Happy Birthday To Me (General Discussion) [Archive]

Joshg

08-19-2007, 03:27 PM

The 1981 slasher film now has a home on the new Friday the 13th board.
Chat about it. Hoo-Haw!!

Personally, I think it's an overated underated slasher. Meaning, originally bashed to nothing, but praised a little too high by slasher fans.

At any rate, I still enjoyed it. 6/10. Shishkabob really hits the spot. Was hoping this could be released uncut, and with the proper score on DVD some day.

http://imgbolt.com/public/thumb_46c852890b011014740905.jpg (http://imgbolt.com/public/pview/16033/750272.jpg)

Ron

08-19-2007, 03:40 PM

I really liked this film, so I'd give it 4 stars. It really had that 80's slasher feel to it. I also thought that the deaths were superb. It just bothers me that they replaced the original score on the dvd.

Joshg

08-19-2007, 03:41 PM

Luckily, I was able to watch the film for the first time on VHS, so I got the full jist of it. Hooray! And Lesleh Donaldson was as good as ever.

kramerfan

08-20-2007, 02:09 PM

I gave it 4 stars.I enjoy it and didnt think anything about the score being different.Id also love an uncut dvd with original score.

DarkPumpkin

08-20-2007, 03:09 PM

I vote that this film has the worst DVD cover art ever produced. Instead of using the classic poster, for some ungodly reason, they decided to do the most piss-poor and hideous photoshop job ever. A girl who looks like a robot, complete with green glowing eyes, holding a birthday cake. It completely makes the film look like it's not a slasher, and rather some sci-fi pod people film.

As for the film, it's definitely trying to do something different for the most part. There are some pretty creative and gruesome kills, and a very nice twist ending. I give it a 6.5/10

Ron

08-20-2007, 04:39 PM

I agree with you DP, the original poster was badass and what we got was hideous. That's why I opted to use the insert as my cover. I just couldn't stand looking at that cover.

girlychaos

08-20-2007, 10:47 PM

I gave it 4 stars. It's been a while since I last watched it, but I always liked it very much. The ending is awesome.

Ron

08-21-2007, 02:18 AM

you gotta love the slasher twists of the 80's.

MaDMaNMaRz

08-21-2007, 05:14 AM

Happy Birthday to Me is great.......although I do still slightly prefer Bloody Birthday.

The original cover art is awesome. As for the movie, I thought the plot was pretty basic, but good. The kills were really good, and unique. The twist ending was great too. You either love it or hate it. The same goes with the twist ending of April Fool's Day.

I gave HBTM 4 stars. :)

Ron

08-21-2007, 02:23 PM

April Fool's Day's ending was interesting because of the fact that in the end, no one was actually dead.

Joshg

08-21-2007, 03:20 PM

You either love it or hate it.

...Or somewhere in between. :D

The problem I had with Happy Birthday to Me was not what I usually have with slashers. It wasn't because it had lack of story...I felt it had too much. Went a little deeper, and I thought it hurt the film.

But I still like. 3 stars.

MaDMaNMaRz

08-21-2007, 11:24 PM

April Fool's Day's ending was interesting because of the fact that in the end, no one was actually dead.

Yeah, I agree. I still don't understand the hate with that ending. To each their own, I guess.

Ron

08-21-2007, 11:58 PM

i think I understand why some hate the ridiculous twists in slashers and it's the same reason that some love them. They come from so far outta left feild.

sCabbOy

08-22-2007, 12:21 AM

3/5

Classic, but could be much better.

Shoesalesman

08-22-2007, 02:00 AM

4/5, from what I remember of it.

I'd have to see it again to make a more accurate judgement.

MaDMaNMaRz

08-22-2007, 05:08 AM

I agree scab. It's definitely a slasher classic. I think if they toned down the plot a bit, it would have been a little better. There was too much going on, so it ended up being a little sloppy.....plot wise.

But it's definitely a fun movie. The ending is great, when she's having the birthday party with all of the corpses. It has a death by a shish ka-bob. How can you not like it? Lol

Joshg

08-22-2007, 11:24 PM

Exactly what I thought about the plot MaD.

Patrick

11-05-2007, 08:58 AM

Yea this movie is awesome. I love it. Just hate the dvd cover art as several of you have mentioned and the music score change and I have also heard this one was edited quiet heavily the same way My Bloody Valentine was.

nottidelterrore

11-05-2007, 12:52 PM

I gave it a 5. I really loved it. The ending was pretty great. It's definitely one of the better quality slashers out there.

The DVD cover is hella lame though. One of the crappiest covers I've ever seen.

sCabbOy

11-05-2007, 06:53 PM

Even though the cover is different than the VHS, I didn't think it was bad on the DVD. I have seen much much MUCH worse.

Patrick

11-06-2007, 10:28 AM

I have an alternate cover from a really cool site that I downloaded. It has the VHS cover art on it.

Fowlees

11-23-2007, 10:13 PM

I'd forgotten all about this film. I've got it on DVD somewhere, so i'll have to have a rummage around in the loft and dig it out. From what i remember it wasn't one of the best ever horrors, but it was a little different and that is what appealed to me. 7/10

Fowlees

12-08-2007, 04:32 PM

I find it strange that the bloke in the sports car jumps the opening drawbridge, in the scene near the start when the college kids come out of the silent woman inn, and as a result smashes the front of his car up just to win a $20 bet....surely the repairs to his car would be infinitely more than $20.

Or was it an impressive display of machismo...money be damned!!

Ron

12-08-2007, 04:54 PM

you always have to appreciate irony like that.

Fowlees

12-14-2007, 07:18 PM

I saw this film again about two weeks ago, and the old addige about not being able to judge a film until you've seen it more than once,certainly stands up well here.

I enjoyed it at lot more second time round. It's a cracking little movie, well worth a looksee.

I had a chuckle at the scene where the science teacher discharges a bolt of static charge onto Mr Van der Pall's nose..

"But the really funny thing about static electricity is that it can be discharged...." Ha ha.

CharlieBrummel

12-15-2007, 03:41 PM

I just watched this for the first time in ten years. I felt pretty much the same way I did about it the first time. Nearly 2 hours to get to that ending? I know a lot of slasher movies have leaps in logic, but come on. It's contrived beyond belief. That said, the film is well done up until the last 15 minutes. What was the original ending (that imdb claims didn't have a twist)? Virginia ending up being the killer?

Ron

12-15-2007, 03:45 PM

The twist is such a ridiculous leap, but I love it.

nottidelterrore

12-15-2007, 04:38 PM

The twist is such a ridiculous leap, but I love it.

Same here. It's one of my favourite slasher movie endings. It's one of those "what the hell!" endings.

Harmonic Bond

12-16-2007, 09:46 PM

Just saw this the for the first time ever. I thought it was cool as hell. Like most, I could have done without the twist at the end. I couldn't really make any sense as to why the real killer (forget her name) would kill all of her friends. To frame Virginia? I understand killing the doctor, Virginia, and, to a lesser extent, Virginia's father. But what was the killer's motivation to kill her own friends? :confused: Chalk it up to the "she's crazy" out?

However, the killer's motivation for revenge was well rooted into the story. It was a nice touch, making her and Virginia sisters, and the mother being the town whore.

Ron

12-16-2007, 09:48 PM

See I've always thought that the twist was so tacked on and out there that it made this film great.

Harmonic Bond

12-17-2007, 01:16 AM

Well, I thought the twist was kinda fun, too. However, the story was so painstakingly set up to make Virginia the killer. I think they just went a bit far with that red herring.

Ron

12-17-2007, 01:26 AM

Yeah I guess they did kind of over saturate the movie with clues.

Chex

12-17-2007, 05:02 AM

I agree in that the biggest leap was the reasoning for the kills and what not.

I've got to say though that this film does several things right. When we watch the one guy climb into Virgina's room, I kept thinking "ok, he'll pop out here" and then would be wrong. It continued like that for nearly the entire scene. The rest of the movie was just a big game with me thinking "oh, so she is the killer!" and then finding out "oh wait, no she's not.....wait, yes she is?". :p

For the most part, it was well done. That's not to say though that there weren't some stupid bits like the guy with the weights. It would be one thing if his arms weren't fully up as the situation is believable, since his arms are then all he would have to do is tilt is body to the side and drop 'em. Then there's the "weights on the barbell standing up right behind a door" bit.

Oh well though, most films have little problems like that. Kudos to Fearnet for adding this to their list.

Deathscythe

12-17-2007, 05:20 AM

I never saw this film, but this has got to be the weirdest slasher title ever.

CharlieBrummel

12-17-2007, 05:21 AM

Despite my problems with the ending, I was amused by the shots of ]Virginia being chloroformed with her holding her eyes half closed each time to try and make it seem logical that she wouldn't see the person coming at her.

MaDMaNMaRz

12-24-2007, 05:51 AM

I never saw this film, but this has got to be the weirdest slasher title ever.

I'd recommend it. I've owned it for quite awhile now, and have always loved it. The twist ending was pretty interesting....either you love it or hate it. I quite liked it, actually.

Joshg

12-24-2007, 05:55 AM

I don't find Happy Birthday to be one of the best slashers from the 80s, but I'll admit, I liked the ending quite a bit. The film, to me, was beginning to go stale near the end, and the twist was just what it needed to get back on track.

Ron

12-24-2007, 12:09 PM

I think a lot of slashers, particularly from the 80's, depended on their wild and crazy twists to save them.

Joshg

12-24-2007, 06:09 PM

I think a lot of slashers, particularly from the 80's, depended on their wild and crazy twists to save them.

Agreed. I know this isn't really a twist, but in The Prowler, the end jump scene really left you on a good note, which raised its likeability.

Slaughter High, which was pretty terrible, yet fun, succeeded because of that dark ending. Marty's face was very menacing.

Sleepaway Camp was good through the whole flick, and the ending just sent it into a completely other league. Awesome,

My Bloody Valentine had an eerie feel to its ending. "He'll get you in the end!" That tiny twist-reveal made the film o much more classier than it already was.

Terror Train's, uh, reveal, was not at all surprising, and yet it was. you always thought you knew who the killer was, but often times, your mind would think "too easy, it can't be them". And when it was, you felt shocked, even though you knew all along.

Uh, IMO.

F13 Part V's twist-reveal was much better than if it had just been Jason. Do you know how many questions there'd be if it were Jason? Too many. When you rewatch this, the killer is easy to spot, so how come we never really thought of him in the first place? Strange, I say.

To All A Goodnight's twist was pretty nice.

Anyways, I'm making too many references. Haha,

sCabbOy

12-24-2007, 09:28 PM

In a way the twists help, but I think we shouldn't discredit the movies... saying they rely on the twists sort of depreciate the actual movies. There have been some really great slasher sin the 80's, some didn't have twists ends. But that's the genre... make you think it;s one killer, and at the end it's the least likely person.

Joshg

12-25-2007, 04:20 AM

I agree completely. I'd still love The Prowler, To All A Goodnight, Terror Train, and all the other twist/reveal ending-ed slashers if they were missing their final punches. The movies are good, and not soley based on the last two minutes, but the collaboration of all 90. Hehe,

Ron

12-25-2007, 05:18 AM

I think a lot of slashers, particularly from the 80's, depended on their wild and crazy twists to save them.

I couldn't have said it better myself. These films flooded the market and fought to be the most edgy and 'out there' films. They tried to stand out because they needed to stand out. Make no mistake about it, early and mid-eighties slashers were failing attempts at spinoffs of new series. They wanted to be Friday The 13th. If they hadn't failed, hell, I might be on happybirthdaytomefilmsforum.com posting this.

nottidelterrore

05-31-2009, 02:32 AM

According to Amazon & DVD Aficionado, the DVD with the ugly ass cover is out of print. It's not going for too much on Amazon. Around $20 or so. I'm glad I got mine new for under $10 a few years ago.

Ron

06-01-2009, 12:34 AM

Same here. I think I got it for 8 bucks or so. I just realized I quoted myself before and said "I couldn't have said it better myself" haha..

Joshg

06-01-2009, 12:42 AM

Aaah!!!

Sorry. But for a moment there I thought this thread was in the remade section of the forum. :| Scared me to death.

I think watching this a second time has made me more of a fan than my intial thoughts. The kills are creative, blind girl is now a killer/victim, and it has one of my favorite horror openings ever, thanks to Lesleh Donaldson partially. Hehe.

Ron

06-02-2009, 11:39 PM

Aaah!!!

Sorry. But for a moment there I thought this thread was in the remade section of the forum. :| Scared me to death.

Whatever you do, don't look in the Remake Repository.

nottidelterrore

07-18-2009, 03:33 PM

Happy Birthday To Me, Anchor Bay DVD (http://retroslashers.net/blog/happy-birthday-to-me-anchor-bay-dvd/)

On October 13th, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME comes home, again, in a more befitting release. You may remember Columbia’s DVD featured a shockingly uncalled for cover, and the soundtrack had been replaced seemingly due to music rights issues.

Now Anchor Bay Entertainment (or Starz if you absolutely must get technical), the old-school kings of US Slashers on DVD, correct both slights as you can see in the retailer advert above, posted on the ever-awesome Horror Digital Forum.

No word yet on extras or uncut status, but if MY BLOODY VALENTINE taught us anything, there’s nothing that isn’t possible between now and release date. If you want to let Anchor Bay know you support the inclusion of the MPAA-censored gore scenes, write nice letters to DL-TRY-Horror@Starz.com.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r294/oltrelamorte/07d64183.jpg

http://www.horrordvds.com/vb3forum/showthread.php?threadid=39318

Sounds good to me. I hope we get some special features but if not, I'll still be satisfied.

kramerfan

07-19-2009, 09:30 AM

I emailed them about this and they said it would be the r rated cut.

Patrick

07-19-2009, 06:16 PM

Awesome! Love the dvd art.

Ron

07-19-2009, 11:14 PM

This is terrific news. I hate the release that we got.

Fowlees

07-23-2009, 09:19 PM

Sweet..........

Patrick

08-23-2009, 07:21 AM

I am really anxious to get this again. I have the version with the shit cover and different score but, I want this AB version as well.

Ron

08-23-2009, 07:41 PM

I can't even stand looking at the cover of the last release.

Brett H.

09-18-2009, 12:50 AM

ToJarJa

09-18-2009, 02:51 PM

If you order this from DDD, you get exclusive balloons featuring the methods of killing used in the film.

http://www.deepdiscount.com/Happy-Birthday-To-Me-Balloon-Exclu-Front-Page_stcVVproductId82999861VVcatId455832VVviewprod .htm

I went ahead and preorder it. Thre balloons are odd, but interesting little gift with what will hopefully be a much better dvd.

WesReviews

09-21-2009, 07:28 PM

I pre-ordered mine from DDD before the balloons were added. Hope I still get them. Very neat addition.

Patrick

10-03-2009, 06:03 AM

Wal-Mart has this for $5. It is the new Anchor Bay edition with the re-instated score. I grabbed one when I saw it. My bf got Lake Placid 2 for $5 also. They also had a double feature of Halloween 4 and 5 and Jaws 1, 2, 3 and 4 all for $5.

Patrick

10-04-2009, 08:39 AM

In case anyone would like to know, the only special feature on the new 'Happy Birthday To Me' DVD from Anchor Bay is the trailer. Well, aside from the re-instated score.

nottidelterrore

10-04-2009, 01:28 PM

I may have to swing by & grab a copy if it's only $5. Thanks for the info, Patrick! :)

nottidelterrore

10-05-2009, 09:47 PM

Lance Lives

10-06-2009, 03:03 AM

I grabbed this Sunday when I saw it at Wal-Mart for only 5 bucks like everyone else said. I had never seen it before and was pretty stoked. I liked it, but like everybody else, I thought the ending was very "What the fuck...?".

Patrick

10-06-2009, 08:07 AM

I ended up finding this at Wal-Mart for $5 like Patrick stated so if you want this for a good price, go snag it up! DVDaf has the release date as 10-13-09 so looks like it got an early release.

It has no insert or anything though. Lame.

I know. I miss the days when studios used to put inserts in their respective dvd releases.

And just a trailer.....no wonder it was 5 bucks. :X But, I'm just glad to atleast have the original score.

nottidelterrore

10-06-2009, 01:49 PM

I know. I miss the days when studios used to put inserts in their respective dvd releases.

And just a trailer.....no wonder it was 5 bucks. :X But, I'm just glad to atleast have the original score.

Haha it's pretty bad when the previous release with the ugly cover has an insert yet the release by AB doesn't. But yeah, at least it was $5, had a better cover, & has the original score. Can't complain too much! :)

And if I didn't have them already, I would've grabbed the Halloween 4/5 double feature for $5. Damn good deal there!

WesReviews

10-14-2009, 02:44 AM

So I get my pre-order in for this and discover on the back cover art that they have QUOTED FROM MY REVIEW AT DVD DRIVE-IN.COM! :shock::shock::shock::shock::shock:

Here is the review in question...

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/reviews/e-h/happybthdaytome81.htm

And the back cover art...

http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/1482094bh.jpg

Totally didn't expect this. But, cool. :D

Ron

10-14-2009, 12:48 PM

haha that's awesom Wes. Kudos.

ToJarJa

10-14-2009, 01:53 PM

Patrick

04-19-2010, 08:35 AM

My bf and I just watched this. I just now got around to watching the Anchor Bay version. I have to say this movie is VERY good. it has a great story and great, inventive kills. The original score really adds to the atmosphere of the whole movie. I had only seen the movie maybe twice in the past and I honestly couldn't remember the ending. One of my all-time favorite horror films from the 1980's. Love it.

Maybe one day soon Anchor Bay will decide to release this on Blu-ray and maybe with the extended death scenes. The print of the SD is good so there shouldn't really be any problem with releasing an HD copy.