Happy Birthday to Me

Begins promisingly with quality look and decent performances all round, including an ageing and apparently heavy drinking Glenn Ford. The trouble here is that esteemed director J Lee Thompson doesn't have his heart in this and seemingly no interest in horror film or slasher movies in particular. There is nothing here to engage us with the characters or worry about what happens and certainly not to stay and ponder what is going on as things drift from the original set-up. This is at once far too serious and really silly and in the end neither the fan of slash and run gore fest, nor a more cerebral follower is likely to be satisfied by this glossy and most competent but ultimately pretentious outing.

Well first things first, It makes me wonder if the creators of scream and I know what you did last summer watched this movie to get ideas. This movie I think is BETTER then those movies, It has way more suprises in the ending thats for sure. And best of all its filmed in Canada! Good shocks, Good death scenes (the dumbell!), and a great plot make this a winner. Just when you think you know the killer it changes again and again Worth the price to rent (I just saw it on movie PIX for free uncut and commerical free) A solid 7/10 Check out my other horror movie reviews click on my name above!

stars Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Tracey E. Bregman, Jack Blum, Lawrence Dane, and Lesleh Donaldson. plot: The 'top ten' at Crawford University are disappering one by one, starting with Bernadette (Lesleh Donaldson). Meanwhile, Ginny (Melissa Sue Anderson) begins having flashbacks of an accident and brain surgery during the time she lost her mother. Her psychiatrist and friend David (Glenn Ford) tries to comfort her, but she can't help but think that she is the one doing the killing and then forgetting. reveiw: This movie is wicked fun to watch! It's very confusing to find out who the killer is. The murders are also very original and very gory. Melissa Sue Anderson is great at playing Ginny. And the revealing of the killer is very surprising! 10/10!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME is a little-known Canadian high school slasher that turns out to be highly entertaining thanks in part to dense plotting and a series of inventive kill sequences that are a cut above your usual mindless stalk-and-slash routines. It stars Melissa Sue Anderson - the girl from LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, no less - as an amnesiac and accident survivor whose rich school friends start being bumped off one by one by an unknown killer. The kills, involving weights, motorbikes and kebabs (!) are exceptionally portrayed and some have the kind of inventiveness that went into a FINAL DESTINATION film. It's one of those slashers that has a lot of background, characterisation and back story that makes it one of the best of its kind, and sure, the ending is over the top, but admittedly eerie too. Great stuff!

I enjoyed this movie, but I'm pretty sure a few trims wouldn't hurt it. There are a few plot lines that seem to go nowhere and the whole thing is a bit too convoluted for its own good. It's nice to see Melissa Sue Anderson as a bad girl and slasher movie final girl all in one and the makeup effects are great. That ending is completely ridiculous and I loved every second of it.

Bernadette (Lesleh Donaldson) is almost strangled and relieved to see someone she knows. But, it is a short relief as she is slashed with a razor. So opens a classic slasher film. This is Little House on the Prairie's Melissa Sue Anderson's first starring role in a film, and, ignoring Skatetown U.S.A., her first film outside of TV. Someone upsets Virginia (Anderson) and he is dispatched quickly. By whom? Is it the creepy guy Alfred (Jack Blum) that hangs around the Top Ten? Soon another gets a weight dropped on his balls with disastrous results. Well, at least we know who the murderer is with a little pruning, a tasty shish kabob, and a quick dip, as we saw who did two of them - or did we? It is certainly a mystery why there are no bodies. The shower scene was very unsatisfying.

Virginia (Melissa Sue Anderson) finds her friends from private school slowly disappearing. She was unconscious after a bad accident on her previous birthday. She recovered but lost her memories after some dangerous brain surgery. Now her birthday is coming up again. There is a lot to like in this B-horror movie. The possibility of Virginia doing the killing is quite compelling. The kills are competent without being ridiculous. This is more of a serial killer movie than a slasher splatter horror. And I like the reveal of what happened in the previous birthday. Everything is working toward a very good B-horror. But then the ending pulls a Scooby Doo. It is really unacceptable to stupid it up like that. Also Melissa Sue Anderson best known for 'Little House on the Prairie' doesn't have enough screen presence. She needs to own this movie, but mostly she remains the shy quiet girl in the background. The camera really needs to follow her more.