Review of Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010) by Rob R — 08 Apr 2010

Having watched a number of no-budget, no-plot flicks over the past two or three years, I feel I can say that the greatest crime of a shit film is to be boring. Birdemic is many things, but it's not boring - at least not for the first 55 minutes.

The first 40-45 minutes shows us with excruciating, yet often laughably interesting, detail the romance of a computer fella and a model. Highights certainly include the date round a pumpkin festival and a 2.5min documentation of a journey to work, including filling a car tank with petrol.

This may be a good point to mention that Whitney Moore (the model) is quite a diamond in this rough (aesthetically) and she really did save quite a few moments when a less attractive person would have maintained a veneer of shit.

Unfortunately when the birds start attacking, it gets a bit boring. The start of the attack is great, because it's pretty much unheralded (especially if you follow common sense and assume that the numerous climate change weather reports we're shown couldn't possibly have anything to do with a load of eagles attacking people) and, erm, the birds dive with the sound of kamikaze planes and a similar explosion.

You've seen the CGI birds, they're awful. But more of a crime is the cack handed preaching of climate change. Our hero takes the Cheng Model on a double date to see An Inconvient Truth, and that's the most subtle reference to humans destroying the world.

A film certainly in the camp of so bad it's good, and if you make it through the first 45 minutes of nothing happening, then you'll appreciate this.