Under developed, underwhelming addition to the Italian "Zombi" horror series tells another self- contained story; you don't need to see previous entries before seeing this one. The tale sees a Vietnam veteran return home to slaughter his loved ones, before the many hawks on their property attack him. Many years later, a bunch of dumb chump college students go in search of an elusive woodpecker species, and come upon this old abode, which is now a house of horrors.
Not much could be done to save this movie, not even a guest star role for 'Man from U.N.C.L.E." star Robert Vaughn, who plays a one-eyed old bird expert. The young cast is definitely attractive but otherwise nondescript. You don't really care for their characters, and don't mind seeing them knocked off. The script by Daniele Stroppa is one of those deals where it's short on sense, and long on nonsense. It doesn't bother giving you a lot of details or exposition, and actually waits until the dying minutes of the movie to pay off Vaughns' character. The plethora of feathered co-stars, however, never does amount to much. Also, while "Killing Birds" does feature zombies, there aren't that many of them. It isn't until around the one hour mark that this even becomes somewhat interesting / entertaining. The gore effects are quite grisly and enjoyable. The music score by Carlo Maria Cordio is also good.
Directing credit goes to Claudio Lattanzi. Joe D'Amato also directed & produced, without credit, and served as cinematographer under a pseudonym.
Five out of 10.
Not much could be done to save this movie, not even a guest star role for 'Man from U.N.C.L.E." star Robert Vaughn, who plays a one-eyed old bird expert. The young cast is definitely attractive but otherwise nondescript. You don't really care for their characters, and don't mind seeing them knocked off. The script by Daniele Stroppa is one of those deals where it's short on sense, and long on nonsense. It doesn't bother giving you a lot of details or exposition, and actually waits until the dying minutes of the movie to pay off Vaughns' character. The plethora of feathered co-stars, however, never does amount to much. Also, while "Killing Birds" does feature zombies, there aren't that many of them. It isn't until around the one hour mark that this even becomes somewhat interesting / entertaining. The gore effects are quite grisly and enjoyable. The music score by Carlo Maria Cordio is also good.
Directing credit goes to Claudio Lattanzi. Joe D'Amato also directed & produced, without credit, and served as cinematographer under a pseudonym.
Five out of 10.