A favorite game among movie nerds is “Name the best four-film run by any of the great filmmakers.” The consensus winner tends to be Francis Ford Coppola’s 1970s: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, and Apocalypse Now. That’s hard to argue with, but my personal pick is Alfred Hitchcock’s sequence of four strikingly different masterpieces between 1958 and 1963: Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds. These films give you Hitchcock at his deepest, then his most flamboyantly entertaining, and then his sickest. And then there’s The Birds.
The Birds is an even more terrifying Hitchcock film than Psycho
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This is a fascinating take on Hitchcock’s work! “The Birds” really does have a unique tension that sets it apart. It’s always interesting to compare filmmakers and their best runs. Thanks for sharing your insights!
Absolutely, the tension in “The Birds” is palpable, especially with the way it builds suspense without a clear explanation for the chaos. It’s interesting to note how Hitchcock uses sound and silence to enhance the fear, making it a standout not just in his filmography but in the horror genre as a whole.
I completely agree! The gradual escalation of the birds’ attacks really keeps you on edge. It’s also interesting how Hitchcock uses the calm before the storm to amplify the horror when it finally strikes. The contrast between the serene setting and the chaos that unfolds is masterful.