Grab a drink (make that a few drinks) and settle down for an in-depth analysis of James Nguyen’s Birdemic, the movie that has left audiences in shock and terror. Lee Ngo, from the blog Lee Column, reviews the movie.
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What exactly is a film that falls into the “It’s so bad, that it’s good” category? There’s no way one can make this kind of film deliberately… or can they? Such is the dilemma that I encounter as I write the following review. It’s very hard to write earnestly about a film like Birdemic: Shock and Terror, a ninety-minute “it has to be seen to be believed” opus by James Nguyen, a former software sales representative who claims to be the next Alfred Hitchcock. On one hand, the film is an absolute cinematic disaster and deserves its reputation as one of the worst films ever made. On the other hand, I haven’t had this much fun while watching a film since I saw Tommy Wiseau’s The Room with a drunken crowd of rowdy Portlanders several months ago. Let’s start with the bad.
How This Film Makes Me Want to Drink (Depressively)
This film is often compared to and is similar to to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic terror film The Birds (1963) in the following ways:
(1) Birds attack a small town adjacent to a lake.
(2) A romantic getaway between two lovers is interrupted by #1.
(3) The reason for the birds’ onslaught is not completely specified, which adds to the dimension of terror.
That’s it. Those three ways are the only ways in which Hitchcock and Nguyen’s films relate to one another. Made nearly fifty years ago, Hitchcock’s film still remains a haunting masterpiece, crafted to the utmost precision even by today’s cinematic standards. Hitchcock was known for being a producer’s dream, economically rationing his time and resources to produce critically and commercially well-received films. Nguyen’s film is, from start to finish, sloppy, cacophonic, out-of-focus, and poorly-lit. The entire crew should have been fired for doing such an awful job. (I am aware that the film was made for about $10,000, which means most of the crew were likely working on a volunteer basis. Nonetheless, terrible work all around). In terms of Birdemic’s production quality, Nguyen does not deserve to equate himself to Hitchcock.
Though I thought that Whitney Moore did an acceptable job as film’s female lead Nathalie, this may be due to the fact that she played opposite of Alan Bagh, who was absolutely atrocious as Rod, a software salesman who drives a Mustang gas hybrid that gets 100 miles to the gallon (seriously, that’s what he said). His wooden movements, constantly shifting eyes, and piss-poor line delivery did not convince me for a second that he could close a million-dollar sale AND convince some venture capitalists to invest $10 million into his solar panel company (seriously, that’s what he did). Although Alan Bagh is no Jimmy Stewart, I have to blame Nguyen’s inability to direct him and others in this film for the numerous atrocities committed against the craft of acting.
Finally, the film’s script is full of problems. Why would Victoria’s Secret want Nathalie as their Cover Girl model? (Does that even make sense?) Why should a couple go out to dinner if they never take a bite of food for twenty minutes? What the heck is ImaginePeace.com, and why does a couple think its appropriate to make love in an N.G.O.? Why is the singer in a romantic restaurant singing about “hanging out with the family?” Who keeps an AK-47 inside a mini-van? Wasn’t the avian flu a problem exclusive to Southeast Asia? What is up with all of the CGI in a film budgeted for $10,000? This film is full of mysteries that are lazily thrown together and not entirely resolved. The meandering approach to the last third act is inexcusable in this respect. At best, Birdemic should be shown to film students on what NOT to do when one makes a low-budget film.
How This Film Makes Me Want to Drink (Harmoniously)
Since I saw this film on DVD, I had the luxury of stopping the film whenever I needed to go to the bathroom to puke. To my surprise, I had to stop the film because I was laughing way too hard. I am going to go ahead and call James Nguyen an “cinematic idiot savant,” in that he, by pure accident, has managed to make a film that is watchable and even quotable. I also had the luxury of watching this with my like-minded best friend, and we had to dry our eyes from laughing too hard at certain parts of the film. Birdemic is not meant to be seen alone.
Nguyen’s attempt to build a “dimension of terror” is yet another completely accidental success. According to Slavoj Zizek in The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema, Vol. 1 (2007), the cause for terror in The Birds exists only in psychological theorization, but it is not at all obvious to anyone, not even to the characters in the film. In Birdemic, several “scientists” each try to offer an explanation to the phenomenon, but the differing opinions never come to a consensus, thus leaving both the characters and the audience utterly confused. By leaving the origin of the “monster” – the threatening entity – shrouded in mystery, both films maintain the dimension of terror throughout. This worked for The Dark Knight (2008), No Country For Old Men (2007), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Finally, Birdemic is a very socially conscious film, and I must applaud it for that. The lead character Rob drives a hybrid and touts the ridiculously awesome gas mileage that he gets. Rob also wants to set up his own solar panel business. News reports talk often about the plight of polar bears and other environmental anomalies. The characters go see An Inconvenient Truth. Several minor characters at various points in the film stop to remind the audience about the dangers of global warming and the possible effect that it has on the chaos that surrounds them. Perhaps Birdemic is an even better film than An Inconvenient Truth for informing people about the crisis that the world is in. After all, would you want to see a two-hour long PowerPoint presentation, or a ninety-minute film that has the words “Shock and Terror” embedded in the title?
The lessons we must learn from Birdemic: Shock and Terror still remain unclear, and unfortunately, I am in no position to define what an “It’s so bad, it’s good” film really is. Perhaps we have become numb or spoiled by films that have perfect lighting, sound mixing, special effects and editing. Once a film like Birdemic pulls the rug out from under us, we easily make fun of its shortcomings and tease the little guy for trying to roll with the big boys. Unlike Tommy Wiseau’s $7 million budget for The Room, James Nguyen filmed Birdemic on barely enough money to declare to U.S. customs. A proud Vietnamese-American man who talks often about his experiences as a refugee and an immigrant, Nguyen should certainly pat himself on the back for capturing lightning in a bottle, captivating millions of people nationwide with his off-beat film. In a way, Nguyen has created a Birdemic of his own.
Birdemic can be watched through Netflix or ordered from Amazon.
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