Human uses of birds with effective mimicry of birds. The play's chorus consists of characters playing many identifiable species, including the kingfisher, turtledove, and sparrowhawk; birds feature as messengers and dancers, and several Athenians are compared to specific birds. In film, birds can feature as the major driving force in a story, as in Alfred Hitchcock's acclaimed 1963 "The Birds". Loosely based on Daphne du Maurier's story of the same name, it tells the tale of sudden attacks on people by violent flocks of birds. A bird plays the role of an outlet for a person's feelings in Ken Loach's much admired 1969 "Kes".
The Old Dark House (1963 film) been as well received by modern critics as the original film. Craig Butler of the film database Allmovie wrote of the 1963 film, that "When compared with the James Whale original upon which it is based, this remake of "The Old Dark House" is pretty sorry stuff." "Halliwell's Film and Video Guide 2000" describes this film as "a travesty which has nothing to do with the 1932 film and possesses no merit of its own. The cast is left floundering". "The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films" called it "one of the oddest pictures [Hammer Film Productions] ever