Despite playing the lead role in the classic original, Tippi Hedren plays a different character in belated sequel Psycho and The Birds. Sequels to hit movies were very rare during Hitchcock's era, however, so outside of remaking his own thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much, he never made a follow-up to his own work. The first genuine sequel to one of his films is 1982's Psycho II, which picked up Norman Bates' story 20 years after the events of the original.
Alfred Hitchcock ed away prior to production on Psycho II, and it was instead directed by Hitchcock acolyte Richard Franklin. The sequel was surprisingly great, paying respect to the original while pulling off a suspenseful whodunit mystery. There have also been several remakes of Hitchcock's work including 1998's infamous shot-for-shot recreation of Psycho, while 2007's Disturbia with Shia LaBeouf is a modern update of Rear Window.
The only other belated Halloween II.
There's a dearth of information on the production of The Birds II: Land's End, but according to production assistant Craig Edwards, the movie was shot with theatrical hopes in mind. When it was later re-edited by producers, who added a gory opening attack sequence, Rosenthal was so unhappy he opted for the Alan Smithee director pseudonym and the film was sold to Showtime. The Birds II: Lands End revolves around a family who moves to a small island that's soon beset by killer birds, and the movie is notable for a cameo by original lead Tippi Hedren.
Rather than playing Melanie from Hitchcock's Critters Attack! where Dee Wallace plays her character from the first movie - though due to legal issues she was given a different name.
That said, it could have been a creative decision to limit direct connections, but then it would be strange to bring back Tippi Hedren at all if that was the case. Hedren agreed to the sequel for the cheque it provided, which helped fund her animal preserve, and later itted she was horribly embarrassed by The Birds II: Land's End.
