lewiskendell Most of the recent horror movies that I've seen have been so dismal that Dead Birds gets a slightly favorable review just for not being awful, despite the fact that it's not particularly scary.The setting and time period were refreshing and the build-up and pacing of the movie were enjoyable. However, once the full story behind the haunted plantation is revealed, it was disappointingly generic. I only paid about $3 for Dead Birds, and I suppose that it's worth that price and a hour and a half of the average horror fan's life. You won't hate it, but a few months from now you won't really remember what the movie was about.And yes, there was a dead bird in the movie, but what's with the name?

loomis78-815-989034 Set in Alabama at the end of the Civil War, we focus on a group of criminals who turn a bank into a bloodbath as they steal the gold and head for the border and Mexico. Their leader Will (Thomas) decides to stop at an abandoned plantation house for the evening. Making their way through a large cornfield in front of the house a white hairless creature with fangs jumps out of nowhere and delivers the first jump scare of the film before being gunned down. Once at the house, a few of the gang's members are thinking of grabbing the gold and deserting the gang but that is the least of Will's troubles. The house has a sense of dread and dark atmosphere hanging over it from what the former owner (Muse Watson) may have done to his family and his slaves. Voodoo may be at the end of it but the group begins having frightening visions, hearing voices and some of them start turning up missing. This independent feature from Writer Simon Barrett and Director Alex Turner is a high quality horror film. Making the most of an excellent two story house in the middle of nowhere, the house is practically a character in this movie. The rain storm raging outside makes this film's atmosphere top notch, and the creepy sounds and visions this film provides will put any viewer on edge. Don't forget the gore and some of the scariest original creature monsters you've seen in a while and Dead Birds is one creepy Horror film. Director Turner gets a lot of credit for not going overboard with the spooky elements and gore, he sticks to the story and all of it comes off very believable. The only frustrating part of this movie is its back story concerning the former owner and what happened on the property. It's obvious it has everything to do with what is happening to our gang of thieves and why the house is the way it is, but we never really find out why. They're a few flashbacks which show you some great stuff but the film never ties it all together in an understandable fashion. It's a shame but this head scratching over the storyline will be what stops this from becoming a classic. It's still a ton of fun and must view for any horror fan.

bowmanblue By rights 'Deadbirds' shouldn't be anything special and, in some ways, it isn't. However, it is just about better than 90% of the other horror B-movies out there.It doesn't have much of a budget (and I don't recognise a single cast-member from anything else!), but it does make the best of a decently creepy location, as we follow a gang of bank robbers in post civil war America, as they take refuge in an abandoned farm house before they get ready to divvy up the loot and go their separate ways. Naturally, they get more than they bargained for, as surviving the night becomes increasingly difficult. They soon find there's a particularly nasty presence already there and it's not going to let them off lightly.It's dark and broody and the acting (for what's needed) is decent enough. If you're not a fan of horror films then this one probably isn't good enough to win you over. However, if you're a fan f creepy little monster movies then you may just want to watch this one. It's one of those films that's definitely better value if you haven't paid to watch it. Rent or see it on TV before you buy.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

oneguyrambling This has such a basic plot that I'll knock it off straight away so I can spend more time on why this sucks.After some rogue soldiers from the 1800s (1863 so we're told), rob and slaughter some Southern soldiers depositing some cizzash in the local bank. This is the best scene in the movie, although unfortunately it really has next to nothing to do with the rest of the film and takes only 5 minutes. It is quite violent and has a couple of good gory effects.The best part of the 1800s? Crazy facial hair, it seems most of the extras in the town were chosen based upon the length and complexity of their face fuzz, after this scene though none of the primary characters rock much more than carefully trimmed stubble.Right, so the bad guys, 5 guys and one babe go on the run to Mexico, only night falls and they decide to stop off at an abandoned house on the edge of a cornfield. As they are coming to the edge of the cornfield something happens that I still don't really get, they are rushed by a… thing, and one of the guys uses lightning reflexes to blow it away.(Best as I can explain it looks like a smaller version of the Alien : Ripley baby from Alien Resurrection.) The rest of the movie is set over the ensuing night in the old house, and it is so horror cliché that I won't bother explaining it.After this finished I thought that it was an 1800s poor man's version of Event Horizon, a crew are trapped in a confined space, and the scariness that ensues sorta makes them turn on each other.Now a couple days later I think it is more like an alternate version of The Descent, where the first half is an unsettling caving trip gone wrong, but the second half is almost totally different, like a monster movie. Only the first half of Dead Birds is ordinary and the second half totally blows.When you finally learn what the hell just happened it does make sense in a nonsensical way, but you won't care because it is so poorly executed.I thought everything and everyone looked a little too clean in the opening town scene, you know, a clean neck and some strategic streaks of dirt on one cheek. That was a concern, if the filmmaker decides not to bother with an authentic look, maybe they'll be lazy in building suspense and delivering shocks, and let boring horror movie clichés do all the work for them, and they're all here; - A Flashback/Delusion/Dream, call it what you will, is the scariest part of the movie.People jump at shadows and all scares are comprised of something jumping towards camera accompanied by a loud music stab.Someone is missing, let's spread out and look.It is now maybe two nights since I watched Dead Birds, usually I have some scrawled notes with maybe a half page of points and reminders, and I let my memory do the rest, in this case I already can't remember the last two thirds of the film.Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. It's just not that good.If you liked this (or even if you didn't) check out oneguyrambling.com