Happy Birthday to Me (1981)

At the snobby Crawford Academy, Virginia's group of friends start to go missing years after horrible events that happened to her as a child around her birthday.

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

John C.W. Saxton (screenplay) (as John Saxton), Peter Jobin (screenplay)

Stars:

Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Melissa Sue Anderson	...	Virginia Wainwright
Glenn Ford	...	Dr. David Faraday
Lawrence Dane	...	Hal Wainwright
Sharon Acker	...	Estelle Wainwright
Frances Hyland	...	Mrs. Patterson
Tracey E. Bregman	...	Ann Thomerson (as Tracey Bregman)
Jack Blum	...	Alfred Morris
Matt Craven	...	Steve Maxwell
Lenore Zann	...	Maggie
David Eisner	...	Rudi
Lisa Langlois	...	Amelia
Michel-René Labelle	...	Etienne Vercures (as Michel Rene Labelle)
Richard Rebiere	...	Greg Hellman
Lesleh Donaldson	...	Bernadette O'Hara
Earl Pennington	...	Lieutenant Tracy

Storyline

Virginia Wainwright is a spirited young woman who has returned to a private school having survived a deadly accident and regenerative brain surgery. She is proud that she belongs to the Top Ten - the school's inner circle with the best students - and attempts to resume a normal life. But her friends are falling prey to a grueling series of murders, and soon there will be no one left to attend her 18th birthday party. Could it be her? Striving to rekindle the memory of her nightmarish accident, Virginia suffers from memory loss and traumatic blackouts. We soon learn the horrible truth behind her accident and what is going on before her birthday party...

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Plot Keywords:

victim invited to dinner | video nasty | psychotronic film | canuxploitation | slasher | 

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Taglines:

Pray you're not invited to the party.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ab in die Ewigkeit

Filming Locations:

Concordia University, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), Famous Players, The Birthday Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some cast members, who were stuck in their gore make-up for hours, decided to walk around the neighborhood, scaring the wits out of people.

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Goofs

We see Virginia watching down to the grave while killer watches her, but then in the very next shot, she appears as she was looking to the side.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mrs. Patterson: [to her attacking dog] Winston! Winston! Winston, just stop it, bad boy. Sit down. Sit!
Bernadette O'Hara: Oh, Mrs. Patterson.
Mrs. Patterson: Bernadette O'Hara, do you have any idea what time it is? Where are you going?
Bernadette O'Hara: Well, I, I was just going up to the village to meet some of the kids at the inn.
Mrs. Patterson: You mean the second home for the Crawford top 10, don't you?

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Alternate Versions

The 1986 RCA/Columbia VHS release features the original print. The 2004 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD (with the "birthday girl" cover) uses a print with library music tracks and some differences in sound editing (possibly a temp soundtrack from the original production), though the closing Syreeta song is intact. The 2009 Anchor Bay/Starz Home Entertainment DVD (with the "shish kebab guy" cover) has the theatrical soundtrack, as does the Blu-ray from Mill Creek.

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Connections

Referenced in Puppetmaster (1989)

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Soundtracks

Happy Birthday to Me
Music by Lance Rubin
Lyrics by Molly-Ann Leikin
Performed by Syreeta
Courtesy of Motown Records

User Reviews

Even with a big clue, I didn't see it coming.

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.