IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Rrrobert Proficiently made psychological thriller with a convoluted story. The troubled Ginny (Melissa Sue Anderson) attends college and hangs with a popular clique, the members of which mysteriously begin disappearing. They are actually being murdered in inventive ways by a gloved killer. This assailant remains unidentified, but it is someone who is known to the victims...The complex story generally sustains viewer interest and builds effective levels of intrigue, though the constant heavy handed red herrings through the film soon lose their effectiveness. Ginny's impending birthday, the posse of students and the murder methods firmly place this film in the Halloween-Friday the 13th cycle. This film diverges slightly by being set over several days, by emphasizing several older characters rather than focusing on only the teens, and by slowly revealing the backstory via unfolding flashbacks late in the proceedings rather than in the more common prologue. It is also less bloody than others in the cycle, and doesn't dwell on scenes of terrified teens being pursued and slashed by the assailant.Some formal reviews complain that despite his billing Glenn Ford appears only briefly in a throwaway role as Ginny's psychiatrist. Actually he probably has the most screen time aside from Anderson and Tracey Bregman (as Ginny's best friend Ann - somewhat a rich bitch), has quite a bit to do, and appears over several scenes. Ford plays his scenes well lending the film some dignity. Lawrence Dane as Ginny's father likewise does solid work. As with Ford the assured performance adds gravitas. Sharon Acker does a hair-raising high-camp turn as Ginny's crazed social climbing mother. Her manic performance in the revelatory flashbacks is great fun and fits in perfectly.The younger characters are also well played and attempts are made to flesh out their characters in their relatively brief scenes. The aforementioned Tracey Bregman stands out among this crowd. Bregman seems to be adding hints of menace to her character of Ann. No wonder she went on to such a successful career in television soap operas.

TheRedDeath30 I have fond memories of this 80s slasher movie from my early childhood. In the days of VHS and the dawn of HBO, movie choices were slim for a elementary school kid, so certain movies were drilled into my brain as I developed a love of horror because of their easy access through repeated viewings on local cable or HBO and this movie was one of those pack. It made such a definite impact on me due to its' creative killings.It's been some years since I had seen this lost childhood classic and I recently got hold of a copy to take a cruise down memory lane. Well some roads are better left in the rearview mirror and this movie was a big letdown from the memories I thought I cherished. This stems mostly from a plot that's a convoluted tangle of red herrings and false twists. Almost every scene in this movie becomes a set up to some cheesy "we fooled you" moment that never has any satisfying revelation for the audience. By the time we get to the big, giant, final twist reveal at the end, the viewer finds themselves so weary of being "fooled" by the director that it would have been a bigger surprise had the movie just ended in some logical manner. While a few of the murder scenes do still have an eclectic charm in their quest to present a unique kill that hadn't been done already in the burgeoning slasher industry of the 80s, most of them fall flat and just look a little silly at this point. It's a fun movie from the lower realms of the 80s horror pantheon that features some interesting names like a director who made GUNS OF NAVARONE, an actress trying to shed her wholesome LITTLE HOUSE image and an actress soon to be a soap opera vixen, but some movies are much better in the hazy light of memory than they become in the clear light day.

The_Film_Cricket There exists within me a modicum of affection for the early 80s teen slash pictures. I grew up on a diet of this stuff. Then, in my youth, it was scary stuff, but today, it's pure cheese fit for the good people at Kraft. "Happy Birthday" to me fits comfortably into that nest of films, which raise a slender bit of nostalgic interest but are otherwise as disposable as toilet paper - I mean that as a compliment.Somewhere in this morass of gory hedonism, a microb of a message emerges. We are introduced to Virginia, a proud member of the "Top 10", the most popular girls at Crawford Academy - the connective tissue of the group is the same "so last year" scarf".Since we have a gaggle of nubile teens with bad attitudes that also means we have a killer on the loose, a sneaker wearing killer who murders by means of throat slashing, head-crushing and doing away with one poor sap who gets a pair of garden shears to the gut - OUCH! If that weren't enough, Virginia has flashbacks, visions of . . . something that means something to someone. I don't know I wasn't paying attention.

TheBlueHairedLawyer While my favorite movie remains the 1981 slasher My Bloody Valentine, this film offers many of the same things; a mysterious plot, interesting if not sometimes comedic characters and a creepy soundtrack, along with vocals at the end credits, making Happy Birthday to Me a fun and thrilling little movie.Basically the plot follows Ginny, a girl who grew up with a rich father but whose mother grew up poor and had a reputation for being the town tramp. Now, nearly grown up and in a fancy prep school, Ginny is a member of a snobby club that annoy people just for the heck of it. Soon various members of the club begin to die... but who is the murderer? I watched this with my best friend and little sister at a Christmas party, we were bored and picked it out. It turned out to be a thrilling and entertaining film with some sad moments, creepy moments and even funny moments, especially the scenes where the snobs play pranks on the science teacher and the drunken winos at the bar. Creepy, oh boy, there is one scene I don't think I'll ever forget which shows a very graphic brain operation in Ginny's childhood.If you love slasher movies or just want a cheesy but fun film, check this one out!