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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (19/Mar/1994) - Showtime's Hitchcock sequel strictly for the birds

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Showtime's Hitchcock sequel strictly for the birds

Does Showtime have something against Alfred Hitchcock?

Or is it just trying to corner some kind of niche market in crummy sequels to classic films?

Who could blame the pay-cable network when it gave Anthony Perkins one last go-'round in 1990's "Psycho IV: The Beginning"?

There had already been two big-screen attempts to build on the Hitchcock original — the last of which was bad enough that there was reason to hope "Psycho IV" might benefit by comparison. (It didn't.)

And at least they had the original star, Perkins, in the lead role.

Not so with tonight's "The Birds II: Land's End," Showtime's latest attempt to mimic the master of suspense.

Brad Johnson ("Ned Blessing") and Chelsea Field ("Angel Falls") star in this won't-fly follow-up as Ted and May Hocken, a couple trying to get over the death of their son by taking a summer retreat on isolated Gull Island.

Unfortunately for the Hockens and their two whining daughters, Jill (Stephanie Milford) and Joanna (Megan Gallacher), Mother Nature is in a fowl mood, retaliating, it seems, for years of environmental abuse.

This time the setting is the East Coast instead of California, and the producers don't waste a moment launching the first ravenous attack — a grim little scene that occurs just seconds after the opening credits.

But it's gimmickry, not genius, that guides the film. And the high-tech sleight of hand known as animatronics is no substitute for a Hitchcock behind the camera.

Furthermore, the presence of Tippi Hedren — who starred in "The Birds" 30 years ago — is little more than an interesting distraction, playing, as she does, what amounts to a winking, beefed-up bit part.

"The Birds II" is mostly a by-the-numbers, nature-gone-unnaturally wild scenario that offers little or nothing in the way of suspense.

We always know what's coming next. So when the birds bypass the usual pecking order and go on the attack, we don't even flinch.

True, all those special-effect birds flapping and clawing their way through this movie are, if placed side by side with the 1963 film, far more realistic, and their cumulative impact in the closing scenes is far more effective.

But so much time is spent working the thin, often treacly story line of a marriage in trouble that it diminishes whatever gains might have been made.

James Naughton ("City of Angels") does manage to spice up the story as "the other man," Frank Irving, a former gonzo photographer now running the local newspaper, who is also May's boss and a threat to her marriage.

(As in all so many moralistic tales of terror, he gets his comeuppance.)

Actually, if there's a standout performer in the piece, it's Scout, the family dog. (If you've got a pet, you'll love his big scene, guaranteed.)

And you have to give the two child actors some credit for being put to the emotional test, since they are the ones the director counts on to get our empathetic juices flowing (even if the kids do come off as irritating).

What's most annoying, however, is the film's post-climax climax — a cliffhanger that tells us that "The Birds III" is on the way.

Still, ardent film buffs might enjoy Showtime's approach to the evening, if nothing else.

After the premiere broadcast of "Birds II," Showtime will show the 1963 original "The Birds," followed by a 15-minute, behind-the-scenes special with Tippi Hedren as host.

(Apparently Hedren got very nostalgic on the set of "The Birds II" and wore a silver "bird" ring given to her by Hitchcock.)

But unless you want to do a compare-and-contrast essay for your film class or are deeply interested in all things Hitchcock — even if they're not — we suggest skipping Showtime's movie.

Dare we say it?

It's for the birds.

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