. But also the chaos of the explosion when that guy lighting his uh cigar outside the diner and by the service station. I absolutely loved that kill because it was just the most absurd, chaotic thing that could happen on top of the birds.

SPEAKER_04 31:07

Also exciting to see not just bird kills, basically. You know, it was like exciting to see something different. And as it was happening, you're like, oh no, don't do that, don't be that person, but you know, they can't help it.

SPEAKER_02 31:21

Yeah, so in that scene when the guy's lighting the cigarette, it was just weird that effect that they had um with the camera going back and forth um between Melanie and him. And then every time they cut back to Melanie, she was essentially in a different like pose, which I thought was very cool. Um, I don't know. This movie has like such like the effects that they did um with the birds and the kills and you know, the little I call them accidents, you know, when people are getting pecked. It's it's just a little accident, it's not a kill.

SPEAKER_04 31:49

Well happy accident.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

Happy accident. Um, it's crazy because it's like super simplistic and I think that carries out because a lot of this, you know, your 60s. I'm not thinking that they have such like cool effects that that look real, but this movie, it was just, I mean, crazy that all of this, like the way it worked out and how seamless it was and how realistic it looked.

SPEAKER_04 32:12

Yeah, I was really interested. I know that Chris has a lot of information about like how technically they got the birds in the scenes, but as I was watching it, I was so interested because it does just feel like birds attacking people in the movies. Like it it it just feels like this is a thing that was really happening. It doesn't feel like this is technically something they had to achieve with this film. It just feels like it happened.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Yeah. Consider the fact that when you get that big old rush of the birds coming out through the fireplace, right? When they first attack that house, many of the birds that are flying in there aren't even in there. The actors are just batting their arms around like thin air. Yeah. But they're so convincing, and the birds were placed in film so well that it doesn't seem that way at all.

SPEAKER_04 32:57

Yeah, I mean, like when you think about things that we see superimposed into film and actors trying to act with something that isn't actually in their environment, I feel like we really often get horrific examples. Like even recently we did Nightmare on Elm Street 3, where we have Freddie as a skeleton fighting somebody, and that fight scene is just like you can clearly see that this man is not fighting a skeleton, you know? It's so bad. It's so bad. And then you think about this like, how do they manage to make it actually feel like they're fighting off birds? Like they feel like they're in this room with them in every single scene where you have the birds interacting with people. So to continue from that, I have like a few things about the makeup that was used in this movie, and obviously we don't have like a ton of gore, but there is a moment where Tippi Hedron was like in her full injured makeup, and she looks at the makeup artist and says, Pardon me, Howard, and walks out and throws up, which is once again another example of an actor being put into their like a version of themselves where they're torn up that they've never seen, and it turns out none of them can handle it.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yeah. Isn't it great though that she didn't wasn't even the one who had to see the farmer with his eyes pecked out? She just saw her a little bit cut up and some blood on her face.

SPEAKER_04 34:12

Yeah, and she's so just so proper. Pardon me, Howard. And then another thing that I thought was interesting is that Annie in the scene where she's killed, Hitchcock evidently thought that it would be really interesting if she had like an ear like hanging, like bloody and hanging off of her. So he sent her to the prop department, had them create this whole hanging ear for her and everything. And then when it came down to the shooting, she was facing the other way, so you never even see it. And they said that that's just kind of how he is. It's part of his delicious sense of humor.

SPEAKER_01 34:41

But now I want to see it.

SPEAKER_04 34:43

I know. Now I'm like, well, we could have had a little extra gore with a little ear hanging off. That would have been helpful. Yeah, agreed.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

But you know what? She was working that up to I feel like Annie was a spectacle to behold, and uh, I can I can do without seeing the desecration of her body.

SPEAKER_04 34:58

You are so in love with Annie that it is palpable.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

I am, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 35:03

Annie's my kind of lady. And then I have a little bit of information about the birds as well, because obviously they're the stars of the show here. So there's like $200,000 that was spent on creating mechanical birds for this movie. But then the ones that we see on screen are mostly real. So not sure if they needed to spend $200,000.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

Feels like a lot, especially at this time. Interesting, because I'm always like in these scenes, like, what the heck? Um, is there are these real? Are these fake? Especially when they're coming in through the window.

SPEAKER_04 35:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

And Mitch is there, and I'm just like, okay, okay, like, is that one real? Because it's real aggressive. Yeah, there's a lot going on.

SPEAKER_04 35:42

They're, like I said, mostly what you see on screen is real. There's a few things that they did with them. So part of what they did with these real birds, obviously, is fed them things like wheat and whiskey, which is part of what kept the seagulls like hanging around so much instead of obviously going off and doing their own thing. There was also one bird specifically that seemed to hate the actor that played Mitch. Like legitimately, he would show up on set and the bird would come and like peck at him, like for real, just chilling, not filming the movie.

SPEAKER_02 36:13

That's funny. Um, also, that's why I'm terrified of birds.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Borderline aggressive.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

Yeah, just slightly aggressive. But I'm also like, how do they know it's the same bird?

SPEAKER_04 36:21

Yeah, I kind of had the same thought, and he said, I hated him and he hated me. And I feel like he's being a little extra dramatic about it. Like, I'm sure the bird was just like, you know, trying to see what his hair tasted like or something. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

Yeah, so there are a lot of trained birds, and I think once you're at the level of training birds, you have you form unique relationships uh with your coworkers who would be the birds. So you know they all have names, and you know that someone is there managing that talent. And I think it's hilarious that I saw a picture of him on set when he's filming like the final one of the final scenes in the movie, and there's a bird like actively pecking at him. He's like, that guy right there, that's the one.

SPEAKER_04 37:01

Yeah, it's crazy though, because I mean they use something like 3,200 birds trained on this film set, which is like I I just don't I can't even understand the concept of training birds to start with, much less 3,200 of them. And they said that the seagulls were the most vicious, which I fully agree with. Like I said, stop feeding seagulls at the beach. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

No, Ron, you're absolutely right. The amount of bird work that went into this is absolutely outrageous. And actually, I I think it really comes to life in one of my favorite scenes, which is when Melanie goes upstairs and she opens up the door, sees the birds. So let me just paint the level of bullshit that this woman went through. She thinks that they're gonna be mechanical birds. JK. No, they're real birds. They are also fastened with wire to her clothes so that they cannot actually get away from her and they're pecking at her. What? It also took so absurdly long to film that she actually ended up getting hospitalized.

SPEAKER_04 38:05

What in the world?

SPEAKER_01 38:06

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Is it legal? Long nylon thread to to keep them attached, and then she it took seven days to shoot, and she said it was like the worst week of her life.

SPEAKER_04 38:17

Is it legal to tie birds to people? It feels wrong on very many levels.

SPEAKER_01 38:21

They kept they took care of the birds. Birds are chill, but not her. Oh gosh. Yeah. That scene is absolutely one of my favorite because that feels like the pure chaos, right? That's like you walk upstairs unknowingly, and then you know, Jason with a machetes coming out. Michael Myers. That felt like Lori finding her friends, stumbling out into the hall, and then Michael Myers appears. It felt like that similar level of terror for her with the realizations of the birds. And I I think I can also relate because I have a hole similar to that in our c in our roof right now. So I look at that, I'm like, fuck. Birds are gonna get in this shit, iguanas are gonna get in this shit. Uh so when that moment when she saw it, I was like, now girl, I feel you. Been there. I I I can uh I can align with you.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Currently there, girl, currently there. Yeah. I can't even imagine. I I it's crazy, Chris, because mine's completely opposite of that. It's not an utter chaos sort of scene. Um, it's when Melanie is dropping off the Lovebirds. Oh yes. One super extra, but we'll talk about her. I like it somehow. Um, I feel like it's something I would do. Totally. Totally something. Yeah, I don't. Yeah. It would be something psychotic I would do. No, no, no. Just over the top and cute. But yeah, so I I think is I was like, is she really doing this? And is she going to actually get these birds there? And then when she goes in, one, she just walks in, and two, I'm surprised that people just give information out of where people live. I guess in the 60s they did that.

SPEAKER_04 39:54

Well, this is back in the day, you didn't have to worry about things, you just tell them where the Brenner Girl lives.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

The Brenner Girl specifically.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

Exactly. And this was way before the America's Most Wanted, which I think just scared the shit out of people for reasons that were warranted, to be fair. Exactly. But um, needless, I just like how once she drops off the birds and comes out, and then she's like taking the paddle out, like she knows not to start the engine, like very smart. And then she's sitting there watching it. And I think because it was just so quiet, it just really I mean, a lot of these scenes grab my attention, but this one especially because I was like, oh, is she gonna get caught? Is she not? And there's no like any sort of context clues that know that something else is gonna happen. So I was really on the edge of my seat for that.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

Sometimes the absence of silence of sound is most powerful.

SPEAKER_04 40:40

That's right. And I actually have a uh a balanced other side to your favorite scene. My favorite scene is uh while she's at the post office and then going to get the boat. Because if if our listeners don't know, I'm uh I'm a woman that grew up on the water. I'm a boat kind of lady. So when he's like, Do you know how to handle an outboard? And she's like, Of course I do, I'm like, girl, thank you. Okay. I don't know if you would be handling an outboard and jumping on that boat in the fur coat the way that you did, but nonetheless, that is absolutely my favorite scene because it's when we like really get to know Melanie and she's just doing her thing, not being stopped by any of these obstacles. She doesn't, she's like, she's not going for a cheap thrill by dropping off those birds, you know. She's going for all the details, everything she can get done. She's figuring out his sister's name, dropping them off with a cute little note, all these different little things. I love it. I love seeing her ride across the bay in that boat, in that fur coat, in that outfit, the hair. It was all, it was all just such an experience, you know?

SPEAKER_01 41:39

Absolutely. And I think that's such a good moment that's like so telling for her character. Everything that she does is is remarkable and with the level of persistence that she has. But when you talk about the the imagery of the bay, I think it just takes me back to looking at this movie as a whole, cinematically. First off, the technical prowess that is on display in this film, I can't get enough of. One of the things that I absolutely love, these are just some hallmarks of this film. It's the way they blend seamlessly blend filmed footage with matte paintings. So oftentimes the background of what you're seeing of the bay is actually a painting. Sometimes it's more apparent than others, but another time, you recall that gas station explosion when it's like a bird's eye view, the aerial view of the fire. Only part of that is actually footage. It's basically a T-zone. They filmed it on a studio set for the explosion, and then the rest of it is actually a painting, and then the birds that are swooping down from there are actually composited in.

SPEAKER_04 42:47

Yeah, I noticed a few of those scenes, and it's it's insane. Like I was specifically looking out for those types of things because we had talked about their use of paintings, but like one that stood out to me is when they're at the party and they go up on the hill, and you can see where they transition into having, you know, they're clearly on a set with like a little bit of sand and some background painting, and then they walk down the hill and it just perfectly transitions from the background painting, clearly a set, to just now it just looks like you guys are out of house walking down back to the party. It's insane the way they do it. I mean, I would be excited about this if it was made today, and it's so much older, obviously, and it's just very impressive.

SPEAKER_01 43:27

Yeah, and I think that's one of the other things that would be so missed from this movie. I mean, like these are just the things that they had to do to get by. This is before CGI, right? This is before any of that. Looking at this movie and how well it was done in the time that it was made, I feel like it's such a charming element that would totally be missing and it wouldn't feel as soulful. So when I think about like JJ Abrams going into the Star Wars universe and he r he made the return to practical effects and puppetry, I'd like to see someone Do these old school tricks now if they're gonna remake a Hitchcock film.

SPEAKER_04 44:04

I agree. I feel like you would have to really, really, really lean into it because if you missed it with like overuse of CGI and stuff like that, it would be horrible. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 44:14

I think you know, when when you look at just the way this movie is shot altogether, Hitchcock and the level of control that he has and the foresight that he had, it's just absolutely mind-blowing when you realize how much is just baked into this movie, right? So looking at things like I just shared with the Matt paintings and how that's blended with footage, but even looking at the reality of the opening shot. Tippy Hedron is walking down the street, you know, Melanie Daniels like trying to get into the pet shop. There's a point where she walks behind a sign, and prior to that, she had been on location. She walks behind this sign, seamlessly blends together. She's now on a studio set. Like they went out, they identified exactly where they're gonna be filming. They filmed on location for some parts, and then other parts were photographed and absolutely recreated down to the last minute detail of these places so that he can completely control the environment.

SPEAKER_02 45:11

Yeah, it's insane. That is crazy. I feel like there's not that amount of detail in movies today. I mean, there is, but I think it's more like you said, like the CGI and a focus on that, and sometimes that isn't seamless.

SPEAKER_04 45:24

Yeah, we have more shortcuts now. Like I feel like the attention to detail is a little bit more, you know, we can fix that later instead of really focusing on the time it would take to get it right the first time.

SPEAKER_02 45:36

So I know as simplistic as this sounds um and kind of basic, uh, my favorite like visual element of this entire movie was the um fade transitions between scenes. I don't know why. I feel like I just don't see that at all anymore, that it was like quite intriguing.

SPEAKER_04 45:53

Yeah, that's totally like uh an antiquity, you know? It's like totally from something from the past that we don't really see anymore. I actually thought you were gonna steal mine for a second when you were saying, like, I have like a really simple thing because mine is so simple. My favorite visual element, the thing that like I don't know, I was very excited by this part of the movie, and it is Melanie riding down the coast in that convertible. It just like, well, first and foremost, it was like a 10-minute scene. Like, we got like 15 different angles riding through that beautiful, like hillside, mountainside. I don't know. It was so lovely, and again, it's another scene where we don't have background noise or music score that we would normally have in a modern movie, and it just put me in this place, and I was like, God, the things that I would do to just be a classy old woman riding in a convertible along the the coast of California. Honestly, the the list of things I would do to be that is very long right now.

SPEAKER_02 46:54

Yeah, very interesting because I love the comedic value that was thrown into that when the birds are like to me, she was driving horribly. Yeah. And it was like which is something how I would, I wouldn't know how to slow down on the turns. I just be like, whatever. Um, but the birds were like swaying, and I was like, this is hilarious.

SPEAKER_04 47:12

It was adorable. And then also it's like the way that they portrayed people driving at this time on film is hilarious. And so those it it wasn't meant to be hilarious, but you're looking at it and you're like, God, this is so funny. The car is like clearly like bouncing rhythmically and stuff, and you're like, okay, we get it. She's riding in a car. And then you have the birds that are like intentionally funny, and I I just love it. Also, you know, you gotta love a car that's hard to turn. Okay, we'll blame the car. It was a long time ago. Oh, yeah, it was a car for sure. Power steering has come a long way.

SPEAKER_01 47:41

That's actually one of my favorite things about watching older movies and just looking at like, okay, these are the moments where they're in the car, and you just have screens that are playing footage of roads going by, and I love it so much. It's just, it's charming and wholesome. And you mentioned those those birds, right? The love birds that are like green and red. One of the other things that I absolutely love about this movie is how subtly Hitchcock plays with colors, and how those colors of the lovebirds are woven into this whole movie, culminating with, you know, obviously uh Melanie's green dress, but the moment that she and Mitch finally kiss and become lovebirds themselves, there's like a red vase that you can see in the background. It's just it's all these little nods that bring it all together.

SPEAKER_04 48:28

She also has very, very specific and intentional red nails that like stood out this entire movie to me. I was and and they play from those same things again. And I was like, man, that outfit and the nails, like it's such a specific energy. And you're right, it's all the way through this movie.

SPEAKER_01 48:44

Her as a whole, her wardrobe, her personality, she's a vibe, and I get why you'd want to be her, Ryan. One of the the things that I struggle with is just the journey that she's on and how she ends up, right? Like looking at how strong-willed and self-assured she is in the beginning, how she defends herself and how she stands up and and speaks the reality of what her life truly is, and then she's attacked by these birds, and then is just relatively silent for the last bit. It kind of bummed me out, but overall, she's still an incredible character, and I really wish this is where I'm gonna say it, if they remake this movie, I want to see a point where Melanie and Annie are actually love interests who fall for each other and let Mitch die.

SPEAKER_04 49:30

Annie literally gave me the most lesbian energy I've ever felt from a woman in a movie at this age at this time. Agree. Like in the 60s, people weren't given lesbian energy, you know. She really just seemed like she was really just forcing the thing with Mitch. When she said that, I was like, nah, I don't believe you.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

That's what I'm saying. Like, no, Annie. Here's the reality of the situation. You want Mitch to be your beard because you can tolerate him as a friend and nothing else. Like that's that's really what it is.

SPEAKER_04 49:59

She was just giving Melanie the eyes the whole time. Or maybe Annie is just the most seductive person I've ever seen on film. I don't know. But it was a lot. There was a lot going on. But I and I enjoyed her character. You know, she's like in the back, till in soil. Like she plays that character that you want her to be, Chris, perfectly. She could definitely be the lesbian lover here, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 50:22

Also, I just gotta say this going to a sleepy bayside town in pursuit of someone that maybe you find attractive and maybe you're flirting with, or maybe you don't find them attractive yet, but you're gonna, and ending up the house of their ex-girlfriend is a hundred percent the most lesbian thing I've ever heard of.

SPEAKER_04 50:38

Also, a very like unfortunate real reality when people are from these little small towns, like girl, you better be careful. It's a very Nicolas Sparks thing to happen. Yes, but like um the wrong thing happened, like like the the backwards version of the Nicholas Sparks movie. One thing that I did not enjoy in this movie, as far as characters is concerned, is Midge's mom. And I know that she has this arc, but I still didn't care for it. Like it just I don't know. I guess I mostly just got kind of rubbed the wrong way at the beginning, and then therefore I just kind of didn't care about her being kinder towards the end, but I don't know. It's like, are you just sour to be sour? And they had this whole dialogue about she's not a jealous woman, she's I don't know, they tried to make a point about her not being a jealous woman, but that she just didn't want anyone else to love Mitch or something, but it all just said jealous woman to me.

SPEAKER_02 51:31

Yeah, and I feel like there's a lot of that in Hitchcock films where it's like, you know, this crazy mother or this like extravagant mother. But she kind of played me a little bit. Like I got played by her real hard. Did you? Yes, because like in the beginning, I was like, Yep, she's gonna be crazy. She's like somehow this isn't this movie, isn't about birds anymore, and it's about like them. She's the bird. Yeah, she is the bird, or like I don't know, maybe the birds are like a side story, but like it was gonna be this interaction between the three, very similar to something like Psycho. I was just really weird because then it seemed like she liked her, and then all of a sudden she didn't, and then like she did at the end. So I was just very very confused on what she was about. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 52:14

It just didn't like I don't know. I she just came in so hot with the sour. I was just like, uh, and then the whole Annie thing, she was like, Yeah, she loves me now. And I was like, Okay, well, this woman's just trash, she just sucks.

SPEAKER_01 52:26

It seems like she was just on a journey of her own loss and struggling, especially when you look at like what she shares about her husband having been the one who's really able to relate to the kids and things like that.

SPEAKER_04 52:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:39

I appreciated that she at least changed throughout the movie, and she wasn't just one static note the entire time. Especially, you know, walk watching this film and and having watched Psycho, it's like okay, Alfred Hitchcock, can you make a single movie with a likable mother figure, please? I actually didn't mind her. Uh I I didn't mind her at all. I I think she's like super involved and annoying, but I think I like where she ends up. And I think I'm struck with this realization that her journey on accepting Melanie and having then the loss of Annie would weigh on her very heavily if this movie were to have continued any longer. If we got the aftermath of her knowing and like really, you know, re like reconciling her past and how she treats Mitch and the women in his life with the reality of like how much she loved Annie, and now knowing that Annie's no longer there, I feel like there'd be some interesting things there to work out.

SPEAKER_02 53:38

Yeah, it would be really interesting. And I guess you pick that up, obviously, context, clues, and like dialogue as well. And I think that was just my favorite part of this movie. It's clean, it's thorough, you get enough. And I feel like movies today lack that. You know, it's a rush or it's force. It's like, okay, let's jam all this information into this one dialogue. But this was just so seamless. And, you know, some of the stuff Mitch says, yes, crazy and honestly rude and to say the least. But a lot of it is like transferable and can be like used in today, like none of it was so stuck back in, you know, the 60s that I was like, oh, this is not relatable. I can't even, you know, understand these characters or their motivations. But you know, I think that the dialogue's really important, and I'm just so glad it was done really well in this movie.

SPEAKER_04 54:27

Yeah, I totally agree. I think it's real, like it feels like people talking to each other. And I think kind of like what you're talking about is new movies, we get a lot of conversation that is like, hey, I have to get this these set of facts communicated to the audience in like a little bit of time. So someone's just gonna casually walk by and explain this whole storyline or something like that. And when you see that in a movie, it doesn't feel real. Like when you talk to people, they're not like, hey, I here's my quick life story. Like that doesn't happen. So here we get these people having real conversations, and you get to know the character is genuinely not in this like forced movie kind of way. Also, I just want to say I don't hate Mitch for the things he says, but also I'm attracted to Mitch, so maybe that's why. Okay. Also attracted, but I attract really freaking weird people. I don't I'm not saying I want to be with him, but I'm I I will be the person here that hates him maybe the least. You know I love a Tom Zillick kind of man, okay?

SPEAKER_01 55:27

No, but you're right. The riches of this dialogue is so, so good. My favorite quote from Lydia is it's terrible how you depend on someone for strength, then suddenly all the strength is gone and you're all alone. It's like, damn, Lydia, you're out here hitting heavy, right? Like you're out here wrecking my soul with what you're saying.

SPEAKER_04 55:48

Mostly because we are all gonna love someone and we're not gonna have them forever. And that is the worst realization you will ever have in your life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:56

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, my my only fear in life is the crippling reality that I'm supposed to outlive I'm supposed to outlive everyone, technically, until like I start my own family.

SPEAKER_04 56:06

Yeah, and even if you don't, they live without you. So either way, if someone ends up lonely, it it's real trash, I'm not gonna lie. Well, I'm gonna take us away from this dark place for a moment here. I do have to tell you guys about my best part of this movie since I did hack it, technically, and that is Bodega Bay as a whole. For me, the setting of this movie and this little town, all these people that clearly all know each other, they all have something to say about a woman coming to see Mitch, you know, that type of feeling. I think because this movie is so old and we're watching it now, it is the perfect thing to kind of take you into a place, you know, maybe you've never been anywhere like Bodego Bay. I would say I haven't. And it just kind of like engulfed me in this setting and wrapped me up and made me want to go to Mitch's sister's birthday party when I met her a day ago and I was dropping her off birds as a joke, you know. Like it made me want to be a part of it, it made me interested in all the interactions of the people, and you know, everybody knows, you know, where somebody is or where they stay or anything like that. So for me, there are many, many, many good parts about this movie. That's one of the ones that really stood out to me is the setting of Bodega Bay because it is a classy, lovely place I'd like to be.

SPEAKER_02 57:22

My worst part is pretty shallow, I'll have to admit. Um, but it's um how easily people just give out freaking information. I know I mentioned this before, but it's literally on my nerves so much that I'm just like, oh yeah, they just tell them where this person lives, and you know, they just say, Oh yeah, like right there. Oh, this is who he lives with. Like literally identity theft, I guess it was not a thing back then.

SPEAKER_04 57:45

I mean, they even told her how to get to the man's back door, not just where he lives, but how you can get to his back door. I'll rent you a boat to go to the man's back door and drop something off. Like, what? Oh yeah, but that's the 2021 in us.

SPEAKER_01 57:59

Yeah, speaking of things that are antiquated and unnecessary, my whole worst part of this movie is Mitch and the patriarchal roots of this movie. I hate the concept of a man strolling in to a store and pulling this petty ass prank on someone who doesn't even know him, right? Has never actually met him. He sees her as subservient and uh undeserving. And I don't care how attractive he finds her, the whole premise and foundation of the relationship is shitty. And that is not something that I ever obviously picked up on as a child because I think I just didn't really pick up on the whole romantic vibes there. It just seemed like all these people are just existing trying to fight off the birds. But looking at it now, again, it's unfair to hold an a movie from 1953 to the relationship and dynamics of humans in 2021. But if this were remade today, I want that shit gone for sure.

SPEAKER_04 58:58

Okay, but I also want Ms. Daniels not to pretend like she works at the bird store.

SPEAKER_01 59:02

Oh yeah. Well, I didn't mind it.

SPEAKER_04 59:04

This is clearly she chose her role here, okay? She she made decisions in that moment.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

I'm not that mad at it. I I see her as like being amusing and having a bit of a fun time. Like, hasn't haven't you made the mistake of wearing red and khaki to Target and someone asking you if you work there and you just kind of string them along a little bit?

SPEAKER_04 59:22

No, never. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 59:24

I don't have never strung them along either, but I'm sure someone has. Regardless of how much you may have disliked her shenanigans of trying to work in the pet store. I'm still not a fan of Mitch. I'm obviously gonna watch this movie again, but I'm probably gonna hate him a little bit more passionately with every single watch.

SPEAKER_04 59:41

I couldn't disagree more. I will say though, I am totally down to rewatch this movie. I don't know. I don't know when I will, but if it's on, I'm like, you know, at least get me in for the first half, which is actually I think why I don't remember watching it completely with my dad the first time.

SPEAKER_02 59:54

Yeah, I definitely re-watch this again. I'm not sure in the exact context that I would, but I can name one for sure, which would definitely be like a rainy Sunday or like a Saturday or something, and you're just like, let me throw it in, I'll watch it. But then you're taking a good nap, wake up to all the people and screaming birds, so then you're like, fuck. This is like the perfect chill Sunday horror movie, if that exists. Yeah, no, that it does exist. I mean, there's um getting ready horror um that I put on and watch while I'm getting ready for work. It's just you.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:30

I I will also, though, make uh plenty of recommendations. If you like the vibes of the first half of this movie, Ryan, I can uh give you some recommendations from older movies to check out that have similar vibes.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:40

Say no more.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:41

Absolutely. Now, every time you watch this, obviously there's so much more to pick up on. This has been an absolute delight and treat for me to to revisit this, but let's see how both of you fare and a little bit of factor fiction. Number one, the final draft of the screenplay describes Melanie Daniels as, you know, mid-twenties and Annie Hayworth as 32. Uh now, ironically, during filming in 1962, Tippy Hedron was 32, and Suzanne Plaschette, who plays Annie, is 25. Oh, I'm going fact. I f I feel like they re reflect those ages. I don't know. I don't I feel like I look my age, so I'm just gonna say fiction. Well, this is absolutely a fact. Uh Tippy Hedron was indeed older than Annie, but there's actually a lot of controversy surrounding this because this is her first film ever. Her screen debut in a feature film, and her age was actually lied about in the beginning because it was unpopular for older women to have starring roles. Gotta love that real trash stuff we used to do. I know, right? Yeah. We actually still do that quite a bit. That's why you see older male actors with beautiful young wives in movies. Now keeping up with Tippi Hedrin, Tippi Hedron actually wore the green suit in this film to her audition. That would be awesome. Fact.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:00

Honestly, she seems like this character seems like this is actually her as a person. I feel like it would be a fact. Although it seems unlikely, I think that they would probably pick something really specific for this, considering how detail-oriented Hitchcock was.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:14

So what's your answer? Oh, fact. Oh, it's fiction. Uh, 100% made up. She has that same suit throughout the film, obviously, but she was provided six identical suits for the shoot. I love that. I could go for one, honestly. We all have one. And number three, you may remember that the school children running away from the schoolhouse and the birds in that film resulted in a few people actually falling. Well, when the children were actually running on treadmills on the sound stage at Universal Studios, some of them actually did fall. Oh, fact. Feels right. Feels like a fact. It absolutely is a fact. Some of them fell in the front, and then it made even more of them fall in the back. I love that. It actually took a few days to film that and get it right. And Ryan, as you were talking earlier about all the birds in this movie, the birds that were used were hen puppets, mechanical, and a couple trained live birds in that scene. Classic. They did it well. Number four, Suzanne Plichette, who played Annie again, actually tackled Alfred Hitchcock during production.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:20

I doubt someone would do that, but I don't know, maybe they would. I don't know. Uh, but I'm gonna say fiction.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:25

I'm also gonna go fiction. It feels like a bit of a stretch. Although, would she just make this up?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:30

Hmm, yeah. Well, it is actually a fact. So Alfred Hitchcock would make a bunch of double entendres and jokes on set, which kind of annoyed the shit out of everybody. So Suzanne Plachette actually asked about uh if she could add a line, and he said, You mean sweet Adeline? Like the name? And so she uh she actually ended up tackling him and said, if you continue this, you're gonna pay the price. And apparently people were like shitting bricks when they saw her actually do it. Oh my gosh, I can't imagine. Wow. Does this or does this not make you love her even more? It does.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:04

All the women in this film. Well, not all of them. Some of the women in this film, very lovely.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:09

Alright, well, wrapping things up here with number five. In the end, uh when Melanie is carried outside, Mitch opens a door. This was one of few shots filmed on location and took 37 takes because of the clouds changing lighting conditions.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:22

Um, I don't know. I it feels like a fiction to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:25

I'm gonna say fact. Oh, this is absolutely fiction. There was no door even there in filming. Uh, it was all done with light effects to make it look as if he opened a front door. Gotta love that. Love it.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:37

Faking a front door.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:38

Well, there you have it, folks. That has been factor fiction, and ultimately, the birds from 1963, a Alfred Hitchcock classic, has earned two slashes and one hack. There's a lot to talk about here. There are way more technical nuggets to unpack about this film, and we want to hear what you think. We want to hear about your connection and what place this movie has in your life. Keep in mind there are a number of ways you can reach out to us, starting with our website, hackerslash.com.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:03

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SPEAKER_04 1:05:07

And if you are Puerto Rican or have had birds growing up, you can reach out to our Hackerslash Hotline. You can leave us a voicemail at 757-606-0128, or visit hackerslash.com slash contact to send us an audio message.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:20

And if you would like to tell us any um weird animals that you had as pets, um, you can send us an email to feedback at hackerslash.com.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:29

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SPEAKER_01 1:05:38

We'll see you next time, folks. And remember, it is mankind who insists upon making it difficult for life to exist upon this planet. Bye.