Six of the most bizarre murders you will ever see.
Virginia is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. But before her 18th birthday, a gruesome set of murders take place and her friends are the ones who are falling prey. Could it be her? She suffers from blackouts due to a freak accident one year earlier. We soon learn the truth behind her accident and what is going on.
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Character
Grave, unpretentious, bleak and earnest.
- gravecomic
- unpretentiousprestige
- warmbleak
- earnestironic
- classical in formformally daring
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“Is Melissa Sue Anderson the best thing in Happy Birthday to Me?”
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“Would a little humor have helped?”
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“Is it actually scary?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- Wuchakon TMDB · Sep 20226/10
**_Unique, lush slasher with a notable cast fumbles at the end_** A teen returns to a hoity-toity private academy in the Northeast after a seriously traumatic experience (Melissa Sue Anderson) where members of the so-called Top Ten circle start to perish one-by-one. Who’s the killer and why? Glenn Ford is on hand as the girl’s psychiatrist. "Happy Birthday to Me" (1981) is both a slasher and a whodunit, similar to “Friday the 13th” from the year prior, except with the milieu of a prep school. The lush setting, mostly taking place at night, is noteworthy and the unique perspective of director J. Lee Thompson gives the flick a different ‘feel’ compared to other slashers from the period. Furthermore, you can’t beat the female cast. This was Melissa Sue’s feature film debut as she took time off from Little House on the Prairie to do it. She was 18 during shooting in 1980 and very beautiful (in an on-edge way), but appears at least five years older than she really was. Meanwhile Lenore Zann as Maggie is certainly a highlight and Tracey Bregman has a formidable role as the protagonist’s best friend. If you don’t remember the latter, she’s iconic of ’80-’90’s soap operas, mostly The Young
Read the whole review on TMDB - tmdb17996075on TMDB · Feb 20176/10
"Happy Birthday to Me" is a fairly entertaining slasher from the early 1980s, in which the main target is composed by a bunch of hateful know-it-all teenagers who basically deserve the worst possible deaths. There's nothing really spectacular about that, but "Happy Birthday to Me", delivers a well developed combination of butchery for the gore-lovers, but also offers a pretty intriguing and disturbing mystery surrendering the main character. As a matter of fact, the main premise in this film is the main character's deeply troubled mind and her desperate efforts to try to rebuild a part of her life that seems to be missing inside her head. Naturally, throughout the entire film, the deeply troubled girl appears having incomplete flashbacks that develop an atmosphere full of drama and deception. This slasher is fairly enjoyable for the most part, until the awful ending arrives and somehow ruins the entire thing. I intend to keep this humble review free from spoilers, so I won't give any specific details. However, I am going to say that "Happy Birthday to Me" is one of those films that promise a pretty unsurprising ending without a 'Eureka!' revelation. It is patent from the get-go tha
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Cast
- Melissa Sue AndersonVirginia Wainwright
- Glenn FordDr. David Faraday
- Lawrence DaneHal Wainwright
- Sharon AckerEstelle Wainwright
- Frances HylandMrs. Patterson
- Tracey E. BregmanAnn Thomerson
- Jack BlumAlfred Morris
- Matt CravenSteve Maxwell
- Lenore ZannMaggie
- David EisnerRudi
Crew
- J. Lee ThompsonDirector
- Timothy BondScreenplay
- John C.W. SaxtonScreenplay
- Peter JobinScreenplay
- Miklós LenteDirector of Photography
- Lance RubinOriginal Music Composer
- Bo HarwoodOriginal Music Composer
- Debra KarenEditor
- André LinkProducer
- John DunningProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
The Creeping Flesh 197380% alikeBoth grave, unpretentious, earnest.
Paranormal Activity 3 201180% alikeBoth grave, unpretentious, bleak.
Taste the Blood of Dracula 197078% alikeBoth grave, unpretentious, bleak.
Under Suspicion 199178% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, earnest.
Lady in White 198878% alikeBoth grave, unpretentious, classical in form.
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors 196578% alikeBoth unpretentious, grave, bleak.
99 River Street 195377% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, unpretentious.
Dorian Gray 200977% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, bleak.
Post Mortem 200279% alikeGame · Both grave, unpretentious, bleak.
Still Life 200575% alikeGame · Both grave, unpretentious, earnest.
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