Flu Bird Horror
Encyclopedia
Flu Bird Horror is a 2008 made-for-television horror
Sci Fi Pictures original film written by Tony Daniel
and Brian D. Smith, and directed by Leigh Scott
. It first aired on The Sci-Fi Channel on August 23, 2008, and was released to DVD
as Flu Birds on September 30, 2008. Reviewers note the film for being representative of low budget films being created for and aired on the Sci-Fi Channel.
In a secluded area of the forest a group of 7 juveniles are on a rehabilitation trip. During a trust exercise one of the teens Porky (Gabriel Costin) gets lost in the woods. The Counselor goes off to search for him and soon returns telling the teens to run as he is attacked by the giant birds, the juveniles flee to the woods and various hiding spots in the camp. As the group birds clear, Ava who's hiding under a picnic table is frightened by Porky who appears out of the woods with deep gashes on his body. She helps him up and flees into the woods with the others. The group, minus Porky, huddles together to devise a plan to escape with Johnson proclaiming himself leader. Johnson wants to leave Porky as they find their way out the woods, but Ava volunteers to help Porky escape with them.
At the hospital the surviving hunter is being treated and the virus is first discovered.
When the teens flee to a military bunker on the outskirts of a nearby town, the flock follows, spreading the killer virus they carry throughout the town. Derrick manages to steal the flare gun from Johnson and they start to argue. When Hank speaks, he is accidentally shot by Derrick and burns to death. The teens are now in a new situation as the bunker is filling with gas. Johnson suggests they use the wounded Porky as a scape goat and flee while they eat him. Ava, however, refuses to go through with such a inhumane act. The group takes it a vote and 3 (Johnson, Lola, and Derrick) vote for leaving Porky while 3 (Ava,Gordon, Porky) vote for him to stay. Johnson then tells Porky he doesn't have a vote. Ava finds a walkie talkie and gets in contact with park ranger Garrett (Lance Guest
) and Dr. Giovanna Thomas (Tarri Markell) asking for rescue. The group begins to head out of the fort as Porky is pushed to the front by Johnson. The group runs as Porky begins crying and is eaten alive.
In the hospital, the hunter starts coughing his infected blood in the air and touch, causing the virus to spread. Garrett and Jacqueline head out to save the teenagers, but are stopped by the CDC who quarantined the hospital. Not allowed to go back inside they both go to the forest to save the children.
After a successful escape, Derrick begins to celebrate, but is attacked by a bird and escapes with scratches on his arm.
Jacqueline and Garrett gets a call from Giovanni telling them they're looking at a pandemic and they're all going to die.
Back in the woods, Lola and Jonathan began to heavily make-out, only to be interrupted by one of the predators. The two make their way to the group, with the bird nearby. Johnson says they can kill it, but the rest of the group runs off.
Back at the hospital Dr. Giovanni makes her escape and leaves through a back exit. She is then stopped by a CDC member, who gives her multiple warning to turn around, because they are given orders to shoot those who try to leave. She ignores his pleas and is shot dead. Meanwhile a group of CDC members are going into the woods to look for survivors and investigate about the birds.
Garrett and Jacqueline find their way to the bunker, where they find the remains of Porky. They manage to establish a connection with Ava through the walkie talkie. The walkies fade out as the birds close in on the teenagers once more. The group continues North and discover a house. Excitedly, Derrick runs into the house. While the others wait outside using him as a human Gunnei pig. Gordon then smells a foul odor, which is the remnants of a dead body. Johnson picks up the gun from the dead body and the group continues inside. Johnson then forces Gordan to go check the nearby shed, which is a meat locker.
Meanwhile the CDC members who are scoping the woods are confronted by 3 of the birds. Everyone in Alpha team is killed. Oscar then calls Garret and Jacqueline. They discuss what exactly the birds are, how to kill them, and they try to figure a way to stop them from migrating south where nearly 4 million people live.
Back at the cabin Derrick runs into the bathroom looking for anything that can calm the infection ravaging his body. The disease still causes Derrick pain through out the night. That morning, Johnson wakes up Derrick planning to shoot him, because he's a liability. Just before he can shoot Derrick a flu bird busts through the window. Gordan and Jonathan kill the bird before anyone is hurt. Back to his original intentions, Johnson gives Derrick two choices go outside or be shot. A small group of town survivors join the teens in safe shelter to await rescue. Ava begs Gordon (the only other one with a weapon) to stop him. Ava wants to put it to a vote once again, but Johnson rejects the suggestion. Angrily, Derrick tackles Johnson and accidentally spits in his face. Derrick continuously apologize as Johnson spits blood out his mouth. The group boards up the windows while Johnson washes his face. Searching through the cabinets Lola finds a small cylinder like object.
Garret and Jacqueline continue searching for the teens. Ava manages to reestablish connection with Garret. They pinpoint their location, but Garret can't reach them because the birds are waiting outside. Garrett calls Drake (Oscar) to hep get the kids. Drake tells Garrett to tell the kids to leave the building because he's planning an air strike. Garrett says there is no way they can, because they will literally be at "Ground Zero." Garret warns Ava. The group makes a run for the meat shed. Lola and Ava throw out some meat to catch the birds attention while the boys shoot them. The birds aren't taking the dead bait and Johnson concludes they like fresh meat and a bird goes after the girls. Lola manages to kill it by shooting it in the head. Derrick hobbles out of the cover of the house and offers himself as bait to the birds. Mocking them and saying he's not afraid of dying, there are much worse things. After exposing his wounds to the bird they attack and eat him alive. The group goes onto the jeep pass and finally meet Garrett and Jacqueline and load into the car. The birds began to attack the car, Gordon lost his gun, distressed Lola managed to shoot one. During the fray, an obstacle in the road causes Garret to screech to a stop, flipping the car on the roof. Everyone exits the car and make their way to under to a concrete tunnel. Before he has a chance to shoot, Drake is called by Garret asking for more time. The birds began to attack the plane and bites the pilot. The plane crashes to the ground. The groups find their way back to the military bunker. Which is still leaking gas. They think of a new plan to kill the birds, to blow up the birds using explosives. Ava offered herself to be the bait, planning to use a fuse so she won't be caught in the explosion. However, Gordon doesn't want her to go. Johnson backs her up on her plan, but he wants to be the bait instead. Ava once again wants to vote, but Johnson says it's him. The gang heads out through a back exit in the fort as Johnson, Ava, and Gordon holds up the wood blocking the fort entrance. Gordon and Ava fight over who should run first as the strength holding the wall dwindles. Gordon leaves, followed by Ava who pauses looking back sadly at Johnson who says he'll make it. Johnson backs up as the birds tear down the shield. The birds block the escape route for Johnson. At his last stand he shoots the explosive sending the building in flames. The group walks off remembering Johnson. In the last humor of the movie Gordon admits he got busted for shoplifting. Ava replied that ain't gangsta. Gordon replied, "Gangsta comes from the heart...Okay my dad's a pediatrician."
's 2006 airing of Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America
, but noted that the virus aspect as used in the film made little sense, writing "everything wrong with the film can be traced back to the nonsensical script." They opined that the birds themselves were the stars of the film when they wrote "Those zombie buzzards are the true stars of Flu Bird Horror — both ghastly and goofy all at the same time". While noting that casting was not optimum, they wrote "On the plus side, I can't complain about the acting. I can complain about the dialogue, but I can't complain about the actors themselves." In consideration of the film's weaknesses, they still found it worthwhile by their writing "almost miraculously, Flu Bird Horror remains fairly watchable and I honestly don't know how Scott and company pulled it off all things considered". Monsters & Critics panned the acting, writing that it "ranges from horrible to maniacally over-the-top." However, they granted the film was somewhat better than most bad horror films even though representative of what is being expected from the Sci-Fi Channel by writing "Flu Birds is potentially some “nature on the rampage” goofball fun and a lot better than Ghouls, but it’s still not a quality film. Not that you’d be expecting one with Sci-Fi Channel emblazoned on the front". DVD Talk
panned the film as "fairly bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, even by creature feature standards", concluding that the "characters are completely uninteresting and the ending is underwhelming and disappointing".
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
Sci Fi Pictures original film written by Tony Daniel
Tony Daniel (science fiction writer)
-Biography:Daniel has appeared numerous times in Gardner Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies. He has authored five books and numerous short stories. The novels Metaplanetary and Superluminal are part of a series, based upon the short story "Grist."Daniel is an editor at Baen Books...
and Brian D. Smith, and directed by Leigh Scott
Leigh Scott
Leigh Scott is an American film director, writer, producer, actor and cinematographer.- Early life and career :...
. It first aired on The Sci-Fi Channel on August 23, 2008, and was released to DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
as Flu Birds on September 30, 2008. Reviewers note the film for being representative of low budget films being created for and aired on the Sci-Fi Channel.
Plot
Six teens on a "Teens at Risk" chaperoned camping trip find themselves being hunted by mutant giant birds infected with a mysterious virus that changed the birds into deadly predators.Summary
The movie starts with two hunters going to hunt deer in the woods. The bigger of the two is first to fall prey to the giant bird-like creatures and the other wounded, but later saved by a man on a jeep pass who carries him to a local hospital.In a secluded area of the forest a group of 7 juveniles are on a rehabilitation trip. During a trust exercise one of the teens Porky (Gabriel Costin) gets lost in the woods. The Counselor goes off to search for him and soon returns telling the teens to run as he is attacked by the giant birds, the juveniles flee to the woods and various hiding spots in the camp. As the group birds clear, Ava who's hiding under a picnic table is frightened by Porky who appears out of the woods with deep gashes on his body. She helps him up and flees into the woods with the others. The group, minus Porky, huddles together to devise a plan to escape with Johnson proclaiming himself leader. Johnson wants to leave Porky as they find their way out the woods, but Ava volunteers to help Porky escape with them.
At the hospital the surviving hunter is being treated and the virus is first discovered.
When the teens flee to a military bunker on the outskirts of a nearby town, the flock follows, spreading the killer virus they carry throughout the town. Derrick manages to steal the flare gun from Johnson and they start to argue. When Hank speaks, he is accidentally shot by Derrick and burns to death. The teens are now in a new situation as the bunker is filling with gas. Johnson suggests they use the wounded Porky as a scape goat and flee while they eat him. Ava, however, refuses to go through with such a inhumane act. The group takes it a vote and 3 (Johnson, Lola, and Derrick) vote for leaving Porky while 3 (Ava,Gordon, Porky) vote for him to stay. Johnson then tells Porky he doesn't have a vote. Ava finds a walkie talkie and gets in contact with park ranger Garrett (Lance Guest
Lance Guest
Lance R. Guest is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Guest developed a serious interest in acting in the ninth grade, and he majored in theater while attending UCLA. He has starred in many theatrical films including his role as Jimmy alongside actress Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween...
) and Dr. Giovanna Thomas (Tarri Markell) asking for rescue. The group begins to head out of the fort as Porky is pushed to the front by Johnson. The group runs as Porky begins crying and is eaten alive.
In the hospital, the hunter starts coughing his infected blood in the air and touch, causing the virus to spread. Garrett and Jacqueline head out to save the teenagers, but are stopped by the CDC who quarantined the hospital. Not allowed to go back inside they both go to the forest to save the children.
After a successful escape, Derrick begins to celebrate, but is attacked by a bird and escapes with scratches on his arm.
Jacqueline and Garrett gets a call from Giovanni telling them they're looking at a pandemic and they're all going to die.
Back in the woods, Lola and Jonathan began to heavily make-out, only to be interrupted by one of the predators. The two make their way to the group, with the bird nearby. Johnson says they can kill it, but the rest of the group runs off.
Back at the hospital Dr. Giovanni makes her escape and leaves through a back exit. She is then stopped by a CDC member, who gives her multiple warning to turn around, because they are given orders to shoot those who try to leave. She ignores his pleas and is shot dead. Meanwhile a group of CDC members are going into the woods to look for survivors and investigate about the birds.
Garrett and Jacqueline find their way to the bunker, where they find the remains of Porky. They manage to establish a connection with Ava through the walkie talkie. The walkies fade out as the birds close in on the teenagers once more. The group continues North and discover a house. Excitedly, Derrick runs into the house. While the others wait outside using him as a human Gunnei pig. Gordon then smells a foul odor, which is the remnants of a dead body. Johnson picks up the gun from the dead body and the group continues inside. Johnson then forces Gordan to go check the nearby shed, which is a meat locker.
Meanwhile the CDC members who are scoping the woods are confronted by 3 of the birds. Everyone in Alpha team is killed. Oscar then calls Garret and Jacqueline. They discuss what exactly the birds are, how to kill them, and they try to figure a way to stop them from migrating south where nearly 4 million people live.
Back at the cabin Derrick runs into the bathroom looking for anything that can calm the infection ravaging his body. The disease still causes Derrick pain through out the night. That morning, Johnson wakes up Derrick planning to shoot him, because he's a liability. Just before he can shoot Derrick a flu bird busts through the window. Gordan and Jonathan kill the bird before anyone is hurt. Back to his original intentions, Johnson gives Derrick two choices go outside or be shot. A small group of town survivors join the teens in safe shelter to await rescue. Ava begs Gordon (the only other one with a weapon) to stop him. Ava wants to put it to a vote once again, but Johnson rejects the suggestion. Angrily, Derrick tackles Johnson and accidentally spits in his face. Derrick continuously apologize as Johnson spits blood out his mouth. The group boards up the windows while Johnson washes his face. Searching through the cabinets Lola finds a small cylinder like object.
Garret and Jacqueline continue searching for the teens. Ava manages to reestablish connection with Garret. They pinpoint their location, but Garret can't reach them because the birds are waiting outside. Garrett calls Drake (Oscar) to hep get the kids. Drake tells Garrett to tell the kids to leave the building because he's planning an air strike. Garrett says there is no way they can, because they will literally be at "Ground Zero." Garret warns Ava. The group makes a run for the meat shed. Lola and Ava throw out some meat to catch the birds attention while the boys shoot them. The birds aren't taking the dead bait and Johnson concludes they like fresh meat and a bird goes after the girls. Lola manages to kill it by shooting it in the head. Derrick hobbles out of the cover of the house and offers himself as bait to the birds. Mocking them and saying he's not afraid of dying, there are much worse things. After exposing his wounds to the bird they attack and eat him alive. The group goes onto the jeep pass and finally meet Garrett and Jacqueline and load into the car. The birds began to attack the car, Gordon lost his gun, distressed Lola managed to shoot one. During the fray, an obstacle in the road causes Garret to screech to a stop, flipping the car on the roof. Everyone exits the car and make their way to under to a concrete tunnel. Before he has a chance to shoot, Drake is called by Garret asking for more time. The birds began to attack the plane and bites the pilot. The plane crashes to the ground. The groups find their way back to the military bunker. Which is still leaking gas. They think of a new plan to kill the birds, to blow up the birds using explosives. Ava offered herself to be the bait, planning to use a fuse so she won't be caught in the explosion. However, Gordon doesn't want her to go. Johnson backs her up on her plan, but he wants to be the bait instead. Ava once again wants to vote, but Johnson says it's him. The gang heads out through a back exit in the fort as Johnson, Ava, and Gordon holds up the wood blocking the fort entrance. Gordon and Ava fight over who should run first as the strength holding the wall dwindles. Gordon leaves, followed by Ava who pauses looking back sadly at Johnson who says he'll make it. Johnson backs up as the birds tear down the shield. The birds block the escape route for Johnson. At his last stand he shoots the explosive sending the building in flames. The group walks off remembering Johnson. In the last humor of the movie Gordon admits he got busted for shoplifting. Ava replied that ain't gangsta. Gordon replied, "Gangsta comes from the heart...Okay my dad's a pediatrician."
Cast
- Clare CareyClare CareyClare Carey is a film and television actress.-Background:Carey was born at a Catholic mission in Zimbabwe where her father and mother were serving...
as Dr. Jacqueline Hale - Rebekah KochanRebekah Kochan-Theatre career:Kochan has been acting since she was nine-years old. Her first role was in a Las Vegas production of Annie.-Film career:She moved to Los Angeles when she was 17, and immediately landed the role of Tiffani von der Sloot in Eating Out. She studied at The Second City...
as Lola - Lance GuestLance GuestLance R. Guest is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Guest developed a serious interest in acting in the ninth grade, and he majored in theater while attending UCLA. He has starred in many theatrical films including his role as Jimmy alongside actress Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween...
as Garrett - Jonathon Trent as Johnson
- Sarah ButlerSarah ButlerSarah Butler is an American actress. She stars in the 2010 film I Spit on Your Grave, a remake of the controversial 1978 film of the same title.-Biography:...
as Eva - Bill Posley as Derrick
- Brent Lydic as Gordon
- Tarri Markell as Dr. Giovanna Thomas
- Serban Celea as Oscar Drake
- Gabriel Costin as Porky
- Calin Stanciu as Hank
- Bart Sidles as Counselor (as Barton Slides)
Reception
Blog Critics poked fun at Sci-Fi Channel movies in their review of the film when they wrote "the mutated strain of bird flu started because of mysterious mutant birds in that forest where all Sci-Fi Channel movies are filmed." They made note of a stereotype cast, poor dialog, and a number of flaws with "Sluggish pacing, downtime, countless continuity errors, and repetitive dialogue are to be expected for a movie shot with something that can’t even be considered a budget, but Flu Bird Horror takes this to the extreme". Dread Central felt that the story concept was more plausible than that of ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's 2006 airing of Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America
Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America
Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America is an ABC two-hour TV movie which first aired May 9, 2006 in which an American "businessman visiting China is infected and carries the deadly mutated bird flu virus back via jetliner to the USA, soon it spreads throughout the country then the rest of the world...
, but noted that the virus aspect as used in the film made little sense, writing "everything wrong with the film can be traced back to the nonsensical script." They opined that the birds themselves were the stars of the film when they wrote "Those zombie buzzards are the true stars of Flu Bird Horror — both ghastly and goofy all at the same time". While noting that casting was not optimum, they wrote "On the plus side, I can't complain about the acting. I can complain about the dialogue, but I can't complain about the actors themselves." In consideration of the film's weaknesses, they still found it worthwhile by their writing "almost miraculously, Flu Bird Horror remains fairly watchable and I honestly don't know how Scott and company pulled it off all things considered". Monsters & Critics panned the acting, writing that it "ranges from horrible to maniacally over-the-top." However, they granted the film was somewhat better than most bad horror films even though representative of what is being expected from the Sci-Fi Channel by writing "Flu Birds is potentially some “nature on the rampage” goofball fun and a lot better than Ghouls, but it’s still not a quality film. Not that you’d be expecting one with Sci-Fi Channel emblazoned on the front". DVD Talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
panned the film as "fairly bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, even by creature feature standards", concluding that the "characters are completely uninteresting and the ending is underwhelming and disappointing".