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Happy Birthday to Me |  | Director: J. Lee Thompson
Actors: Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Frances Hyland (II)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
Buy Used: $4.64
as of 11/7/2009 16:47 CST details
You Save: $15.30 (77%)
New (8) Used (15) from $4.64
Seller: goHastings
Rating:  121 reviews
Sales Rank: 29264
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Japanese (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D06014D
ISBN: 1404959807
UPC: 043396060142
EAN: 9781404959804
ASIN: B0002VYOVS
Theatrical Release Date: May 15, 1981
Release Date: October 26, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Happy Birthday to Me typifies the horror genre prior to the self-reflection and irony that saturated the genre in the late '80s and '90s. A solid cast, decent acting, a well-written script, and relatively high production values result in a solid movie that is engaging on its own in addition to offering a glimpse into the history of '80s horror. The plot follows the rules of the genre (later parodied in such films as the Scream and Scary Movie series). A number of teenagers (played by actors who appear visibly older than their characters) from an elite prep school get into mischievous sexual situations fueled by alcohol and pot smoking. As teens start to disappear, murdered in a variety of violent ways, the film suggests a number of suspects. Is the killer the troubled star played by Melissa Sue Anderson who lost her overbearing, social-climbing mother in a car accident that she survived? Or is it the stern school mistress, the wacky, cool social clown, the social misfit, or none of the above? The film keeps you guessing until the final scene. Happy Birthday is a must-see for serious fans of the horror genre and this release is a solid digital mastering of the movie. Hardcore fans should note that the DVD release was not able to secure the rights to the original soundtrack so this version features an alternate soundtrack of largely nondescript '80s electronic music. --Brian Saltzman
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 121
 Wow, better than I expected it to be. November 3, 2009
Cory LaFerriere
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I picked this movie up, having read some decent things about it online. Most of my experience with old slasher flicks is that they are filled with exceptionally bad acting, so I was pleasantly surprised that all around the acting was pretty good. The quality of the picture was also far better than I've come to expect when watching older horror films, so that was a nice surprise as well. I felt like I was watching a more recent movie the whole time. The plot is good enough to pull you in, but the twists it takes keep you guessing until the end, even if at some points you think you understand what is going on. I got a great deal on this DVD and thought I was paying a nice cheap price for what would be an ok movie, and instead I got a great one. The makers of this one really got it right!
Starz/Anchore Bay 10/13/2009 November 3, 2009
Azure1 (USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
So is this the Version with the original music? Has anyone purchessed it yet?
5 Stars for Original Version Only
Another chance for underrated slasher October 24, 2009
Ronald L. Ferrell Jr. (McDermott,Ohio)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RJESMDATMR4Z5
Overlooked cult slasher flick! October 23, 2009
John Lindsey (Socorro, New Mexico USA.)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ginny (Melissa Sue Anderson) is about to have an 18th birthday party on sunday, she belongs to a clique and had a bad past. She attends an academy where she has some friends and during the week before her birthday, there's a mysterious murderer killing off them off but Ginny's father (Lawrence Dane) begins to suspect that something is going on as he wants to find out who is this maniac.
Violent and stylish low budget Canadian/American slasher flick became a box-office hit in 1981 here in both the US and Canada, often seen as another of those "Halloween" wannabes just like 1980's "Friday The 13th" this one does things different from both "Halloween" and "Friday The 13th". From J. Lee Thompson who directed the original "Cape Fear" and from the producers of the original "My Bloody Valentine" comes a stylish and thrilling chiller that plays like one of those whodunnit mystery type movies on making you guess who could be the killer, the murder sequences even with the horrifying weight scene are quite nasty and the ending is so bizarre you have to see it to believe it. The film co-stars screen legend Glenn Ford and the film became a cult favorite over the years.
This DVD contains excellent picture and sound remastering with the original soundtrack and poster as it's cover with the only extra being the theatrical trailer, this is a movie i recommend for fans of the slasher and horror genre for pure nasty fun.
 There's a reason this is so cheap in stores October 18, 2009
Brian T (Canada)
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
It's time to throw off the rose-colored glasses regarding HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, folks. I realize the cult following it has attracted over the years holds it dear to their hearts, as can be evidenced from other reviews here, but its a film that, even in its time, never held up to close scrutiny as well as many of its "event horror" brethren of the period, not that they were flawless.
As my title says, there's a reason Anchor Bay's new release of the film has turned up so cheaply at Wal-Mart: it's not a very good movie. A below-average movie, in fact, but blessed with a great poster that guaranteed more than a few bums on seats back in the day. Anchor Bay and Wal-Mart simply recognized that their best shot at making back some money on the title, especially in this era of declining revenue for niche titles such as this one, was to sell it cheap through America's largest retailer, and a good two weeks before Halloween. In fact, the retailer actually broke street date in order that both they and Anchor Bay could take full advantage of the two week selling period before Halloween (as well as unsuspecting newbs unfamiliar with the film itself but looking for a budget DVD or two for Halloween).
The legendary tagline "Six of the most bizarre murders you will ever see!" is part and parcel of the time-honored, old-school hucksterism used to hustle these "event-related" slasher movies back in the 70's and 80's, but here it's a blatant case of false advertising. Sure, in concept, some of the murders are a little off-the-wall (kebab-skewer through the mouth; weights across the nuts 'n neck, etc), but they happen so quickly there's little time for them to be effectively shocking (and upon rewinding, you'll discover how little you actually see). This movie more likely earned its R-rating for its now-quaint profanity than it's gore (of which there is little) or it's nudity (of which there is none).
Veteran director J Lee Thompson still had some craft left in him, if barely, but he was clearly painting-by-genre-numbers on this outing, and sloppily so, as in two key scenes involving cars. Early on (and early enough to be an omen) one character's snazzy Trans Am jumps a rising river bridge, firmly planting (and utterly destroying) it's nose end on the other side, but a moment later, the car's in pristine condition. A little later, the car occupied by our possibly deranged heroine (Melissa Sue Anderson) and her crazy mother becomes lodged between the rising panels of the same bridge, eventually falling into the water below on it's roof, a plunge captured from three different camera angles, all of which are shown in sequence. Then, a fourth shot of the plunge completes the sequence, only this time, the car lands on it's wheels! How stupid did the filmmakers think audiences were in those days, anyways?
And poor Glenn Ford. He took a lot of flack at the time for appearing as Dr. Faraday in this, and his name value is really all he brings to it (as well as the opportunity for the filmmakers to insert another blatantly obvious red herring ("I'll NEVER let anyone hurt you" he reassures Anderson in a disquietingly creepy fashion). One surmises that he only took the role because it brought him back to Quebec, the land of his birth. He certainly wouldn't be the first actor to wrangle a free vacation out of a film role.
The picture boasts decent cinematography and a reasonably fast pace, but it's poorly written. The red herring count is higher and more obvious than usual in these kinds of films, with virtually every character required to do bizarre things or exhibit strange behviour that no human being would ever do or exhibit (especially among a group of FRIENDS) in order to supposedly keep us guessing. All that's missing here is Paul L. Smith gallumping around the college campus as a leering groundskeeper with a chainsaw. It's insulting, as is the "rip off that rubber mask" finale straight out of the old Scooby Doo mysteries.
Anchor Bay offers a very nice transfer on this edition, with the original music restored. The only extra on the disc is the trailer, which IS a lot of fun. If only the film lived up to it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 121
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