In the US, Happy Birthday to Me
was released on DVD with a crappy picture of a
girl with glowing eyes holding a birthday cake
on the front cover. This is an utter travesty,
because I know the reason I first checked out
this movie was the original cover: An image of
a young man about to have his tonsils added to
a shish-ka-bob. Thankfully, the R4 release restores
the original image, but I recall the tagline being
something more like 'Six of the most bizarre
deaths you'll ever see,' not 'It'll
be a killer party!'
Also on the R4 cover is a blurb from Brian Saltzman,
from amazon.com. My first thought was, 'Oh,
for fuck's sake, they did NOT grab a quote
from an Amazon customer for their sleeve, did
they?' The actual disc contained no answers,
so I had to do some research. No, the quote doesn't
come from some schlep who wrote a review about
a product on the website, it's Amazon's
official promotion review. I'm still not
sure that I agree with using this as a blurb,
given that Columbia are essentially quoting an
add for the film, but whatever. It was good I
did the research, though, because I also learned
that Happy Birthday to Me has
suffered a fate similar to The Abominable
Dr. Phibes and, perhaps even more sadly,
MTV's The Real World, and
been re-scored due to music clearance issues.
I confess I didn't notice this myself, but
I only saw the film once in the late 80s, so big
time fans take heed (or indeed those who've
just seen the film twice).
Happy Birthday to Me is the
story of a troubled young girl (played by Melissa
Sue Anderson in an escape from the Prairie) who
has undergone treatment for memory loss and blackouts.
The DVD sleeve says she's a high school
senior (equivalent to a year 12), but she, and
her friends, all look a bit old for that. Speaking
of her friends, they keep dying. Or do they? It's
a mystery! Bodies don't turn up, but people
are definitely missing. I guess it's pretty
clear that at least one of them dies, because
you see him getting shishy with it on the cover,
although the photo is not an entirely accurate
representation of what happens in the movie.
Okay, so plot isn't Happy Birthday to Me's strong point. In fact,
it has no real strengths. However, it is an 80s
slasher, and I have a soft spot for them, so I
enjoyed it. The viewer is treated to a hefty offering
of stereotypical 80s youth, silly plot devices,
and a downright cluttered ending. You've
seen it all before, you've even seen it
done better, but here it is done again.
Now, as for those aforementioned bizarre deaths,
really most aren't that odd at all. And,
let's be honest, shish-ka-bobbing isn't
really that bizarre, it's just a variation
on the standard stabbing. There is supposedly
some extra gore footage that was shot, but as
of yet has not been restored, so maybe the additional
blood makes the movie's deaths really odd.
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