Product Details

• Actors: Clare Carey, Lance Guest
• Directors: Leigh Scott
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: FIRST LOOK PICTURES
• DVD Release Date: September 30, 2008
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001957A2G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,624 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Flu Birds" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

FLU BIRDS - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun, great cheese!, May 12, 2009

By 

L. C. Dixon (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flu Birds (DVD)

This isn't a movie in which you should be thinking about top-quality, Oscar-worthy acting and plotting; it's a gem of a flick: hilarious, scary, with freakishly absurd special effects. I could see a MST3K treatment of "Flu Birds" somewhere down the line. Seriously, great, great fun.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don`t bother with Flu Birds!, October 2, 2008

By 

D. Becker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flu Birds (DVD)

I`m all for b rated and dumb movies,but Flu Birds is lame!You will be very upset if you get this.Not at all what I expected.JUST PLAIN DUMB AND A WASTE OF TIME,sorry to say.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Self Interest vs. Group Interest, October 19, 2010

By 

Soaring Eagle (Ohio/PA border USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flu Birds (DVD)

2008's "Flu Birds", which aired on tv as "Flu Bird Horror", is a low-budget creature-on-the-loose flick about mutant reptilian birds wreaking havok on a group of juvenile delinquents lost deep in the forest. The birds spread a hideous disease to the people they bite or scratch. The Feds quarantine the hospital that an afflicted hunter is brought to and decide to airstrike the birds, whether the teens are still in the area or not. Meanwhile a ranger and a doctor desperately search for the kids.

Leigh Scott's "Flu Birds" combines the delinquents-on-the-run aspect of "The Warriors" with the flying-reptile angle of "Gargoyles" and the skin-eating disease element of "Cabin Fever".

Most of the reviewers here tear the film apart. Are their low-ratings and heavy criticisms legitimate or simply a knee-jerk result of these modern Sci-Fi tv flicks being such easy targets? Although some of their criticisms are valid I say "Flu Birds" delivers both as a wild creatures-run-amok flick and as a fascinating human interest tale.

As far as the former goes, the reptilian birds are effective enough for such micro-budget fare, in ways reminiscent of the gargoyles in 1972's excellent tv flick "Gargoyles" (the cover of the dvd is misleading, by the way, as the flu birds in the film look nothing like the bird depicted on the cover, which was a decision I doubt the filmmakers had little to do with). One reviewer lambastes the scenes where the birds attack a jeep and helicopter as "inept filmmaking" but I thought they were effectively done. Where's the beef? The sequences depicting the skin-eating disease are well done as well; in fact, the disease is scarier than the birds. Also, there's lots of gore for those who care.

In addition to this, the film has a good babes-on-the-run factor with Rebekah Kochan as Lola, the blond prancing around with denim shorts, leading the way. But don't get me wrong, the various women in the film do more than just flee in terror -- they lead, they fight, and a couple are doctors.

Also, although there's a definite comic-book vibe to the proceedings and a few humorous moments, the filmmakers and cast all take the material seriously and evade the rut of camp (with the possible exception of Porky).

Not to mention the film features a great opening/ending score, as well as spectacular Romanian locations, particularly during the opening credits.

However, it's in the realm of human interest that "Flu Birds" scores its highest points and distinguishes it from other modern tv creature features like "Carny", "Frankenfish", "Chupacabra Terror", "Loch Ness Terror" and "Swamp Devil". While some of these movies are okay, they lack the depth "Flu Birds" aspires to, and largely attains.

At it's core "Flu Birds" addresses the conflict of self interest vs. group interest. The Feds are depicted as ruthless in their drive to extinguish the threat of the birds and the disease they spread. Anyone who gets in the way must simply be destroyed. And who can blame them since they are trying to save millions at the cost of a mere handful? The whole is greater than the one, as they say.

The teens, all delinquent loners from disfunctional families, are just starting to learn the importance of sacrifice of the self or the few for the greater good of the many. In fact, the film starts out with them on retreat from juvenile jail to learn the importance community and the team concept.

Johnson, the lead teen played by Jonathon Trent, is strongly reminiscent of James Remar's Ajax in "The Warriors". Although he initially comes off obnoxious and uncaring the viewer can't help but sense something good underneath the surface, not to mention his passion and courage to survive. He possesses a wild, dangerous air and this naturally attracts the blond hottie. It also attracts the allegiance of the other two main guys in the group, Derrick and Gordon (aka 'Hip Hop'), despite the fact that Johnson is extremely tough on them at times. The reason he's tough on them is because it's a life or death situation. And even though the other leader of the group, Ava (Sarah Butler), loathes his seemingly uncaring nature she's willing to work with him to survive. (Sarah Butler, by the way, also plays the lead in the 2010 remake of the infamous "I Spit On Your Grave").

The teens face no less than three episodes that present the possibility of sacrifice -- in a tunnel, in a hunter's house in the woods and, lastly, in the tunnel again. In the initial episode the group votes on whether or not to sacrifice the disease-ridden Porky as a diversion for the birds so the rest can escape. Johnson argues that Porky is as good as dead already since he's clearly dying from the disease, but Porky objects. I guess he would rather suffer a slow, agonizing death in the darkness of the cave than die a relatively quick death as a diversion so his fellow delinquents might have a chance at surviving. Regardless, notice how the members attitudes contrast Porky's in the two subsequent episodes. It's an interesting study and reveals the teens' positive growth in the crisis.

FINAL WORD: Yes, "Flu Birds" has a laughable title and a ridiculous premise, but don't 95% of Grade-B creature features? Yes, the guy who plays Porky is a questionable actor and the film has a comic-booky vibe. Regardless, "Flu Birds" entertains and delivers in all the requisite areas as a nature-runs-amok flick, but it's greatness emerges in its study of human nature and self vs. group dynamics.

Don't listen to the critics who were unable to see beneath the Grade-B trappings. "Flu Birds", like "Sasquatch Mountain", possesses depth even while it successfully entertains and is therefore worthy of your time and respect.

GRADE: B+

The film runs 89 minutes.