Happy Birthday To Me

Happy Birthday To Me is widely regarded as one of the finest slasher films. That's a justifiable claim, even if it can't compete with Halloween or Black Christmas. I think the reason that HBTM stands above most of the rest is because a real director was used, J. Lee Thompson. Thompson was a veteran of many top shelf features, including The Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear and two installments in the Planet of the Apes series. He also made several good films featuring Charles Bronson.

Happy Birthday To Me also has start power, with Glenn Ford and Melissa Sue Gilbert in lead roles.

When I saw Happy Birthday To Me on its original theatrical tun, I was impressed by how well made it was. What I didn't and couldn't have noticed at the time was how much it resembles a giallo thriller. You have your black gloved killer, flashy photography, enough red herrings to shake a stick at and it follows formula right down to the preposterous surprise ending.

Yet Happy Birthday To Me is an essentially American film, despite its similarity to an Italian giallo. We have motocross racing, a chicken run, and fraternity hi-jinx. Yes, Happy Birthday To Me has the required stereotypical young adults acting obnoxious and brain dead.

The film follows tried and true slasher formula, but as I said above, it's reasonably suspenseful and the acting is far superior to the norm. It's a great looking movie and Columbia's DVD has a sharp video transfer that should satisfy any fan. Alas, like with most slasher films put out by major distributors, the is really nothing in the way of extras. Thanks a lot, Columbia.

And have you noticed that most recent covers of classic horror movies look like shit? I sure have. Witness the original poster for Happy Birthday To Me:





Now gaze upon the ghastly new one:






I haven't gone into the plot, but really, you've heard it before. If you like slasher films, or just enjoy well made horror thrillers, you could do one hell of a lot worse than Happy Birthday To Me.