10 Most Hysterical Characters In Horror Movie History

Alongside Psycho, The Birds is one of the films that popularised horror cinema from the 1960s onwards, and has earned its place as one of Alfred Hitchcock's best known films.

Focusing on a series of sudden, violent and often fatal bird attacks, the film generated in the public a newfound fear of our flying friends and turned model Tippi Hedren into a star. The 'easy choice' here may seem to be Hedren's Melanie Daniels, as one of the hysterical damsels Hitchcock was known for bringing to the screen. However, much to her credit, the actress carries off fear and panic without raising the pitch a decibel, managing to seem flustered yet consistently rational and level-headed throughout the film. Instead, we turn to the creatively entitled Hysterical Mother in Diner.

Played by Doreen Lang – a frequent character actor in Hitchcock flicks – the mother begins agitating at Melanie's reports of bird attacks, working herself into a flurry and telling her two children to abandon their food mid-meal, so that they can get out of there. It is not long before she's back, however, dragging both children into the diner, after the birds' antics have blown up the petrol station.

In a perplexing, direct-to-camera speech, she blames Melanie for the bird attacks, shrieking and screaming and proclaiming her to be evil. And, in true '60s fashion, she is set right with a firm slap...