Movie review - "The Birds" (1963) ****1/2

An absolute masterpiece from a master artist at the top of his game. Funny, terrifying, always gripping, it has become a deserved classic, the last Hitchcock movie undeniably to have this status. The special effects, photography and design are excellent, as are the performances (Jessica Tandy makes a slightly creepy yet sympathetic mother). It does lack the psychological depth of a film like Psycho – so what? On the film’s simplest, purest level – birds attacking humans – it is brilliant. I watched this after Torn Curtain and some late period Hitchcock’s; the difference was remarkable. The Birds is full of energy and imagination totally lacking his later films; it’s like after Marnie he gave up.