Claws out for Naomi over Birds remake

Naomi Watts has courted controversy with her role in Funny Games, the subject of The First Post's cover story today. But it is nothing compared with the fuss she's created by agreeing to appear in a remake of the classic Alfred Hitchcock horror movie, The Birds.

The 1963 film, based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier, tells the story of a girl called Melanie Daniels who pursues a potential boyfriend to the northern California town of Bodega Bay, where birds, from seagulls to ravens, start to attack the locals. As the film progresses, the attacks become more and more vicious.

The ice-blond Tippi Hedren played Daniels and, along with Psycho, the film is reckoned to be one of Hitchcock's scariest.

Horror film enthusiasts have been venting their spleen at the notion of a remake, perhaps encouraged by the fact that Tippi Hedren herself is dead set against the new film, being made by Casino Royale director Martin Campbell. Now 77, the actress said recently: "Why would you do that? I mean, can't we find new stories? They tried to make Psycho over and it didn't work."

As one of the few polite bloggers put it: "The Master has already made it. Let sleeping birds lie."