Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Sadly Over-hyped

Fantastic!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Dead Birds: Directed by Alex Turner. Written by Simon Barrett.This movie was a suggestion from a filmmaking friend of mine. Thank you Marcus Kempton. The writer of this film has become partnered recently with filmmaker Adam Wingard who made You're Next, The Guest and the awful Death Note film. This has quite the cast in it especially the fact that most went on to do great things. It is about a group of bandits who steal gold and hole away in an abandoned plantation. This is when things get crazy and weird in a good way. First things first, the production design in this movie is superb. It looks and feels like the time of the Civil War. It was beautifully done. The creature effects are really good and generally unnerving to look at. The acting is excellent across the board. All the actors play their parts well and I felt like they were stuck in this insane situation that kept getting worse. The issue I had with the movie is everything attempting to make the film scary was routine. It had the requisite jump scares. You knew when they were coming and how. You could predict most of the plot down to the minute they were about to do the reveal. Sometimes this isn't such a bad thing. It's all in how the filmmaker handles it. This filmmaker was given a golden opportunity that was a bit squandered. It had moments that were hokey and the horror elements felt out of place until the ending when things were ramped up tenfold. It had an ending that was suppose to shock but honestly doesn't. It is an interesting solid little movie. I give the movie a C.

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/

Story Synopsis: Fairhope, Alabama in the year 1863. A group of army deserters rob a bank, causing a bloodbath that takes the lives of several people, including a young child. Fleeing from the authorities, the gang decide to take refuge at an abandoned farmhouse that was recommended by a now-dead soldier. As they stay in for the night, a mysterious & malevolent ghostly presence begins to pick off the robbers one by one. With tensions in the group rising, the remaining robbers must battle not only the demonic entities but their own prejudices in order to survive.Film Analysis: If you ever wondered what on Earth happened to child star Henry Thomas, star of E.T. – The Extraterrestrial, consider your question well & truly answered. His return to the film industry after a long hiatus should have been celebrated, given his iconic status.Dead Birds is a ghost story set during the American Civil War (for international readers who don't know, this war occurred when the USA split in two over a dispute stemming from the US government's attempts to abolish slavery), where the heroes of the piece are a band of army deserters (& a nurse) decide to improve their lot by robbing a bank & fleeing to Mexico with the loot. If only they decided to change their transit hideout instead of staying at a haunted farmhouse…The film, despite a creepy opening credits sequence, never takes the viewer by the throat – instead opting for a relatively subtle atmospheric approach. This should have worked well with this film were it not for the fact that the script needed some revising. Until the climax arrives, all we get are a bunch of ghostly apparitions (with some pointless CGI work done to their faces that looks very silly) & the gang's mistrust of each other leading to their downfall.The reason behind the ghostly phenomena is not explained until you reach the very end & even then you don't get the full picture. Instead you start to put the pieces together after the film ends, with each piece of information making sense once you re-watch the film (the human-looking scarecrow, the footprints that change shape, the demonic ghost children). The only part that doesn't fit is the skinned creature that appears when the bandits reach the farmhouse. As it is, the film doesn't quite fulfil the requirements needed for an entertaining horror film. Dead Birds instead makes an interesting but ultimately pointless haunted house tale.On the acting front, everyone gives a serviceable performance. Henry Thomas, despite being forever associated with his iconic role as Elliot in E.T., actually makes a good actor in his adulthood, even if he is never given much room to work in.

I've just finished watching this movie and now feel like I've woken from a terrible coma. Truly dull. Complete lack of tension and suspense. The only really horrific thing about this is that I won't get back the one and a half hours spent watching it to do something more interesting like the washing up.The film apparently had a large budget (1.5 mil). Do not be fooled. This money must've been spent on the catering.Avoid.If you must see Dead Birds, go and find some at the side of the road. Watching these for the duration of this movie will give you infinitely more entertainment.