In january 2009, software salesman james nguyen traveled to the. Shock and terror, unless youre in a room with at least 20 of your most ebullient, intoxicated friends who can yell at the screen, laugh at the primitive craftsmanship, howl at the ludicrous plot and dialogue, and generally have a good time at the expense of a movie that must know its an awful affair designed to please for just those reasons. Shock and terror is the story of a software salesman who founds his own solar energy company after cashing in his stock options. Birdemic inspires with terrible acting, screenwriting.
A horde of mutated birds descends upon the quiet town of half moon. Birdemic harder actually thats not the actual name of the last movie but wouldnt it be awesome if. Birdemic is a movie that ive always heard about in hushed whispers but have never got a chance to watch. Shock and terror, speaks volumes of what you can come to expect, but nothing, no nothing, can fully prepare you for the full shock of james nguyens ode to alfred hitchcock. Its nightmarish in length almost getting to the point where it feels like the chip factor. Birdemic filmmaker favors alfred hitchcockstyle romantic thrillers james nguyen has a remarkable story, having fled vietnam with his family at age 9.
It was made with no studio support, largely selffinanced and drew internet ridicule for its poor quality and seriously bad cgi. The rifftrax guys riff the shockingly bad movie birdemic. Shock and terror was alfred hitchcocks 1963 the birds. James nguyen, the software salesmanturneddirector of this film, likewise doesnt seem to understand how terrible his baby really is. Shock and terror, unless youre in a room with at least 20 of your most ebullient, intoxicated friends who can yell at the screen, laugh at the primitive craftsmanship, howl at the ludicrous plot and dialogue, and generally have a good time at the expense of a movie that must know its an awful affair. The beyondchintzy cgi in birdemic may be primarily responsible for its. Shock and terror, originally released in 2008, is actually much worse than director tommy wiseaus 2003 monument to cognitive dissonance. The latest entry in the sobaditsgood midnightmovie sweepstakes, james nguyens birdemic. Birdemic really has it all, and easily makes it onto my top 10 best worst films of all time list.
He meets up with old classmate and aspiring fashion model nathalie and begins dating her. How the heck do you even begin to sum up the utter insanity that is birdemic. Shock and terror is one of those beautiful paradoxes you find in life. As you can probably deduce from this article, theres not a lot thats great about this. Birdemic comes to bluray and dvd from severin in a ridiculously stuffed package that answers almost any. Birdemic is one of our favorite bad movies of all time, and theres no better way to watch it than rifftrax live.
Ive seen the room like five times, for goodness sake. The dialog is terrible, the audio is atrocious, the titular bird attack doesnt occur into an hour or so into the film and worst of all its an environmental film that is mostly about the confusing fast paced world of computer software sales in california. We then meet our hero, rod alan bagh, a happygolucky software engineer who. Chronological snobbery is not just about pleasantly reflecting upon history. Birdemic opened to massive mainstream media attention and was celebrated by audiences for its groundbreaking imperfections, some touting it the worst movie ever made. So grab a coat hanger, fire up your solar powered tv and for the love of god fully vest your stock options. All of this coupled with the worst cgi in existence the scifi channel is art, terrible acting, and the fact that the guns never fucking run out of ammo this issue is really hitting me hard, birdemic and its evil sibling motocross zombies from hellrelated only through their sharing of moronic cinematic mechanismsmakes me take back the. The climax of birdemic comes as the birds leave as abruptly as they arrive, leaving rod, nathalie and the precocious kids to watch them slowly float away on the horizon in all their lowbudget cgi glory. Salon commented on the atrocious cgi and reported that the film had. Sometimes there is a film that comes along that boggles the mind.
Fake cgi birds swarm over the city, occasionally turning into buzzbombs. Objectively, it stands as one of the worst films ever created. Writerdirector james nguyens proentrepreneurial, proenvironment romance chronicles the blossoming love affair between rod alan bagh, a software engineer turned hotshot salesman, and. A compilation of the best action scenes from birdemic shock and terror. Severin films obviously saw the potential in this milestone of calamity right from the start, and successfully inflicted it upon america back in early 2011. Also on hand is whitney moore, star of birdemic, who. The movie looks like it was shot with a hi8 camcorder back in 1987. Nguyen got behind the camera to make a straightfaced homage to hitchcocks the birds, and ended. Some criticize hitchcocks the birds for the unrealistic bird effects.
In the town of half moon bay california, theres an epidemic on the horizon. All the birds are attacking humanity for their devastating damage theyre inflicting on the earth. Shock and terror, the schlocky horror film perpetrated by would be auteur james nguyen. Rod gives up a million dollars to make a million dollar sale. The first 45 minutes or so of birdemic charts the road to potential romance for software salesman rod bagh, who lands a million dollar deal at. Wonderfully horrible netflix instant films birdemic shock. Nguyen, a 42yearold vietnamese refugee, wrote, cast and shot the film over the course of four years using salary from his day job as a midlevel software salesman in silicon valley. The birds stick to one spot, hovering there fullfrontal while slowly flapping their wings tips. With the death toll rising, two citizens manage to fight back, but will they survive birdemic. The magic of atrocious cgi, confirmed birdemic has become a cult hit among badmovie fans. The cgi is of the quality one would expect from an animated. Birdemic looks, sounds, and plays like one of those backyard epics you made with your moms camcorder when you were eleven, only it has stiff, immobile cgi birds floating awkwardly on top. The plot of birdemic is like a maze created by a blind man. Birdemic has become a cult hit among badmovie fans.
You cannot believe the thing exists, but there it is, paddling its arms forward like a special olympics finalist and no, this is not a joke on the special olympics theyre too good for birdemic. Cgi birds dive bomb the landscape, exploding on impact of course, and attack by remaining suspended in. Every time the terribly rendered cgi birds show up to flap awkwardly over the actors you sort of think, oh yeah, this movie is about birds attacking humans. Our friend weird al yankovic is on the panel to enjoy the cgi dancing, obvious typos, and complete lack of editing that made this thriller a cult classic. Shock and terror, this weeks victim for a very special how did this get made. Shock and terror, the birds finally attack, completely without warning in one of the funniest things i have ever seen. But if you can look past the horrible acting, ignore the constantly dropped sound quality, and not laugh yourself into a coughing fit at the cgi effects, you might come out of birdemic with a greater appreciation for the dreck hollywood churns out on a weekly basis. Initially, the film plays like a tech crunch readers fantasy with a idealistic tech entrepreneur making big bucks and romancing an. Then, rods company, nct software, is purchased by oracle for a billion dollars. Shock and terrorstarring alan bagh and whitney moore 2 out of 10 by cameron m. A horde of mutated birds descends upon the quiet town of half moon bay, california.
Birdemic shock and terror 2010 screen savers the arcade. Where it differs from the countless other hollywood tales of software salesmen who found their own solar energy companies after cashing in stock options is that occasionally birds attack and kill people. Software salesman rod alan bagh and fashion model nathalie whitney moore meet outside a diner, start dating, follow separate careers, talk with their friends, go on at length about stock options and solar power in a manner which suggests personal interests on the part of writerdirector james nguyen, doubledate with another couple to see. Things go well for the couple, with rod receiving a large bonus that he uses to start his own business, while nathalie is chosen as a victorias secret model.
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