Take a stab at Happy Birthday To Me (1981) on Blu-ray

Columbia Pictures

Welcome to upscale Crawford Academy, where everyone -— especially new student Ginny (Melissa Sue Anderson) -— wants to be part of the school’s most popular clique. But now somebody has begun butchering the group’s members. Could a deadly accident from Ginny’s past be connected to the brutal killings? And as her 18th birthday approaches, will Ginny be the guest of honor at the most horrific party of all? Tracey E. Bregman, Matt Craven, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Jack Blum, Lisa Langlois and Hollywood great Glenn Ford co-star in this twisted slasher shocker from legendary director J. Lee Thompson that features -— as its infamous poster promised -— ‘six of the most bizarre murders you will ever see!’

REVIEW

I’m old enough to have seen Happy Birthday To Me in 1981 when it first opened in theaters. Of course the film’s selling point was that infamous poster featuring a young man about to ‘enjoy’ shish kabob … for the last time (incidentally, the guy on the poster is not the guy in the movie. It was a brilliant marketing campaign that earned the film an impressive for the time $11 million opening weekend. By this point in time, we’d already experience Halloween and Friday the 13th and Prom Night and Terror Train, so audiences were expecting just another slasher film with creative killings. (Sadly because Friday the 13th and other slasher films at the time really pushed the boundaries of an R-rating, films that followed were forced to make severe cuts to trim out the blood and gore or suffer the dreaded X-rating — which is exactly what happened with this film so a lot of the ‘good stuff’ regrettably ended up on the cutting room floor, most likely discarded as it doesn’t appear to have been reinstated for this release. Interestingly enough, this film was actually in production before Friday the 13th and the other 1980 slasher films were released, so Halloween would have been more of an influence than those that came after it, and Happy Birthday To Me completed filming five months after Friday the 13th was released.

What ended up on screen is actually more of a psychological horror film with the slasher elements. Along the way there are some creative twists to the genre, the main one being that everyone seems to be familiar with the person who eventually murders them. The filmmakers realized that all of the good gimmicks were being quickly used up so they added the storyline about Ginny’s trauma from an accident that either confirms she is the killer or is just a red herring. Of course in a film like this that is centered around a group of school friends, all of them who act suspicious at one time or another, they can all be suspects or red herrings. I honestly did not remember who the killer is while watching the Blu-ray, and that’s because the ending is completely bonkers and no one can see it coming (think of the classically twisted Sleepaway Camp climactic reveal). The ‘gaslighting’ element to the story also keeps us on our toes wondering if Ginny is in fact the guilty party until all is revealed. In 1981, I didn’t think the film was that great, mainly because it really cheated on all of the killings and that WTF ending. Today … I’m pleasantly surprised that it actually holds up as a pretty serious, well-crafted, well-acted thriller, even if the climax was almost completely rewritten midway through production. If you haven’t seen it yet, I won’t spoil anything but you have to hand it to Melissa Sue Anderson and one other cast member whose characters’ development took a complete 180 in the climax for actually making it work (and there is one flashback moment prior to the final scene that actually does hint at what will be revealed at the climax). The film is also different from other slasher films of the era in that it has a pretty downbeat ending, leaving one character standing amid the carnage when a police detective just happens to walk in and there’s no one left to defend that character, leaving us to assume they served out a life sentence for a series of murders they didn’t commit.

As Ginny, Melissa Sue Anderson got to break out of her Mary Ingalls role on Little House on the Prairie, still using the innocence of that character well, while also getting to be a bit flirty and sexy, and physically and psychologically damaged. It was a lot for someone of her age at the time, and she acquits herself well. Glenn Ford, who apparently did not want to be in a film like this, plays Ginny’s therapist, trying to help her remember an accident that killed her mother and damaged her own brain, and how that is tied into the disappearance of her classmates. For not wanting to be there (and he was reportedly unpleasant off camera), he still acts like the pro he was, giving a sensitive performance that makes us believe he genuinely cares for Virginia (although seen now it begins to come off as a little creepy, like did Ginny have feelings for him and vice versa?). Of course he gets a little too close to the truth, and I have to wonder if the director made him lay face down in the mud as payback for his behavior. All of the actors playing Ginny’s classmates actually do a good job at making the character feel real, and you may recognize a very young Matt Craven, who is still acting today, as one of them. While Anderson was a well-known face at the time, the actress playing her friend Ann was not — this was her first movie — but she is today, especially to soap opera fans: Tracy E. Bregman, a long-time cast member of and Emmy winner for The Young and the Restless, where she is celebrating her 40th anniversary with the show. Prior to the movie she had appeared on Days of Our Lives for more than two years, but I think this movie really put her on the map. She’s really good because you never can tell if she’s sincerely Ginny’s friend or if she’s always calculating behind her back (in fact, all of her friends may just be humoring her). Bregman was just 17 at the time she was cast, but she is a total pro here.

For the kind of film this is, it still had a pretty decent budget in 1980 dollars ($3.5 million which is equivalent to $12.7 million today) that gave it an established director in J. Lee Thompson (who knows a thing or two about thrillers from directing the classic Cape Fear), who takes the film completely seriously, evoking those sincere performances from his cast, and some nice production design by Earl Preston, slick cinematography from Miklós Lente, and a closing theme song by Syreeta. Sure, the ending really is off the rails and makes very little sense in relation to everything that came before it, but it’s still a fun ride with some engaging characters and some clever kills (even if you don’t get to see most of them). It holds up a lot better than I expected.

VIDEO

Columbia Pictures

The master provided to Kino Lorber for this Blu-ray release is apparently the same one that the studio prepared for a Blu-ray release through a different company in 2016. Seven years later and it still looks better than it probably did in theaters. Colors are nicely balanced, not over-saturated, the dark scenes don’t seem to have any artifacts or compression issues, and the image has a fine grain, film quality. An updated master for 4K may produce a more detailed and dynamic image, but this one is really nothing to complain about.

AUDIO

The disk includes the original 2.0 mono soundtrack, as well as a remastered DTS-HD 5.1 track which does offer some nice separation but it’s not nearly as dynamic and anything you’d expect from a surround track today. Still, it’s clear, and the music and sound effects never overpower the dialogue. The only issue I experienced was an inconsistent volume level that had me boosting the volume a couple of times (listening through headphones). Still, nothing really to complain about as far as the quality of the audio. Sadly this version does not include the controversial electronic soundtrack that was used for the 2004 DVD release the inexplicably replaced the film’s original, and quite lovely, score.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Sister Slasher (9:40) — This is an exclusive interview with Tracy E. Bregman in which she recounts her casting for the film, getting along with everyone during filming (and keeping in touch over the years), her respect for director Thompson, and the ‘event’ that actually led to the rewrites that gave the film its screwy ending. It’s a nice segment but it’s just too short. A feature-length audio commentary would have been very welcome.
Commentary — Co-screenwriter Timothy Bond and historian/filmmaker Daniel Kremer talk a little about the film and a lot about things completely unrelated to the film. Coming from someone who actually worked on the film, it would have been nice to have had more context for what was on screen. Unfortunately it sounds like Bond was on a cell phone or on a Zoom call (this was probably recorded during the pandemic) with some really bad reception and a lot of what he says is garbled or the sounds just drops out. I skipped through it to see what they had to say about key scenes and didn’t get much (from what I could hear) so it’s not something I would want to sit through in its entirety.
Trailer (1:17) — Very vintage but in pretty good shape.
TV Spots (3:00) — Several TV ads including one from the UK where the film was certified X.
Radio Spots (2:00) — Vintage radio ads.
A collection of trailers for other Kino Lorber releases.

OVERVIEW

Aside from the Tracy E. Bregman interview, the special features here are not the disk’s selling points. What is the selling point is the lovely film transfer that gives us the movie in a near pristine condition. For classic 80s horror buffs, it’s a must-have for your collection. For the curious who have never seen it, I’d say it’s worth a look, especially if the ending hasn’t been spoiled. It’s filled with good performances, some decent spins on the genre, and enough mystery to keep you guessing until the end … and maybe even after the end. Happy Birthday To Me is a good addition to your home video library.

Happy Birthday To Me has a running time of 1 hour 50 minutes and is rated R for some language and scenes of extreme violence.

Kino Lorber generously provided Hotchka with the Blu-ray for reviewing purposes. The Blu-ray is available for purchase through Amazon. See the link in the comments section.