The Birds II: Land's End

The Birds II: Land's End
Based on	A short story by Daphne du Maurier
Written by	Ken Wheat & Jim Wheat Robert Eisele
Directed by	Rick Rosenthal (as Alan Smithee)
Starring	Brad Johnson Chelsea Field James Naughton Jan Rubes Tippi Hedren
Music by	Ron Ramin
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	David A. Rosemont
Producer(s)	Ted Kurdyla
Editor(s)	Maryann Brandon
Cinematography	Bruce Surtees
Running time	87 minutes
Production company(s)	MCA Television Entertainment Rosemont Productions International
Distributor	Universal Studios
Release
Original network	Showtime
Original release	March 14, 1994 (1994-03-14)
Chronology
Preceded by	The Birds

The Birds II: Land's End is a 1994 made-for-cable-television film sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 classic The Birds starring Brad Johnson, Chelsea Field, James Naughton and Tippi Hedren in a minor role different from the one she played in the original Hitchcock film. The original music score was composed by Ron Ramin. The Birds II: Land's End word premiered on the Showtime cable network on March 14, 1994.

The plot of the sequel is very similar to the original. Biology teacher and Somali Civil War veteran, Ted, his wife, and children move to a summer house on an island after the death of their son. While there, flocks of birds start attacking individuals for no apparent reason. The town mayor denies the birds' role in the injuries, but is forced to believe after further incidents of violence by the birds.

Plot

Ted and Mary Hocken (Brad Johnson and Chelsea Field) move to a remote, windswept, tiny East Coast island with their two young daughters; the Hockens are determined to forget their painful past of losing their son and spend a quiet, uneventful summer.

But as immense flock of birds begin massing around Gull Island, it becomes clear that something is very wrong in this isolated, deceptively calm oasis and fear mounts as a marine biologist is the target of a mysterious, grisly attack. Before long, the sky is darkened by a hideous onslaught of screeching birds. It's an assault unlike anything in the history of man or beast – except for an old timer who recalls a similar, horrific outbreak that gripped the West Coast three decades ago in Bodega Bay, California.

Cast

• Brad Johnson as Ted Hocken
• Chelsea Field as Mary Hocken
• James Naughton as Frank
• Jan Rubes as Karl
• Tippi Hedren as Helen
• Richard K. Olsen as Doc Rayburn

Reception

The TV film received widely negative reviews and was criticized by many critics. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly slated the production,^[1] especially criticizing the writing and acting, saying: "The actors in 'Birds II' have little to do except widen their eyes in terror, and even that seems a daunting stretch for Johnson." He also commented on the fact that it was an Alan Smithee film, the pseudonym used when a director wants to disown the final film, writing "...but the poster and cassette box that Showtime sent along with the review tape clearly state that Rick Rosenthal directed 'Birds II'", before adding "He has good reasons to want his name erased from it. If it were me, I'd sue."^[1]

In a 2002 interview, Tippi Hedren said of the film, "It's absolutely horrible, it embarrasses me horribly."^[2]

Many other reviews were in the same vein, The New York Times calling the film "feeble." The film also received a score of 2.7 out of 10 on IMDb.^[3]

References

External links

• The Birds II: Land's End at the Internet Movie Database
• The Birds II: Land's End at AllMovie
• The Birds II: Land's End at Rotten Tomatoes