Happy Birthday to Me

1981 "Six of the most bizarre murders you will ever see."
6| 1h50m| R| en| More Info
Released: 15 May 1981 Released
Producted By: Canadian Film Development Corporation
Country: Canada
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

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.

Watch Online

Happy Birthday to Me (1981) is currently not available on any services.

Director

J. Lee Thompson

Production Companies

Canadian Film Development Corporation

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.
Watch Now
Happy Birthday to Me Videos and Images
View All
  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

Happy Birthday to Me Audience Reviews

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
HeadlinesExotic Boring
SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
leojankov Neither good nor bad. Amazing acting, but completely unrealistic ending.
Sam Panico Looks like we're staying in Canada for another day, thanks to this 1981 slasher, directed by J. Lee Thompson (the original Cape Fear, Conquest for the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, 10 to Midnight, Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects...man, J. Lee, what a resume!).Virginia "Ginny" Wainwright (Melissa Sue Anderson, TV's House on the Prarie) is popular, rich and pretty. She's a member of the biggest clique at the fancy pants Crawford Academy - the Top Ten. These snobbish, rich and rude assholes rule the school and - if you're anything like me - you'll celebrate their brutal deaths. Just look at how they act at their local pub, the Silent Woman. Total dicks.One night, Top Ten member Bernadette (Canadian scream queen Lesleh Donaldson, who has been in several films we've featured recently) is attacked in her car by someone without a face. She plays dead, then finds someone she knows. As she explains what has just happened, the real killer slices her throat.The rest of the gang? They could give a crap. They're all at the bar, putting mice into old men's beer. It's enough to make you want to be the killer and wipe them out. But it gets worse. They play chicken on a drawbridge and are all nearly killed. Ginny even yells "mother!" as the car goes over the opening bridge. Everyone survives, but Ginny runs away, all the way to the cemetery where she tells her mother that she's been accepted by all of the rich kids.When she gets home, her father yells about how she's out past curfew. And while that's happening, Etienne, one of the Top Ten, sneaks out a pair of her underwear.The next day, Ginny and Ann arrive late to class, leading principal Mrs. Patterson to put the entire Top Ten on notice, threatening a ban on their favorite bar. Soon, a frog dissection leads to Ginny having flashbacks that she shares with Dr. David Faraday (Glenn Ford, slumming it after a career in films like Superman, Gilda and Pocketful of Miracles), her psychiatrist.This is where Happy Birthday to Me pulls the rug out from under us - thirty minutes or more into the film. After the accident at the drawbridge, she underwent an experimental medical procedure to restore her brain tissue.Meanwhile, the Top Ten are thankfully getting bumped off, one by one. Etienne dies like Isadora Duncan, his scarf caught in the wheels of his motorcycle. Greg gets killed lifting weights. Here's where the film has a bit of a giallo feel - all of the murders are done by black-gloved hands, until Alfred (Jack Blum, Meatballs) follows Ginny to her mother's grave, only for our heroine to stab him with garden shears. What?!?During Ginny's 18th birthday weekend, her father leaves town, so she goes to a school dance. There, she invites Steve (Matt Craven, Meatballs) home to smoke weed, drink wine and eat kabobs, as you do. However, while feeding Steve, she stabs him in the mouth, a murder so memorable it ended up on the poster and box cover.The next morning, Ann comes over while Ginny takes a shower and has a major flashback. Four years ago, she was having a birthday party but none of the Top Ten would come. Her mother flipped out, got drunk and tried to take her to Ann's competing party, where a groundskeeper told her that she would never be anything more than the town whore. Her mother gets drunker and drives off the bbridgefrom earlier in the film, where she drowns and Ginny barely survives.Ginny begins to think that she has killed all of her friends, including Ann who she finds in the tub. Dr. Faraday has no answers, so she kills him with a fireplace poker.Whew! What happens next? Well, Ginny's dad gets home and sees blood all over the place, as well as Amelia (Lisa Langlois, Phobia, The Nest) outside in shock. Running to the cemetery, he sees his wife's grave has been opened and Dr. Faraday's body is in it. Then, entering the guest quarters, every one of the Top Ten members' bodies are arranged around a table, celebrating a birthday.Ginny arrives with a cake, singing to herself, when she slices her father's throat. He never sees that his daughter is really there, the only living guest at the party. The second Ginny, the killer, screams about having done all of this for Ginny, but it turns out that she is Ann! The girls are half-sisters, sharing a father! What?!?Ginny escapes and stabs Ann, just as the police arrive to ask, "What have you done?" The film fades to black - never letting us know if Ginny will be jailed or proven innocent. Then the film closes with a goofy - yet awesome - closing song by Stevie Wonder's ex-wife Syreeta.Columbia Pictures went full William Castle promoting this movie, suggesting theaters re-create the film's closing scene in their lobby, inviting people to celebrate their birthday party while watching the movie, preventing anyone from entering the film during its last ten minutes and scream contest for radio stations.Happy Birthday to Me arrived in theaters at the height of the slasher boom, but it defies expectations. At times, it's a giallo. At other times, it's supernatural. And others, it's a teen comedy. It's also crazy that such a directorial talent - albeit one who was rumored to spray blood all over the set to make the film even gorier - and Glenn Ford are in a slasher!
jtaveras64 Well i din't see this one coming. This particular film is incredibly clever. The cinematography is great. There is a strong psychological element in this film with an incredible twist ending you will not see coming. The killing scenes are highly original and though the movie gets confusing at times it eventually makes perfect sense. Cleverly plotted, this film was designed for any lover of puzzles, psychology and suspense. In the end, the movie plays more like a mystery thriller than a horror ... and yes there are some scares. Out of all the slasher flicks of the 80s, this one has a particular originality to it that puts it in a league of its own. Final grade, A-
Wizard-8 The Canadian movie "Happy Birthday to Me" is above average when it comes to the slasher genre - though it must be admitted that feat wouldn't be that difficult to do, given the generally awful quality of your typical slasher. The movie is not free without problems, however. At 110 minutes, it's much too long and padded out. There are moments that don't make much sense, from the unexplained burying of certain objects on the campus grounds to the explanation from the killer at the climax. On the other hand, the movie looks very nice and slick; it obviously had an ample budget. Also, there are some innovative kills. The main star attraction of the movie, however, is the script, which is filled with many twists and turns that will keep you guessing right until the end. I don't know if this can be considered a "good" movie, but if you are in a mood for a slasher movie, this is definitely one of the better examples and it will probably satisfy. Try to track down the Blu-ray edition if you decide to watch the movie - it makes the movie look brand new and fabulous.