Ok, so I’d been putting this one off for a while. It has a reputation! Sometimes these reputations lead to disappointments, particularly when it comes to cult films. And this one is right up there with respect to having a reputation! Was I about to be disappointed by this notorious “so bad it’s good” experience? Well I’m delighted to say that I loved every minute of this production from its angled car windscreen opening through to its static birds on the horizon ending.
Birdemic: Shock & Terror was made in 2010 by self-proclaimed visionary James Nguyen. This film has extremely low ratings and review scores everywhere you look. It is by any measure an inept production. The audio is terrible and sounds like it was recorded on nearby mobile phones. The visuals are flat. The script could have been written by my dog. The performances are earnest at best. The special effects practically scream to have the word “special” removed from that description. However, it is also the perfect combination of all these ingredients to create something akin to a cult masterpiece. I’ve read plenty of rumours that James Nguyen deliberately set out to make the film this bad in order to gain a cult following. I find this extremely hard to believe. This kind of magic only happens by some unexpected alchemical reaction to everything happening. If I’m wrong, then he’s some kind of genius!
As the title suggests, the plot involves birds attacking people. If you’re thinking “wait a minute, didn’t Hitchcock do this already and it was rather good?”, then you’d certainly be excused. James Nguyen clearly had different ideas and thought there was much more to say about this entirely plausible apocalyptic scenario. Watching the opening half of the film you’ll begin to pick up on the subtle environmental messages. That is, if by subtle we mean something akin to a person riding an elephant through a street shouting through a megaphone and dragging a flashing billboard behind it saying “the environment is important”. We know the environment is important of course, but just in case there was any doubt, we’re going to keep hearing this before the bird onslaught begins.
Once that onslaught begins, there is no time for the science (aside from an on-brand strange scene involving a random scientist wandering around a pond doing, you know, science stuff). We’re into the action now and what action it is! We have eagles. We have vultures. And, well, that’s about it. But they dive bomb like WW2 aircraft, with sound effects to match. It’s great. There are coat hangers used as tactical weapons against these dive-bombing birds. It’s hard to imagine a film packed with more life lessons designed to get you killed as soon as you’ve walked out of your front door.
If the bird-on-human action isn’t enough to keep you entertained, then we have the character development. Our lead male actor is a technical sales person who seems to be some sort of sales guru able to close a million dollar deal on the phone. Almost as soon as this is done, boom, he’s sold the company for even more millions. And he increasingly cares about the environment. What a guy! Our lead actress is a model, but not just any model. She’s a lingerie model and our male hero recognises talent when he sees it by helpfully commenting that she’d look beautiful in lingerie. You can feel the electricity practically buzzing through the air.
I could spend many hours discussing scenes from this film. It’s a gift that keeps on giving and challenges you to at least have an opinion about its existence one way or another. This has my highest possible recommendation.
