Dead Birds 2004

William [Henry Thomas] leads a small band of Confederate deserters during the Civil War, a group that includes his younger brother Sam, Clyde, and Joseph. With the help of Todd, an escaped slave, and Annabelle, an army nurse, they plot a bank robbery to seize a cache of Union gold coins, a heist that leaves multiple townsfolk dead as they plunder. The violence of the raid casts a dark shadow over their retreating path.

Needing a place to rest for the night, they set up camp in a plantation house that sits above an abandoned estate. As they move through the surrounding fields, they encounter a strange scarecrow they mistake for a crucified man, and they shoot at a deformed creature lurking nearby. It soon becomes obvious that the old house is not empty. The former owner, Hollister—a gentleman farmer with a wife and two children—haunts the setting in the form of secrets and supernatural danger. When his wife died, Hollister tried to resurrect her by performing horrific sacrifices involving his own children, enslaved people, and any living creature he could reach, hoping to draw on black magic from his slaves’ rites. Instead, the ritual unleashes evil spirits that inhabit the house and attack anyone who dares enter. Local lore explains that Hollister himself was crucified in his fields by those who learned of his dark practices, to suffer under the curse he unleashed.

A storm closes in, and Joseph brings the horses into the barn. When he goes to the well to fetch water, one of the spirits yanks him under, pulling him away from the others. The rest of the group experiences a cycle of unsettling events: while resting in a bedroom, Sam is haunted by the farmer’s ghost, who shows him what happened; Todd witnesses the ghost of a slave being sacrificed in the basement; Clyde witnesses something amiss when he looks outside. Meanwhile, William and Annabelle awaken to find the gold missing, and they fear that Clyde has absconded with it. As the haunting intensifies, Sam is possessed by the farmer’s spirit and reveals what occurred. The curse has transformed the farmer’s family into demonic creatures that stalk the house, echoing the violence of the original raid. [Sam] dies soon afterward, and [Annabelle] tries to persuade [William] to abandon the place; [Todd] also resolves that they must leave.

The trio reaches the barn, where they discover the horses torn apart. The possession and visions grow stronger, and [Todd] begins to hear and see things that [William] and [Annabelle] cannot. [William] refuses to leave without the gold and heads back into the house to recover it, only to discover that [Sam]’s body is missing. In the fields, a possessed [Sam] attacks [Todd], lifting him into the air until he vanishes. When [William] and [Annabelle] followers into the fields, they find [Clyde] dead and possessed, crucified like a scarecrow with his eyes and mouth sewn shut. As they scramble to escape, [William] accidentally shoots [Annabelle], killing her.

The next morning, [William] drags [Annabelle]’s body from the fields and is set upon by the family dog before he can flee. He eventually makes his way out of the farmland and is shot by a band of Confederate soldiers who stumble upon the scene. In a final twist, it’s revealed that [William] has undergone a transformation into a demonic creature, and the soldiers mistake him for a hideous beast. Two soldiers locate two gold coins dropped by the slain deserter and investigate the plantation house. They discover the corpse of another demonic figure, presumably [Annabelle], and continue toward the plantation house as the screen fades to black.