I can't believe that it's actually time for Halloween again! Halloween marks the beginning of what is pretty much my favorite time of year, so it's probably safe to say that I've been looking forward to it for a while. That God-awful, hot summer weather I hate is pretty much officially over with by now. All those yummy holiday foods and candies -- along with fresh excuses to actually eat them -- are popping up everywhere. (No, you ate candy corns for breakfast!!) Plus, it's pretty much all horror all the time right now. Like all horror fans, I'm always down for a reason to rewatch my favorite scary or suspenseful films!

I know a lot of people consider the films of Alfred Hitchcock to be more mystery or suspense films than actual horror films, but I personally tend to think of them in the same light as a lot of horror genre staples regardless. I'm a huge fan of his myself. I also adore all the same Hitchcock pieces everyone else likes -- Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window especially. However, I don't feel like The Birds gets as much love as I think it deserves. I also don't think it gets enough credit for actually being a scary movie.

Maybe this just makes me a giant wuss, but I'm actually scared of the damn birds in that. I've talked about this in regards to zombies and some other things before, but what really makes the difference between "kind of chilly" and "scary" for me is whether or not I can find it within myself to actually believe in the reasons behind what I'm being sold by the filmmakers. For whatever reason, the bird invasion in this is believable to me.

I grew up by the ocean around seagulls and such. I've had those crafty little jerks go in my backpack and try to steal food when I'm not looking. I've seen one peck the ever-loving crap out of a little boy because it decided it wanted his corn dog. A starling snatched the hamburger patty out of my boss's McDonald's once before he could even get his ketchup package open and it totally timed it first, which I thought was really weird. I've even seen species that aren't considered to be total plagues by the general population (like finches or sparrows) mob the daylights out of crows and owls. (For those of you who don't know what "mobbing" is, that's when birds band together and try to snuff other birds pretty much just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.)

Birds are jerks... and sometimes I'm not sure they're as dumb as we give them credit for. (That's just what they want you to think!!) So all the birds in the world deciding to put their beaks together and quit putting up with us humans once and for all? I can see it... and it's actually pretty scary to me. Well played, Mr. Hitchcock. Well played.

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So, yeah. All that was my way of getting around to saying I've been Hitchcocking it a lot since October got here. This is also my excuse to share that really cool publicity shot of Tippi Hedren I found earlier today, as well as some neat trivia I dug up about the movie while trying to find an image I liked enough to post with my ramblings.

- The Birds was apparently Tippi Hedren's first movie. How the hell I managed to watch this so many times over the years and still miss the word "introducing" in front of her name I will never know, but that's totally the case.

- Have you ever noticed there isn't actually any score in this at all? Just bird noises and other sound effects. Took me a while to notice that as well, but now that I have, I have to admit that it really adds to the creepy atmosphere. It was the idea of Hitchcock's score composer Bernard Herrmann to do things that way and I have to say I commend that choice.

- The original ending to The Birds was supposed to show the entire Golden Gate bridge covered with birds. I would have liked to have seen that, actually.

- Ever wonder how they got all those seagulls to pipe down enough to shoot the scenes where there are hundreds of them... just... standing around and not doing very much? They were all fed a mixture of wheat and whiskey before filming. (I guess this means that I'm not the only living creature that pretty much stops moving and will let you get away with whatever you want after being fed a ton of alcohol and carbs then.) Remember that the next time you watch this. You're looking at a bunch of drunk-ass seagulls in a lot of the scenes... for reals.

- Hitchcock decided not to finish with his usual "The End" with this one. He wanted the audience to leave with the impression that the terror in the film is unending.

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So what about you guys? Any Hitchcock enthusiasts out there? Which of his films is your favorite? Any that you feel are especially underrated or overrated? Let's discuss!