FLU BIRDS? Are you kidding me? Is that like the worst movie title ever or what?

FLU BIRDS is a new nature gone amok flick the Sci-Fi Channel commissioned ex-Asylum director Leigh Scott to direct and I assure you he's none to crazy about that terrible title either. The basic premise could be summarized as THE BIRDS meets CABIN FEVER with birds going berserk and spreading bird flu in the process, but I seem to recall Scott mentioning in a past email that at one point the script had been rewritten so that the birds were practically mini-pterodactyls and the avian flu they were spreading was more along the lines of the ebola virus. Judging by the synopsis First Look Entertainment has out there for FLU BIRDS I'm assuming that ludicrous rewrite got scrapped - or not.

"During what is supposed to be a quiet camping retreat, six teens find themselves being hunted by giant birds infected with a mysterious virus that has morphed the birds into deadly predators. When the teens flee from the woods to a nearby military bunker on the outskirts of town, the flock of infected birds descends, spreading the killer virus they carry throughout the nearby town. One by one, the townspeople succumb to the virus, but a small group of them and the teens are able to find impenetrable shelter…at least for now. Will the teens be able to make it out of the town alive or will they end up as bird food?"

The DVD arrives on August 30th. The movie itself is supposed to premiere on the Sci-Fi Channel sometime in August or early September - no exact date yet scheduled. Leigh Scott tells me he's unsure as of yet whether the Sci-Fi Channel will use the alternate title SCREECH when they air it. Lord, I hope so. FLU BIRDS? Unfortunately, First Look are also the same morons who decided to release MANSQUITO on DVD under the less catchy MOSQUITO MAN title; FLU BIRDS is going to become the more common moniker due to it being the DVD release title. Yuck!