Dead Birds (2005)

DVD

Dead Birds is a western/horror movie that never hits a false note. Directed so assuredly by Alex Turner, I love that he was able to make me forget that I was watching actors in a movie. I abandoned every one of those thoughts and just got caught up within the story. The fact that when I saw Henry Thomas, and was able to get passed the whole, Hey that's Elliot" phase, and just see him for who he was in the context of this film, was when I realized what a strong movie I was watching. And it isn't just Henry Thomas. Patrick Fugit, Isiah Washington all the players turn in very credible performances in this mixed genre film.

Opening with a bank robbery, Thomas and his band of outlaws make off with a bundle of gold and decamp in a deserted house. Nightfall comes, a thunderstorm is booming and the robbers are each individually contacted by visions of what happened in the house. It soon becomes apparent that this place is very haunted, and they are unable to separate their thoughts from reality. As you can guess, everybody turns on everybody, making for an exciting and somewhat surprising conclusion to this well told horror film.

On the surface, this movie probably seems very by the numbers. There are elements from many other stories at work here, but this movie is so well made, so completely believable in what it is trying to get across that I am able to overlook the feeling that "Yes, I have seen a lot of this before." The thing is, I feel that this movie takes that idea and expands on it. By combining the genres and stories of several different films, it creates almost a new medium. A new way to tell this time told story of greed, fear and paranoia all in one location.

Dead Birds is a movie that should be celebrated on DVD. I hope that it can gain a groundswell, a cult following or something of that nature because this is a film that people should see. I know that a lot of younger students of the movies will get a lot from this film. Also since there are a decent amount of extras, they will have an opportunity to engage themselves within the storytelling process too.

2 Commentary Tracks with the Director, Writer and the Cast
These tracks are broken up only by the mere fact that director Alex Turner tackles one of these commentary tracks all by himself. I found what the the people had to say to be very interesting, but as usual I found that I liked parts of each track for different reasons. When you get a group together, it just seems like the people doing the commentaries are going to have more fun. There isn't such a need to be serious. When it's just the director, he gets a bit more personal and sometimes this is enjoyable and other times it isn't. I liked these tracks, it was nice to get the takes on the material that I got, I just sometimes think that the less I find out about a movie(especially a horror movie) after I watch it, the better.

Making of "Dead Birds" Featurette
What a nice comprehensive look at the making of this film. Usually, these types of things just give you a glimpse as the production is being made. This movie does it in such a way that you go from the beginning, from preproduction, all the way through the making of the movie. I like these types of "making of" pieces because I feel that it gives a highly comprehensive look into the process. There is something about seeing a movie getting made that is just imminently interesting. I can't explain why but out of all the "extras" on the DVD, I find the inside looks at the making of the movies(without the usual pandering by the actors, directors, producers, etc...) to really be some of my favorite stuff to watch.

Deleted Scenes with Director Commentary
I skimmed around on these mostly mainly because I don't have a strong proclivity towards deleted scenes. Sure, it depends on the movie that I am seeing, but I just find that on the whole, I don't really like to watch them. The movie was shot, it was cut in a certain way and seeing the parts that didn't make it really don't interest me. In fact, many times I find that this can hurt a movie because if I know what was cut out, I think about that when I screen the movie again. These were interesting pieces, all done well with Turner's highly stylized vision, I just didn't really see them as that necessary.

Dead Birds was a surprising piece of horror. An old west tale with a new west , horror touch. In almost every way I found this movie to work. From the acting, to the FX this movie makes great use of all these elements, to concoct a tale that while it's familiar, rings true along the lines of a Jeepers Creepers. While some people may not think that there is any truth to movies of that sort, I think that if I can watch a movie like Dead Birds and be is engaged and interested as I was, that is all the reality I need.

Dead Birds is a highly stylized, well-made horror movie that seems to announce the arrival of director Alex Turner. In fact, I was so impressed with how he handled this multi-genre film, that it seems apparent that if given the material, he might be just be able to work in any genre. So not only has he made a good throwback film but he is a directing throwback himself.