MovieChat Forums > Dead Birds (2005) Discussion > Is this the creepiest movie ever made?

Is this the creepiest movie ever made?

posted 16 years ago by alanake
41 replies | jump to latest

I mean, it's not just slightly creepy, is it? It's very, very creepy. It's the creepiest thing I've ever seen in my life. It makes my skin crawl. I've seen it loads of times, it gets even creepier the more I see it, somehow.

I'm wracking my brains trying to think of stuff that's creepier and I can't do it. The Grudge was pretty creepy first time round but stank on a second viewing. Below was slightly creepy. KM31 from Mexico was creepy in places, here and there. But Dead Birds, jeez, that creeps right to its bitter, creepy end.

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[–] deathboy68 16 years ago

This movie had the same feel to it as another very similar film made years before called Scarecrows. Both films manage to maintain an undercurrent of dread and unease throughout the entire story. Maybe it's because I live in an area where you don't have to travel too far to see houses set far back into the countryside surrounded by corn. I always wonder just who the hell are the people who live there; what are they doing and what are they like? What if there isn't anyone in those houses at all? It gives me the shivers when I start thinking like that. The lonely house in the middle of the corn will always be a haunting image to me. Check out Scarecrows and see if you don't enjoy it at well.

[–] kilaude 16 years ago

This movie is very good, and I seriously, honestly, cannot understand the 5.7 rating. It's at least a 7, please.

[–] DonkeyCorleone 16 years ago

It is indeed a quality film with a great creep factor. The historical settings adds greatly to it as well. Very underrated.

[–] JimsomWeed 16 years ago

totally agree, add the general uncomfortablness of a hot souther summer's day and i just cant watch this movie with out writhing and wanting to take a shower afterwards.

"I am big, it's the pictures that got small"- Norma Desmond

[–] lastmidnite2 16 years ago

It's so funny how kids today consider something as lame as this to be so "creepy" lol. If they could just allow themselves to watch some of the (God forbid!) black and white horrors of the 30's 40's 50's and even the 60's (especially some of the excellent Italian horrors of Mario Bava), the creepiness of THOSE films puts this thing in the basement!

[–] awsum_ginger 16 years ago

I love old horror movies and Bava films (like Blood and Black Lace, Shock, Black Sabbath) AND still appreciate this movie. It's a combination of the atmosphere and the historical setting that make it unique. It's pretty creepy, but creepiest ever? Probably not. Still it's under-rated and worth a watch.

[–] cryocore 16 years ago

Kids?

Im 32 and consider myself to be a horror geek. I really enjoyed this film, and agree that is infact very creepy.

So how about you get of your high horse, and stop being such a pompous ass.

I agree that there a lot of great older films, but to say that the 30-60s had a better grasp on dread is stretching things more than a little. Apart from Vampyr, Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, The Golem, and a few others most of the horror films from that era are VERY cheesy, and not all that scary.

The truly creepy films (imho) are from the 70s and early 80s (and very few American films amoung them). As much as I love Bava and Argento, they too fall into the cheesy zone on more than a few occasions (although no-one has ever done psycodelic horror like Dario, and very few can come close to the oppressive tone that Mario created in some of his films).

Do I have to point out that enjoying a film is purely subjective? There are many horror films out there that I hate, but if someone like them who am I to judge (please realise this is a new thing for me as I used to lambast anyone who disagreed with me up until recently).

As for creepy films personally I think the Eurpoeans and Asians have that area covered so far this century, with almost all of my fave horror films from the last 10 years coming from either France, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Korea, or Germany.

While there are a huge number of terrible horror fils coming out of late Dead Birds is not one of them. As an indy film I have the utmost respect for it, and for what it manages to do. This alond with Dead End, and Shallow Ground are a few examples of really affective indy horror.

We have such sights to show you.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] cryocore 16 years ago

This from a person who apparently enjoyed the Shutter remake? hmmn... be careful the pedistal seems to be precariously perched.

We have such sights to show you.

[–] lukejbarnett2002 9 years ago

what about peeping tom then or freaks then? or night of the living dead then? those are all amazing horror films that are as scary as pretty much any film ever made. oh, don't you also love the great films of lucio fulci?

[–] gothor 15 years ago

Tell us about the war, grandpa. :)

!

[–] lastmidnite2 15 years ago

hmmmmm, multiple posts about Kick Ass. 'Nuff said.

[–] gothor 15 years ago

That wasn't very informative. I'm beginning to think you're a cyberstalking troll who only pretends to be an ancient curmudgeon. Real grandfathers know about the war!

Faux-cadaverous snoops aside, I thought this film was very creepy. Good atmosphere, sort of a chaotic vibe to the proceedings, so you're never really sure what's going to happen next (much like Phantasm or Evil Dead). What I liked most were the original monsters. The "skin dogs" weren't your standard vampires, wolfmen or other cliche European monsters. They were something new, so you didn't know what to expect from them.

Dead Birds reminds me of Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons From Hell", first published May 1938, in Weird Tales magazine. (Which is still being published today.) Anyone who enjoyed this movie should definitely check it out.

!

[–] mandrax_numbdivizion 16 years ago

indeed the the historical settings was awesome and not to forget the eerie sound fx made this one complete. more of this in the future pls.

[–] jmsholt7 10 years ago

I loved Scarecrows! I watched this movie as a kid; never knew the title until a few years ago. I went on a bender and spent a lot of time looking on the internet for some of these movies that left little parts of themselves imbedded in my brain. Weird how some of these movies stick in your psyche for so long. A few other movies with huge creepiness factors: Prince of Darkness, Sentinel, One Dark Night, and oddly enough the Aussie TV movie Fortress. Loved all of these.

[–] kmartin173 16 years ago

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen that has that extra something that really is scary. Event Horizon and Session 9 have a similar feel IMO.

[–] Knewsense78 16 years ago

I really did enjoy Dead Birds but, as far as creepy movies go, the creepiest movie I would have to say that I've ever seen is 1962's CARNIVAL OF SOULS. That just has to be one of the creepiest movies ever made.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] angelfacekillah 16 years ago

It wasn't the creepiest thing ever, but it was weird and definitely had really scary scenes. I wish more movies were like this!

paul rudd is the best actor ever.

[–] necrosadist 16 years ago

I personally think it's the location and storm that has the creepy-factor effect thing happening. Especially the storm.
Take away those two things and it's all gone.

_______________________________________
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law"

[–] NancyLarned 15 years ago

I haven't seen this movie but I am a horror geek and I am quite sure this is not the creepiest thing out there. I mean, really! Try The Changeling (1980), The Innocents (early 60's), The Others (2001), The Sixth Sense (1999), etc....

[–] superman1 15 years ago

I have yet to see this, in a few days, but I was reminded of Cookers
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233481/
Had the odd rare genuine creepiness, though wore on me with its monotony by the end.

- There's not enough room in this world for the 7 billion of us.

[–] linas-morkunas 14 years ago

this movie is very atmospheric and moody, but as far as creepines goes, no one beats original Shutter for me - I could barely make through that flick, although I consider myself having strong nerves. Pretty mych every japanese/asian horror flick oozes with creepines. Out of american ones, Shining was done very well and had that Kubrick-esque made weird and uneasy atmosphere. Dead Birds is one of the best of the last decade, but surely not the best.

[–] Xcalat3 15 years ago

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] fc_edv 14 years ago

I haven't seen Phantasm, dead birds or evil speak yet, but Prince of Darkness is creepy as hell!

[–] Woodyanders 15 years ago

The creepy mood and potent sense of dread and unease really made this movie something special. I love the extremely spooky and unsettling atmosphere.

"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"

[–] mamaspank 15 years ago

I thought this movie sucked. It's a shame to have a great cast and no script, effects, or good story backing it. I don't know the next time I will receive a good scare since just a couple nights ago I watched the creepiest movie I had seen since "The Descent." It was "Session 9" and I actually had to pause it several times and Google some vacation destinations and Facebook just to get unfreaked. Loved it! I also watched "Poltergeist" for the first time, which is strange that I had never seen it, but I have also managed to avoid getting roped into "Top Gun" my whole life as well -- I'm almost 30. Poltergeist made me cry, not because of any fear factor, but because I really bought into the story and have a child of my own and the whole thing with the girl in between the two worlds without her parents scared me. I loved the trip down '80s memory lane though.

[–] alanake 15 years ago

Session 9 is a great little movie, I agree. It's a proper character-based thing with hardly any shocks but has excellent acting and a truly eerie setting, the old mental hospital. Very tense in places.

But Dead Birds out-creeps it in my view, that's all. When I watch Dead Birds I can feel my skin crawling like there are spiders walking up the back of my neck to hide in my hair.