Main Cast: Brad Johnson, Chelsea Field, Tippi Hedren, Jan Rubes, James Naughton
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
Produced for cable TV, this feeble follow-up to the classic Hitchcock thriller transfers the avian carnage from Bodega Bay to the New England fishing town of Land's End, where a young couple and their two daughters are besieged by squadrons of malicious gulls and their assorted winged cousins. Despite some opening scenes suggesting an actual motivation for the bird attacks -- something Hitchcock left eerily ambiguous -- there is little variation on the formula, which overstays its welcome long before the lackluster climax (which owes more to The Killer Shrews than to The Birds); the pointless proceedings are further bogged down by a dreary adultery subplot. Even the presence of Tippi Hedren fails to provide even a slightly clever nod to the original, as she is wasted in a minor role as the proprietor of a local diner who has her own theories about the cause of the bird attacks. Direction was credited to standard DGA pseudonym Alan Smithee when Rick Rosenthal withdrew his name from the final cut. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
The plot of the sequel is very similar to the original. Biology teacher Ted, his wife, and children move to a summer house on an island after the death of their son. While there, flocks of birds start attacking individuals for no apparent reason. The town mayor denies the birds' role in the injuries, but is forced to believe after further incidents of violence by the birds.
Tippi Hedren is quoted as saying she accepted to play in the sequel, which she knew would be inferior to the original, out of spite for Alfred Hitchcock with whom she had a disastrous relationship on the set of the first film.
The TV-film received widely negative reviews and was criticized by many critics. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly slated the production,[1] especially criticizing the writing and acting, saying: "The actors in Birds II have little to do except widen their eyes in terror, and even that seems a daunting stretch for Johnson." He also commented on the fact that it was an Alan Smithee film, the pseudonym used when a director wants to disown the final film, writing "...but the poster and cassette box that Showtime sent along with the review tape clearly state that Rick Rosenthal directed Birds II", before adding "He has good reasons to want his name erased from it. If it were me, I'd sue."
Many other reviews were in the same vein, The New York Times calling the film "feeble." The film also received a score of 2.6 out of 10 on Imdb.[2] Film fans have also criticized the film.
