MovieChat Forums > Dead Birds (2005) Discussion > Reason why movies like this don't comple...

Reason why movies like this don't completely work

posted 19 years ago by lailedudragon
20 replies | jump to latest

This is my opinion on why 'Dead Birds' and other movies with ambiguous twists end up disappointing. A good twist at the end of a movie means that everything will click into place in any viewer's mind who has been paying attention throughout the movie. It generally lifts the movie to another level (e.g The Sixth Sense, Memento etc). But the most important thing about them is that they are clear and concise and explain more about what has transpired than we understood before. A movie like 'Dead Birds' oozes atmosphere and contains genuine scares but they are somewhat muted because of the fact that the average viewer spends alot of time wondering what the hell is going on exactly...and then at the end instead of explaining what has transpired the twist simply confuses more. Now, no doubt that many viewers will claim to have fully understood what happened but the fact remains (and the amount of posts asking for explanations proves this) that the average movie watcher was confused by the end. In my opinion a twist shouldn't have to be explained. The movie should have set it up during it's run time. If when it's revealed a twist makes no sense and requires us to jump to conclusions it has partly failed(e.g what happened to Isiah Washington's character, why do the demons eat the horses but possess the people, and were they demons all along as soon as they entered the house?)...all these questions people will have answers to but in my opinion the movie should make it clear, not rely on people's interpretation to get there. Anyway, that's my two cents worth, thanx to anyone who bothered to read this long thing. Any different opinions welcome.

[–] damaren 19 years ago

You're absolutely right, hell, I couldn't agree more. Yet the film has this incredible feel of genuine fear, anguish, it somehow achieves a bit of greatness through its atmospherics. It's only a shame that the great idea the movie builds itself upon is totally muddled in the end and the plot isn't totally clear... Great post, btw

[–] jmbwithcats 19 years ago

oh I agree completely. what happened to Todd? what caused the people to turn? what happened to the gold?

a lot of plot holes.

www.kittysafe.net May be goin to hell in a bucket baby but at least Im enjoyin the ride

[–] CrimsonKingLives 19 years ago

I was wondering...why were the kids like all screwed up, then there was an actual...um...creature?? oh yea...maybe im just stupid but wtf happened when that dude ran out of the corn and got shot..idk that fu(ken lost me sry

[–] jmbwithcats 19 years ago

That was supposed to be the big twist. I thought it was cool. See they all got mutated by being in the house, they went thru that door without realizing it. It caused them to hallucinate at first then slowly change... then when he dies at the end, we see him in his altered state as the end comes full circle with the beginning.

www.kittysafe.net May be goin to hell in a bucket baby but at least Im enjoyin the ride

[–] sixpaws67 16 years ago

Does this mean Todd is wandering around out there somewhere, not knowing he is a demon? I'm all for a sequel.

[–] songod-95003 9 years ago

Todd is a mystery indeed. But the cause for the people to turn was the ritual the father performed to try and resurrect his wife. Rather than resurrect her (and apparently his children after he sacrificed them, too) they were turned into the demons we see throughout.

The gold vanishing was the work of the demons. They knew the people they wanted to consume\turn would never leave till they found it and they were right. Except for Todd.

Now that may suggest Todd survived. That he made it out because greed did not have a hold on him. Yet he was a thief and a killer; though the latter being the Civil War and he being black, killing two Confederate soldiers was a war killing and not murder, and stealing from the enemy goes without saying. However the others who killed civilians during the robbery were murderers and got what they "deserved".

[–] fool_killer99 17 years ago

To paraphrase that kid from The Matrix, there is no twist. Nothing in this movie could be considered a twist. Todd's peculiar death (while it was obvious that the writer/director had run into a dead end here) wasn't a twist. William's transition into a demon at the end certainly wasn't a twist (they've all been slowly possessed throughout the film).
The average viewer has no problem understanding the movie. The lazy, apathetic viewer who spends half the movie playing with his game boy or flicking through a magazine because he has an attention span of twenty seconds and only likes movies composed entirely of exposition because if there's not an explosion happening on the screen at a given moment, he's not watching will of course have trouble understanding what's going on.
Seriously, the number of threads 'explaining' this movie is disturbing. What do people not get?
Plantation owner obtains book that can bring his dead wife back.
Plantation owner sacrifices slaves to effect said ressuraection.
Plantation owner accidently opens a door that lets a bunch of demons possess his family.
Local town's folk kill plantation owner.
Doorway stays open, effectively 'cursing' the area.
Years later our bank robbers arrive and are gradually possessed/transformed.

It's not complicated!

That's not to say that it's a perfect movie, there are certainly places where it could have been improved.

[–] Wolfbrother1983 10 years ago

This is basically a Lovecraftian horror tale set during Civil War when you break down the plot.

"America isn't ready for a gay, mexican chicken sandwich" - Poultrygeist

[–] ieathyenas 17 years ago

You make a good point, but I disagree. I think it's because people don't need to interpret everything that movies these days are boring, redundant, or a combination of the two. The fact that Dead Birds actually required a bit of thought made it interesting to me...

But here's another thing. While it required thought, I found it to be minimal. Anyone who isn't lacking an attention span would have known what happened at the end of the movie.

[–] vny109-1 17 years ago

Theres clues through the movie that let you know that they are changing. Off the top of my head I can remember the foot prints and the guys reflection in the window.

This was a really interesting movie. I like westerns and horror so you know Deadbirds is good by me. The only thing that left me hanging was when Isaiah Washington disapeared.

[–] DirtyGrainius 17 years ago

It's pretty easy to understand. He wasn't corruptable in the soul and he was protected by another kind of hoodoo, so they cancelled out basically. Other then that, I agree with you totally. I love a good horror, and serious period peices, and westerns, so this movie was wicked to me. I was expecting a lot less. This movie definetly works, but not for everybody. And to the guy above who said that a good ending is supposed to answer everything and wrap it all up nicely, yah right. This isn't the Sesame Street Theatre. Some of the best movies ever made had vague endings. And I'm not saying that this movie did. It was spelled out clearly if attention was paid.

"Inside the dusters there were 3 men"..."So?"....."Inside the men there were 3 bullets" - d{^_^}b

[–] babybastian 17 years ago

I don't think every last little thing was explained in the end...we don't know exactly WHO the person was that they killed in the beginning and we can only speculate as to why Todd was thrown into an alternate dimension instead of transformed - but then, what happened to Joseph (he just disappeared) and Sam (who also disappeared)...and why was Clyde strung up on the cross like the father but with a little twist (making his face look like the dolls)?

I watched the movie without any distractions and really enjoyed it, but the end did leave some things swirling around in my mind. But that is exactly what I liked about it.

There are many people who love slasher movies - a movie with no depth, just a maniac creating a high body count (and some random boob shots). I don't care for those - I like movies that make me think and leave me thinking in the end. Obviously, those movies aren't going to be the most popular because most people who want to use their mind read a book and most people who watch movies are expecting to be spoon fed at every twist and turn.

This movie is definitely NOT for everybody but I, personally, loved it!!!

[–] DirtyGrainius 17 years ago

You don't need to speculate about the Todd scenario. The reason his demise seems a little vague is because the character was supposed to live but the movie-makers changed it at the last minute. With either outcome, his folk religion is the only thing that separated him from the other characters.

The person/thing they shot in the beginning was just someone that ended up there like they did, like the soldiers at the end of the movie were gonna be the next group to get "cursed".

jaustin035, on Sun Dec 16 2007 18:50:29, wrote something that made me laugh.

[–] bluepixystixx 16 years ago

I was actually wondering about that Todd scenario. Seems like for some reason or other (possibly his folk religion?) he was perhaps immune to the transformation, which is why he was the only one that could hear those crazy voices, and why he was vaporized into the other dimension. Just a theory.

I guess this is one of those movies you either love or hate. All I know is those freakin' kids and ol' Mrs. Hollister up in the hayloft gave me a serious case of the creeps.

[–] sarasvati2000 16 years ago

Sam died while sitting with Anabelle, and Clyde had his eyes, mouth and nose sewn up and was stuffed with hay...Joseph was jerked down the well by one of the children. Todd just walked away...

[–] kdp90125 12 years ago

well imho the ending was more of a micro-twist as it didnt affect the whole movie - it throws you off for a little and then it "clicks" but even that was hinted at strongly when we see the black guy follow the footprints which morph into "paw" prints

[–] ss5mmyers 12 years ago

Things like that are scarier when left to the imagination. Where did Todd go? Well probably not a 4 star hotel obviously. Just imagine the worst thing you can think of and put him there.
Where did the gold go? Who cares, the point is it was moved by someone not where it ended up.
Who did they shoot at the start? Some other poor soul who shared their fate. They could have been another child for all we know, it's more unsettling that we don't know.
This doesn't require much thought to it and the things not blatantly laid out are better left to the imagination.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bainf 11 years ago

Dead birds is old version (possibly civil war times) of "sitting ducks"

As for everything else, it can be intepreted different ways (hence the chat) which often makes for a more lasting movie or crappy editing

[–] Wolfbrother1983 10 years ago

This ending wasn't a twist as much as an O Henry style "Characters eat it in the end". The Isiah Washington "death" is one big screw-up in the film though I will agree.

"America isn't ready for a gay, mexican chicken sandwich" - Poultrygeist