Silent Rage (1982) - Video Review

The Mysterians (1957)

"Some escaped. The nations of the world must now stay united in the struggle against unknown forces instead of fighting each other." ~ Dr. Tanjiro Adachi (Takashi Shimura)

 

(Review by Dax and Seth Bradley)

It was the Atomic Age of movies. In the 1950's, film makers were determined to show us that playing with nuclear weapons would only result in our doom. Besides the obvious result of being vaporized, we were warned that radiation would create our next nightmare: Giant monsters! These movies, known collectively as kaiju, began with the most recognizable fictional reptile in the world, Godzilla. The Big G rose to fame first as an over sized tyrannosaurus, given his enormous size because of atomic testing. He was soon joined by Rodan, Mothra, and many others. One thing the Japanese know how to do is beat a horse until it is really and truly dead. 

Japanese film company Toho became synonymous with giant atomic monsters, and as the genre grew in popularity, they began marketing them toward children. Gamera always had that goofy Japanese kid following him around for no reason, there was the creepy twins who could summon Mothra to vanquish Tokyo's monstrous threat of the week, and even Godzilla had a young-un, bizarre little Minya.

 

Before the genre devolved into childrens' fare, Toho made a statement not only with atomic testing, but also against Zionism with 1957's "The Mysterians". This tale, aimed at grown-ups, involved a group of aliens who visit Earth after their home is destroyed by nuclear war.  They promise all they want to do is occupy 3 kilometers of land, oh and one more thing; intermarry with Earth women.  The leaders listened to their proposition in a meeting that went something like this:

 

 

"We would like to occupy only 3 kilometers of your land."

 

"Hmmm...ok, go on."

 

"We are advanced, and could share amazing technology."

 

"Well, doesn't sound so bad..."

 

"And...marry some of your women to propagate our species. Who's hungry?"

 

"Wait, wait, what? What did you say? What was that last thing?"

 

"Hungry, who's hungry?"

 

OK, so it didn't go exactly like that. At any rate, the scientists and military leaders were not too hip to give up their women, and the fight was on.  Actually, it was on before any negotiations took place.  The aliens presented their mecha-Godzilla knock-off, known as Moguera. He is a Giant Robot With Frickin' Lasers, which didn't sit too well with the military. Obviously, they had to fight back, only to be quickly as the kids say now, "pwned". Interestingly, Moguera would be brought back to the movies in 1994's Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla as a protagonist.

In films of this genre, generally one of two things happen to resolve the threat:  One, you can summon another giant atomic monster to kill the threat.  Or, two, you have a crack team of scientists build some advanced weaponry, stat. Since this isn't one of the monster vs. monster movies, we have the scientists built stuff now scenario.

The team puts together an electronic ray which has been on the drawing board for a while. The weapon, combined with the Air Force fleet, stages an all-out battle that saves mankind. There is also a sort-of romantic sub-plot involving a young science guy and his love-starved fiance. He is aloof, and basically brushes her off for reasons we don't fully understand until later. It seems he has been in contact with the Mysterians this whole time, and now has to help defeat them from the inside, kind of like a sleeper cell.

I won't tell the whole story, but suffice to say there is more than enough action to keep you watching.  If this genre isn't your cup of saki, you might not want to check it out. However, if you are a fan of Toho films, especially the ones that were just a little darker than the many Godzilla vs. Whatever movies, you'll have a rollicking good time.

If you watch the movie for the first time, and feel that it is familiar all the same, there is a reason.  The Mysterians was directed by none other than Ishiro Honda. He is the director of the original Godzilla, as well as Godzilla's Revenge, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Rodan, and too many others to list here. His films all follow a set of rules, so if you love one you'll love them all.
The score is better than expected, giving just the amount of tension and drama without going overboard. Special effects were outstanding for a movie made in 1957. Rather than using solely toy cars and planes, the makers opted to use real vehicles as often as possible. In a twist of irony involving a movie about the dangers of occupation by powers with the pretense of peace, they got much of their military footage filming planes and other vehicles at an American military installation!  Scenes involving destruction of buildings and natural environments were especially well done. The scale is often a dead giveaway, but the attention to detail was such that I never felt I was looking at miniatures.

I thought I heard familiar sound effects in the scenes where the giant robot and the scientists' 'ray gun' would shoot lasers. It seems to be lifted right from the soundtrack of the U.S. film War of the Worlds (1953). It isn't unheard of, especially in films made overseas, then re-dubbed and redistributed in the States.

If I had one bone to pick with the movie, it would be that the Giant Robot With Frickin' Lasers didn't seem to be in the movie enough. I'm used to movies in which the mecha is the main focus, creating havoc, and destroying Tokyo like a live-action Rampage video game. Yes, I worked an 80's game reference into my review.

Overall, I found the movie to be a nice distraction. Its effects, story, music, and acting are above its peers. There was plenty of action, though as I said I would like to see more of the awesome mecha. Check it out if you enjoy giant monsters as much as I do! I give this: 2 1/2 out of 4.

Didja Know?

When Toho was only allowed one hour to film footage of the Military Air Transport Service cargo plane unloading, producers shut down production of the film and used all available cameras to shoot the operation from different angles. By hiding the plane number, it appears that multiple planes have landed. Toho did a similar thing in "Gojira/Godzilla." Only allowed to film the movement of one military convoy, producers simply put their cameras in jeeps and raced ahead of each section of the convoy to make it seem as if the convoy was massive. (Source: www.imdb.com)
 

 

 

The Man From Planet X (1951)

"To think - a fantastic gnome like you had to hurdle out of space to put this power in my hands. Well, now that we've made contact, I'm gonna tear out every secret you've got!" ~Dr. Mears

1951 was an insanely busy year for movie-goers interested in space-themed science fiction. Among the many films to come out that year were such titles as The Thing From Another World, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and When Worlds Collide. Interestingly, all of these movies have been remade since then with varying degrees of success. Adding to the library of sci-fi cheese from 1951 is the subject of today's review; The Man From Planet X.

If you've never seen the movie, most likely by now you've seen the space man referred to in the title. He is an iconic figure that seems to make the collage every time someone shows a collection of old sci-fi and monster movie clips. He is the character in a space suit, complete with a bubble top and a regulator valve on the side. Also, he makes a cameo appearance in 2003's Looney Tunes: Back in Action.

The movie centers around a small group of researchers on a Scottish island studying a planet whose orbit is bringing it dangerously close to Earth. Dubbed Planet X, the alien world is only visible by telescope in the remote laboratory run by the kind Dr. Elliot, played by Raymond Bond. Now, B-Movie convention states that the good professor has to have an attractive and largely useless daughter, in this case Enid, played by Margaret Field.  Enid serves as the love interest of John Lawrence (Robert Clarke). John is our everyman in this story; not a scientist or pilot, just a reporter who has to have everything explained to him in simple terms. That way, the science guys can spill their techno-babble, then break it down to John, and thus, to us the audience.

We also meet Professor Elliot's antithesis, his "partner", Dr. Mears, played with gusto by William Schallert. I use quotation marks because Dr. Mears is really an evil guy. We are clued into this by a couple of things. One, John already knows him from before, and has an uneasy feeling about his presence. We never really get to the bottom of what happened between the two. We only know that our hero doesn't trust him. Therefore, we shouldn't trust him.  The other giveaway is that Dr. Mears is always smoking and has a goatee. Work with me here. See, in older movies, smoking + goatee = evil. Remember that in the future kiddos, there will be a test.

The planet's sudden appearance coincides with the discovery of a small pod. The group studies the object and determines that it must be alien in origin. Immediately, Dr. Mears begins to excitedly explain how he can study the element is is made of, and create building materials worth millions. That is another cinematic clue to someones evil intentions. I'm not really sure I'm on board with bashing him on this one, though. I'm kind of a capitalist by nature, and I don't think it's wrong if some alien drops some of his equipment here and I manage to replicate it, but I digress.

We also finally get to see the titular man from planet X when Enid goes out and has a flat tire at night. She finds his alien ship, and rather than go find a scientist, like say, her father, walks over to investigate. She peers into the pod, and the audience gets the biggest scare in the movie when he pops up in the scene the image above came from.  Later, John and Professor Elliot get the space man to realize that they are not going to hurt him, and they walk him back to the observatory. The space man cannot talk, he can only emit an eerie tone. Dr. Mears comes up with the idea to use geometry, the "universal language", as he puts it, to establish some sort of communication. This is a novel approach, one which would be ripped off -I mean emulated- in the more recent Sphere.

Then Dr. Mears somehow convinces everyone else to leave them alone while he communicates with the space man using geometry. He does have a breakthrough. Having established a baseline of communication, and privacy with the space man, Dr. Mears decides he want more information for his own gain and attacks the space man, going for his regulator valve on the side of his suit. The valve allows the man from Planet X to breath, and cutting it off renders him unconscious. The attack scene is kind of unnerving, with the larger Dr. Mears easily overpowering the alien. All the alien can do is emit that eerie tone sound, which is kind of like him crying out for help. Watching this, I felt sympathy for the creature, which I guess was the point.

Later, Mears lies and tells the other professor he got nothing, despite having made his breakthrough. John comes back and they discover the alien is gone, along with Enid. Apparently, after his attack he decided humans are not worth sharing information with after all, and took the girl. Why the alien always takes the girl, I don't know. I suppose it adds to the suspense. At any rate, it was unfortunate that Mears had to attack the space man, since he was on the verge of learning all kinds of great secrets that could have made him tons of money. His greed and zeal for knowledge possibly doomed humanity.

The rest of the movie involves the heroes bringing in Scotland Yard, because they have the ability to pull in the 'big guns' and defend the island from the space man. Unfortunately, it is never 100% clear that the alien has hostile intentions, even though he demonstrates the ability to render humans into a zombie-like state. Dr. Mears is even rendered a slave zombie, and when John rescues him, Dr. Mears comes out of it and explains that the alien has a plan for domination of Earth. However, we don't know if Mears is telling the truth, or manipulating events again.

I won't tell the rest of the story this time, because there are probably viewers who will want to check out The Man From Planet X. It is a solid movie, one with perfect portions of creepiness, mystery, science fiction, and suspense. The story elements are familiar by now, but this film was original when it first appeared in 1951. It is not bloody, or overly violent in any way, and the alien probably wouldn't really scare young viewers, as most Saturday morning cartoons feature scarier characters now.

The set design is pretty impressive, though I can't really credit director Edgar Ulmer as much as I'd like. Many sets were left over from the bigger-budget Joan of Arc. Re-use of sets and props was pretty common then, and probably is now, too. Still, the movie does boast some amazing sets. The Scottish moors look large and mysterious. Each outdoor scene shows great depth and intrigue, although it was probably made on a small studio lot.

All in all, this movie is an enjoyable romp through classic 50's space sci-fi fare. It appears on cable now and then, making the rounds through late night monster movie shows and classic cinema offerings due to its surprisingly high quality and availability through Public Domain. It is also interesting to note that this is one of the movies chosen for preservation in the Historic Archives in the Library of Congress. I rate this movie 3 out of 4. Check it out!

Didja Know?

• This was filmed in an amazing six days on a reported budget of $41,000

• Robert Clarke was paid way under the SAG minimum of $175 a day only earning about $210

Horror Hotel (1963) aka City of the Dead

"The basis for reality is in fairy tales; the basis for fairy tails is in reality."~Professor Alan Driscoll (Christopher Lee)

I was thinking the other day about what defines a “B-Movie”. There are varying descriptions, normally invoking images of movies made on the cheap. Additionally, films that are so-bad-they’re-good have been grouped into this category.

Some people believe that only older movies qualify for B-Movie status. Myself, I do not subscribe to this assessment. I believe that modern movies can also be considered B-Movie material, and that’s not a bad thing (See my review of Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies). Personally, if a film is made inexpensively and quickly, employing science fiction, horror, or fantasy elements it falls into B-Movie category, as long as it’s an earnest attempt and not purposely badly-made, if that makes sense.

However, the traditional B-Movie description comes from the humble beginnings of drive-in movie history. In the 40’s and 50’s, film production companies typically released two movies at once to follow the two-film format of the drive-in experience. The first movie, which came in Reel ‘A’, would be the big one, with the highest-paid stars, lavish budgets, and biggest sets. Often, the second film that followed, in Reel ‘B’, would be one made quickly and cheaply, using contract players who were paid by studios weekly to help churn out the second movie to fill out the two-movie block. Hence, these movies were called the ‘B’ movies. Get it? The stars in the first movie were “A-list” actors. The second movie…well, that’s where we get ”B-Movie actors”. I mention this for two reasons; one, it’s historically interesting; and two; it’s a decent segue-way into today’s review.

Made in 1960, Horror Hotel, as it was known in the U.S. or City of the Dead as it was known in Britain, hit theaters double-billed with the West German film The Head. I do not consider Horror Hotel to be a B-movie on the basis of being cheap or bad. It is actually a really good, slick-looking production. I have another qualifying characteristic; the inclusion of Christopher Lee. Sorry, Star Wars Episode 2 and 3, but that makes you an expensive B-movie. Horror Hotel is an enjoyable, scary, atmospheric movie that draws you in quickly with its well-conceived characterization, spooky set design, and witty dialog.

The opening brings us into the community of Whitewood, Massachusetts in the 16th Century.
We witness a mob closing in, which is generally accepted as not a good sign for somebody. They accuse the town weird chick, Elizabeth Selwyn, of being a witch and set about burning her at the stake. At this point, we don’t know if there is any evidence or reason, or if they are being paranoid or what. She asks for help from Jethrow, who promptly throws her under the bus. He denies having consorted with her, presumably to save his own skin. However, we see him utter a prayer to save her while the mob sets about burning her at the stake. His prayer is unusual though, as he is not beseeching God for help; he is actually calling on Lucifer! A dark shadow forms over the crowd, and the conclusion is left ambiguous to the audience.

We cut to the present and meet our main character, Nan Barlow. Nan is played by Venetia Stevenson, a 50’s blonde model and actress who also appeared on “77 Sunset Strip”. She is studying American History in college under Professor Alan Driscoll, played by the always amazing Christopher Lee, in a non-Hammer film non-vampire role. Driscoll is giving a lecture on the witch trials, and shows an unnatural intensity toward the subject. Speaking of unusual attraction for witchcraft, Nan, who is an over-achiever, tells him how she wants to know more on the subject to help her grade. He sends her to Whitewood to learn first-hand from the locals more about the lore, explaining that he knows Mrs. Newless of the Raven Inn.

Nan goes off to Whitewood, despite objections from her boyfriend Bill, her brother Professor Richard Barlow, and common sense. Nan is nice looking, intelligent, and likeable. As portrayed by Venetia Stevenson, she is capable of showing us a sympathetic character you want to both root for, and choke for her many bad decisions. Her lack of discernment in this story would embarrass a five-year-old, but if she had an ounce of wisdom, there would be no movie.

She pokes around Whitewood for a few days to learn about witchcraft and lore from the townspeople. The set of the town is quite impressive for an older movie. The buildings do look ancient, the backdrops eerie, and the use of fog is quite effective. Nan meets the inn keeper, Mrs.
Newless. Newless is mysterious, creepy, and bears a strong resemblance to the woman killed in the beginning of the story.

She also meets the librarian; another young girl about her age, probably early 20’s who has only been in town a couple of weeks. Her name is Patricia Russell, and she is played by Betty St. John. Betty should be familiar to fans of 50’s and 60’s films, having appeared in such movies as “The Robe” and “Corridors of Blood”, also with Christopher Lee.

Ms. Russell is living with her grandfather, Reverend Russell. He warns Nan to get out while she can, but does not elaborate. Despite her many warnings, poor Nan bites the bullet fairly early in the movie. This movie has drawn many comparisons to Psycho partly because of this part of the story. For example, she is in a strange inn (like the Bates Motel). She is up to something forbidden by showing a strong interest in black magic, whereas the girl in Psycho is actually breaking the law. Just before being killed off, both characters are seen wearing black “bad-girl” undergarments, pretty daring in the 50’s and 60’s. Black bras and underwear always indicate a dark character trait in early films, and nearly always mean this person’s going to meet her maker very soon!

So poor Nan sneaks around and stumbles upon a ritual involving witches observing Candlemas. They tie her down and one reveals herself to be Mrs. Newless, who is really Elizabeth Selwyn. Get it? Newless is phonetically Selwyn backward. Elizabeth kills Nan off-screen in a scene that builds up dramatically and is quite effective.

This is one area where the movie is so much better than modern movies. There is not one drop of blood, though lots of violence occurs or is implied. What you don’t see is much scarier than actually seeing lots of gore for gore’s sake. Just before a person (or in one case, a poor animal) is killed, it cuts to another scene, or occurs off-screen.

Nan’s brother Richard sets out to find her after she disappears and misses her aunt’s birthday party. He learns more about her research after talking to the librarian Patricia. The two hit it off pretty quickly. Her grandfather warns Richard about hanging around and advises him to leave.
However, soon it is obvious Pat is the next victim. Reverend Russell tells Richard how to stop the witches with a large cross. Why this information has never been used before now is unclear, but that’s unimportant. Meanwhile, the boyfriend who until now has been largely useless and unlikeable shows up to town to also search for Nan. Just as he arrives, he has a bad car wreck in one of the films “gotcha” scary scenes. He lumbers on into the village anyway,
showing up in time to help Richard and Pat. The townspeople are apparently all witches and warlocks, having grabbed Pat for the final sacrifice, which has to be done by midnight, because that’s how these things work.

Richard and Bill work together to save the day. The conclusion has Bill taking a cross from the hallowed grounds of the church and carrying it to the sacrifice. The cross has the startling effect of causing the witches and warlocks to burst into flames. The effect is unexpected for a movie of this era, and is intense, as we see several of them running around consumed by fire, sometimes in the same frame. Kudos to the effects team and stunt men. You see it lots of times now,
but this is an early example as far as I can tell.

Horror Hotel is a remarkable little movie in many ways. It has my admiration because of the tight direction, heightened tension without much violence (save for the fiery conclusion), and spot-on performances. I wish that Christopher Lee has a bigger part in this, but that is my only qualm.

Witchcraft purists might not like the fact that the script makes no distinction between witches and literal Satan worshippers, with them specifically calling out to Lucifer. However, if you study Christian Scripture, it is clear that there are only two paths; the One True God, or Satan. If you are not a believer in Christ, then all other paths lead to the devil.

James 3:15 says, Such“wisdom” does not come down from Heaven but is unearthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

I am not bothered by the depiction of pairing of witchcraft with Satanism. I just want readers to
know where I’m coming from. That plot point helped the conclusion make sense, when the antagonists are defeated by the appearance of the holy cross. I like horror movies with a spiritual
theme. Evil is ultimately undone by God, and in this movie it is shown unapologetically.

I highly recommend this movie, and give it the highest mark, four out of four.

Didja Know?

• I am by no means an expert in witchcraft, Wicca,
  or any of those themes. I had to do some
  research after seeing this movie on their ritual they call Candlemas. I found
  that it is actually a Christian holiday, observed to celebrate Jesus’ early
  life.
• Fun fact-Rob Zombie's song Dragula featured Christopher Lee's sound byte "...superstition, fear, and jealousy" 
• Betty St. John would later become the
  mother-in-law to American rocker Axle Rose of Guns N’ Roses
• Two minutes of footage missing from the American
  print showed Elizabeth in the initial burning scene declaring her allegiance to
  Lucifer and placing the curse on the village.
  The removal of this plot point would make her guilt ambiguous until
  later in the movie, but made certain bits of dialog sound confusing when
  referring to the curse over the town

Birdemic: Shock and Terror

A Moviehead Pictures
Production
Cast:
Alan Bagh…..Rod
Whitney Moore…Nathalie
Damien Carter…Nightclub Singer, also credited with writing
and performing “Just Hanging Out”
Mona Lisa Moon….Mai
Crew:
Director, screenplay author:
James Nguyen

OK, let’s get something out of the way right off the bat. Birdemic is awful. It represents incompetence on every single level. The acting is bad, the effects are atrocious, and the editing is
laughable. With so many undesirable traits, you might wonder what compelled me to finish it. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment. Perhaps it’s a certain component in my DNA that makes me interested in these B Movies, you know, kind of like when you are driving along and you come upon a wreck. Obviously, it’s awful when someone has a wreck, and you really should drive along and keep traffic moving, but you don’t. You look. That’s kind of what this movie experience is like. It is so bad, you can’t look away. You almost have to keep looking, just to see what happens next.


The easiest feature to pick on is the visual effects. The birds of the aforementioned Birdemic are essentially animated sprites that look like copied and pasted GIF images on the screen. Seriously, the birds rarely do anything besides hover in the same spot on screen flapping their wings in perfect formation. Visual effects technician Yeung Chan put the entire budget into one or two shots of the birds hovering, and one shot of a close-up bird flying in, and they used the same clips repeatedly.


We could also take shots at the acting, but it’s a little like shooting fish in a barrel here. The principle character, Rod, played by Alan Bagh, recites his lines with the mumbling monotone of a middle school play actor. In one scene, he is giving a presentation to some venture capitalists about his revolutionary solar panels. At least I think he is discussing solar panels. He keeps referring to “Solarpuhlz”, but in the context of his speech, I’m thinking “solar panels”.


Having said all that and taken my easy swipes at the cast and crew, there are some qualities that kept me interested. The cast isn’t stellar, but they do the best they can with what they are given. Whitney Moore as Nathalie does embody a sort of innocent enthusiasm that makes her character at least likeable. Although she and the other actress, the under-used Mona Lisa Moon have “love scenes” with their boyfriends, they are not graphic. Director James Nguyen did not allow nudity in his film, so when the characters jump up out of bed, the girls are wearing bathing suits. It seemed a little odd wearing bathing suits to bed, but the movie earned points for me for not devolving into porn like many B-films do. If you are familiar with any number of network TV shows, the actors in this movie wear more than you would see on girls in prime-time TV.

The movie also has a very not-so-subtle environmental message. The birds attack because of global warming. This approach is never satisfactorily explained. The characters also encounter a bizarre mountaineer guy who watches over the forest like some kind of nature guru. The group also comes across the token science guy who lays out for them the global-warming scenario with enough science jargon that we basically have to accept that he is right.

The movie features a synthesized track that is not bad, but it’s not great. I was curious, so I read the credits at the end, because I have that kind of time. Many songs are attributed to Smartsound Software, although I only heard one piece of scoring about 10 seconds long, which is repeated ad infinitum. Also, there is some original live music played in the nightclub scene. Damien Carte plays “Nightclub Singer”, and is credited with writing and performing “Just Hanging Out”, which is admittedly catchy and stayed in my brain for the rest of the night.

Special makeup effects by John Garcia are pretty well-conceived. Now, when I say well-conceived, remember we’re talking about within the context of an independently financed movie by people who haven’t made many movies. We’re not talking about Avatar here. To be fair, I have step aside here and remind you that Avatar’s director James Cameron got his start working for Roger Cormen, who made movies not that different from Birdemic. OK, back to the makeup effects.

It seems that these new global-warming enhanced birds spit acid on people to gruesome effect. Actually, I didn’t know it was acid at first. I learned after reading another synopsis of the movie on the Internet Movie Database. In the film, when the birds fly by, victims fall over with acid on them, and it looks like they suffered from fatal bird droppings.

You might get the impression that I’m beating up on this movie, but that is not the case. The truth is, for all its faults, this is a unique gem. The cheap effects and amateur acting actually become part of the charm. What some people receive as a Z-grade movie experience, I actually admire. Here, a young group of film makers with more enthusiasm than talent put lots of effort into their labor of love, and completed their project without any help (translation: financial backing) from Hollywood studios. The director worked a full-time job as a software salesman while supporting this movie, shooting around his home of Half Moon Bay, California, spending his own money on the entire project, plus the rather unique marketing strategy.

Nguyen didn’t merit inclusion into any of the major film festivals, so he brought a van to them, covered with stuffed birds. Additionally, he handed out flyers thrown together with artwork from the movie, and a link to his web site. Unfortunately, in his haste he misspelled his own web site URL, so people who took his flyer home were looking for http://www.bidemic.com/, spelled without the ‘r’. Win for enthusiasm, Fail for talent.

All in all, the movie represents a sort of triumph. Nguyen may not be ready to take on Scorsese just yet, but he gritted his teeth for reportedly 5 years making this movie happen. He couldn’t have spent a whole lot making it, so it’s highly unlikely not to have turned a profit, with its growing popularity with a small but devoted cult following. Who knows, maybe in a few years, it will reach notoriety in a post-mortem kind of way, much like the infamous Troll 2. And if Birdemic 2 does show up at the Cineplex, I’ll get in line. If nothing else, it will be to see what happens next.

Moments that make you say, “What the...”

• At one point in the story, our hero is mugged by
  a guy for his gasoline. The robber successfully acquires the gas, begins to
  back away and is then quickly killed by the birds. The hero then just leaves.
  Why? He could have gotten the can of gas back, plus another wickedly cool gun.
  But he just leaves it all there.

• It’s probably just as well. The guns used by the
  main characters have a bottomless clip, anyway.
  
• Speaking of guns that defy logic, our intrepid
  heroes come across a busload of tourists who are being terrorized by the birds.
  The heroes spray the bus with bullets to try to shoot the birds, missing 99% of
  the time, while simultaneously not affecting the bus at all.
  
• The guy then convinces the tourists to exit the
  bus with him, and they all die immediately after getting out of the bus,
  including the idiot with the gun. Worst rescue ever.

Final Verdict: An enjoyable movie, on 'B-Movie' terms...Three out of Four.