The Birds: Critic Reviews

83%

MovieWeb: 1 reviews

95%

RottenTomatoes: 41 reviews

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Bosley Crowther New York Times (Top Critic)

80

Mr. Hitchcock and his associates have constructed a horror film that should raise the hackles of the most courageous and put goose-pimples on the toughest hide.
Full Review » 12 years ago
Dave Kehr Chicago Reader (Top Critic)

Alfred Hitchcock's most abstract film (1963), and perhaps his subtlest, still yielding new meanings and inflections after a dozen or more viewings.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Variety Staff Variety (Top Critic)

Beneath all of this elaborate feather bedlam lies a Hitch cock-and-bull story that's essentially a fowl ball.
Full Review » 5 years ago
TIME Magazine (Top Critic)

The movie flaps to a plotless end.
Full Review » 4 years ago
Joyce Slaton Common Sense Media

80

Classic Hitchcock horror film still gives the chills.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Scott Nash Three Movie Buffs

88

The only thing dated is the special effects. The suspense holds up very well.
Full Review » 2 years ago
Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com

100

Although not as horrifically shocking as "Psycho," "The Birds" is a more sophisticated film, and represents a high watermark in the prolific career of a true maestro of cinema.
Full Review » 3 years ago
Dennis Schwartz Ozus' World Movie Reviews

75

Perhaps only a director of Hitchcock's caliber can make such a fowl story fly.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

80

Feels like it was made by a brilliant filmmaker who simply felt challenged by the enormity of the task. In that regard, it's close to 100 percent successful.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Film4

Maybe not quite the pinnacle of Hitchcock's career but definitely in the top five.
Full Review » 5 years ago
TV Guide's Movie Guide

100

Hailed as one of Hitchcock's masterpieces by some and despised by others, The Birds is certainly among the director's more complex and fascinating works.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Kim Newman Empire Magazine

80

Genuinely disturbing thriller classic from the master of suspense.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television

Inventive classic.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Tom Milne Time Out

It's fierce and Freudian as well as great cinematic fun, with ample fodder for the amateur psychologist following up on Hitch's tortuous involvement with his leading ladies.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid

100

This masterpiece is one of Hitchcock's purest forays into cinema; it's such a complete piece that it even gets by with two mediocre actors.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Rob Vaux Flipside Movie Emporium

60

Mediocre as melodrama, but the signature avian attacks are without equal.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Matt Bailey Not Coming to a Theater Near You

What sets The Birds apart from the other films in Hitchcock's incredible ten-year run between 1954 and 1964 is its remarkable chilliness.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Gregory Weinkauf UberCine

80

Still a dream come true after you've met enough Californians.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Steve Crum Video-Reviewmaster.com

100

Technically, the best Hitchcock ever...and one of the most nail-biting.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com

100

Underestimated at the time, this is Hitchcok's last undisputed masterpiece, and a more complex film than Psycho
Full Review » 7 years ago
Michael H. Price Fort Worth Business Press

60

More novelty than spectacle, but overall a chilling exercise in nihilistic terror.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Susan Granger www.susangranger.com

100

Full Review » 7 years ago
Christopher Null Filmcritic.com

90

The Birds is most notable though for turning something completely harmless into an incredible menace -- all with absolutely no explanation.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Thomas Delapa Boulder Weekly

100

Full Review » 8 years ago
Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal

100

Full Review » 8 years ago