- Directed by J. Lee Thompson
- May 15, 1981 (US)
A group of friends at the elite Crawford Academy begin to mysteriously disappear one by one.
Happy Birthday to Me is enjoyable 80s trash. If you go in expecting something highbrow, then you will be disappointed. While there were a few intellectual examples of the horror genre (or attempts at being intellectual) the era itself was marked by enjoyable trash. This junky gem was part of a trend of day themed horror films like My Bloody Valentine, Halloween, Friday the 13th, New Year’s Evil, Christmas Evil, Graduation Day, Mother’s Day, Prom Night, and, well, need I go on? If you can think of it, they probably made it.
There’s a scene early in the movie, which is important from a narrative perspective, where the snobby elite of the Crawford Academy called the Top Ten jump a bridge in their cars. It’s part of a game they play. The Camaro jumps the bridge when it was too far open and ends up smashing its front down on the ground but is still able to drive away.
In the moments following when the central character of Ginny (Melissa Sue Anderson) freaks out and gets out of the Camaro for a brief moment you can clearly see that the front end is completely undamaged. So what I am saying is this was not done with a great deal of quality in mind.
Prior to the events of the film Ginny was in a terrible accident. Experimental techniques were used to heal her, and she is currently under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Faraday (Glenn Ford) who was behind the treatments. This is used to make Ginny and the viewer unsure if the kills you see are real or a hallucinatory response to the disappearances.
The focus in Happy Birthday to Me is definitely on the kills and some of them are pretty good. The one I enjoy the most involves the character of Greg (Richard Rebiere) weightlifting. The killer adds weight, moves the weight rest, then smashes Greg in the nuts causing Greg to drop the barbell on his neck.
I like the execution of the story here-mostly. I do think though that the characters involved are a little too indifferent to the disappearances of the members of their clique. Much like characters in horror movies of the time, they come off as almost not caring about what is happening. Nobody takes any real precautions or gets much concern beyond Ginny.
On the whole the characters and the execution are rooted in the late 70s to the late 80s. This movie came along at a glorious time in horror. Truthfully from the late 70s into the late 80s you will find some of my favorite horror films. They are not highbrow or deeply intellectual. They are all about the blood and the gore and just fun.
Happy Birthday to Me is done a little more seriously than most from the time and the twist at the end is interesting though a little confusing. Not entirely confusing but a little confusing. It looks like they were mostly heading in a different direction with the ending but go with one that seems to involve a telepathic bond and revenge.
Originally the ending was going to involve Ginny possessed by the spirit of her dead mother who is going on a revenge spree for Ginny’s earlier birthday party being snubbed in favor of a better party. You see hints of that mixed in with hints of the new ending too.
Happy Birthday to Me is one of those movies that I think might benefit from a remake so long as they use the originally intended script. This doesn’t need much to make it something very special and the ideas that were to be in here would have made this special.
As it stands it is not all that bad. You will not feel like you wasted your time. It is shocking yet a little silly with two dimensional characters in a film that manages to entertain. This was a movie you went into expecting disposable characters that made poor decisions getting killed in the goriest way possible given the scenario in which it occurs.
Happy Birthday to Me is an entertaining slasher film from back in the day. It’s not great but it is good, and you’ll probably watch it again. I recommend this!
