Wednesday, June 8, 2011

80's horror film reviews: Happy Birthday To Me

This was one of the more smarter and much more classer slasher film of the decade. The plot is engaging and the teens are not just you're annoying bunch of jerks you see in these movies, although there are some. But this is actually a cult favorite of mine. I like how underrated it is and keeps people guessing(I'll tell you the spoiler later.)
The story is about Virgina "Ginny" Wainwright who is one of the top 10 best students at some snobby private school. Most of these kids are known for their pranks because hey, they're smart and rich and can get away with stuff. Let me back track here, I know I said that these kids are not like the brainless, sex-obsessed idiots like in most slasher films but pretty much act that way at times and making stupid decisions along the way. So there are days before Ginny's  birthday and she has terrible memories of it. It is revealed also to be the anniversay of her mother's death. It all started when Mrs. Wainright was pissed that Ginny's Top 10 friends didn't come over for her birthday because she was the one who gave out the invatations. Drunk and unstable, She goes over to the house where Ann Thomerson, one of Ginny's best friends, is having her party. After an arguement with the groundskeeper, she takes off in the dead of night resulting in a terrible car accident where Ginny survives mariculously after having tramatic brain surgery. This still affects her as she still have severe headaches from that. When one of their fellow top 10 elites goes missing, most of the kids are concerned but forget it quickly but unbeknowst to them, a killer is planning to picked them off one by one just in time for Ginny's 18th birthday.
What I like about this so much is that it has an amazing twist. You think Ginny was the killer halfway through the movie but it turns out that she was the final girl all along. I mean that's pretty original for a slasher in the 80's. The killer turns out to be her best friend, Ann who is revealed to be her half-sister. It's kind of soap-opready but pretty good twist overall. The kills are pretty inventive as you can see the infamous shish kebab scene(the picture above) and the weight-lifting scene is classic as well as the others.
The acting is pretty good but the most captivating performance is given to Mary Sue Anderson. She's really great at playing the icy-eyed serial killer and scared innocent victim.
For a slasher movie this has a lot of story put into it, which gives a good pace and makes the plot engaging. We don't know if it's a who-done-it scenario until the final act which is pretty smart if ask me.
One of the more better slasher movies. I would pick this over my bloody valentine anyday. Sorry, that's just my opinion.
So my last word is: Give it a watch. You might like it.

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