14 December 2024
Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
108 min.
Directed by J. Lee Thompson.
With Melissa Sue Anderson, Lesleh Donaldson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Tracy Bregman, Frances Hyland, Jack Blum, Matt Craven, Lisa Langlois, David Eisner.
At the prestigious Crawford Academy, someone is killing off the school's creme de la creme students, it's 'Top Ten.'

It seems this mysterious someone has a diabolical plan for revenge. A deadly vendetta.

But what could any of this bloody business have to do with winsome little Virginia Wainwright (Anderson, from TV's Little House on the Prairie)?

Will she be next on the killer's hit list? Birthday is a generally underexposed slasher which boasts solid production values and some memorable splatter sequences. (Shishkebab, lover?).

In addition, there's a showstopping turn from lead Anderson, and good support work from veteran actor Ford.

The way overblown Scooby Doo-style climax alone yields it top honors in the 'Most Generously Convoluted Storyline for a Horror Film' category. Wotta denouement!

All in all, Birthday certainly earns a decent ranking among some of the best from the splatter efforts of the early '80s.

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