Obviously inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s classic tale, Birds, Birdemic: Shock and Terror follows the story of a small California town being terrorized by birds. In a twist of epic proportions, Half Moon Bay, California is not facing the threat of any old flock of birds, they are forced to deal with a hoard of mutated birds that pose a threat greater than anything the town has seen before. Through all of this, Rod (Alan Bagh) has just met a woman, Nathalie (Whitney Moore), and the two have hit it off. Their new found romance will immediately be put to the test. Can they (and their love) survive the catastrophe plaguing their town?
It becomes very clear within the first few minutes that Birdemic: Shock and Terror will be a terribly scripted, terribly paced and horribly filmed piece of art. Not long after this audiences become aware of the fact that Birdemic: Shock and Terror is not meant to be taken seriously. I cannot stress enough: DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM WITH EXPECTATIONS OF ANY KIND! The dialogue is laughable from the first words spoken until the end of the film. It’s not often that a film is capable of making me laugh from beginning to end, however, Birdemic: Shock and Terror is able to do just that. I laughed out loud at the ridiculous acting, writer-director James Ngyuen’s inability to really attract audiences to his film and the fact that everything in the film is hyperbole.
There are some romantically driven scenes that border on awkward as the actors possess little chemistry in bed and very clearly struggle to express themselves in an appropriate way. Furthermore, these scenes are drawn out (as are many of the scenes), forcing audiences to essentially stare at the couples while they make out with one another. The awkwardness of these scenes make the film even more difficult to watch as the film is very intimate and personal. Audiences often feel less like they are watching a feature length film and more of a home movie. As if the film is not already bad enough, the uncomfortable sexual encounters make the film nearly impossible to watch at times.
There is a speech toward the end of the film that has Dr. Jones (Rick Camp) explain, with great detail, what global warming is doing to the world. This, even with everything else, is the worst part of the film. Birdemic: Shock and Terror becomes temporarily political and attempts to give audiences some sort of direction in regards to politics. All in all, the film is already bad, so, this speech doesn’t necessarily ruin Nguyen’s project.
The dialogue: trash! The acting: laughable! The filming: the worst I have ever seen! Birdemic: Shock and Terror, a film that Nguyen worked on for more than four years, has little to no direction, the story ultimately changes half a dozen times and the CGI birds look like something from clip art in the ‘90’s. I imagine that being associated with this film in any way is embarrassing as it showcases everyone’s worst flaws. Interestingly enough, however, Birdemic: Shock and Terror is brilliant. It does not evoke emotion or educate audiences, nothing about it is scary, but the fact that Nguyen, Bagh and Moore are able to create such an ironically good film does provide some relief for the cast and crew. The phrase “so bad it’s good” was coined for films like this. Birdemic: Shock and Terror is the film you will love to hate and hate to love.
Written & Directed by James Nguyen. Starring Alan Bagh, Whitney Moore, Tippi Hedren, Janae Caster, Colton Osborne, etc..
⭐⭐⭐½/10
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