Alison's Birthday

In the old days before CGI when special effects weren't very special there was a strange concept called imagination which incredibly, enhanced movies, which helps a lot with this one. The acting is amateurish as is the script and direction, but the ideas used are great, the kind you would expect to find in an episode of Tales of the Unexpected or The Twilight Zone. I enjoyed it.

I spent the first twenty or so minutes of Alison's Birthday trying to figure out where I had seen the lead actress before; I eventually gave up and consulted IMDb, and it's only Joanne Samuel - Mrs. Rockatansky from Mad Max! That sorted, I settled down happily for what turned out to be a very enjoyable occult horror movie in a similar vein to Rosemary's Baby.

At age 16, Alison Findlay (Samuel) and two school friends decide to hold a seance, contacting Alison's dead father, who warns his daughter to not attend her 19th birthday party. Despite her friend Chrissie (Margie McCrae) dying during the seance (crushed by a falling bookshelf), Alison seems to forget about the warning, and, a few days before turning 19, travels to the home of her Aunt Jennifer (Bunney Brooke) and Uncle Dean (John Bluthal) to celebrate her impending birthday. Joining Alison for the trip is her boyfriend Peter (Lou Brown), who, as the party draws nearer, comes to believe that Alison is in danger from her Aunt and Uncle, who might not be who they claim to be.

Yes, we've seen this sort of thing done before, and yes, the story develops as we expect it to, but with likeable leads, a strong supporting cast, and capable direction from Ian Coughlan, plus a neat, downbeat twist ending, what you have is a consistently entertaining 97 minutes of supernatural thrills. Furthermore, zero nudity and gore means that the film is ideal to introduce your kids to the horror genre.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

This movie about a girl STRONGLY/RIGHTFULLY warned to avoid her 19th birthday party started good, got increasingly MST3k-bad and ended exactly how you thought it would and yet.... I LOVED the ending. That saved this entire movie and believe me...it needed it. I was laughing out loud SOOO many times in the second act, I almost turned it off several times. But, I didn't and I even knew how it'd end. It was the ending I'd crave in these creepy movies made in the late 70s. If you like creepy 70s occult films, check this out on Shudder.

I first saw this in the late 80s and found the cemetery scene pretty tension filled n scary. Surrounded by satanic cultists in broad daylight in a desolated cemetery n most of em in black ties n one fella with a scythe.

Revisited it recently n found it a bit slow.

The movie doesn't have any gore, nudity or kill scene.

At least they shud have shown the Celtic goddess nude.

Felt sad for Peter.

**** POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILERS ****

Australian entry into the 1970's demonic/witchcraft horror cycle. Film starts with a prologue ( similar to 'Halloween' or 'Prom Night'), where 16-year old Alison is warned, whilst doing a Ouija Board, that she must get away before her 19th Birthday.

Film moves forward a couple of years to find Alison invited to her Aunt and Uncle's to celebrate her birthday which is fast approaching. Film has similarities to 'Rosemary's Baby' with vulnerable young girl falling foul of a witchcraft cult, personified by much older, normally trustworthy characters. Her Aunt makes Alison drink her 'herbal chocolate', in the same way as Ruth Roman brought Mia Farrow concoctions in the Polanski classic.

The film has basic production values and the acting is poor, but the storyline is well thought out and quite complex, remaining true to its horror roots. The middle section of the film concerns Alison's boyfriend (an annoying character who drives around in a feeble yellow buggy), trying to uncover what is going on and save Alison. He goes through old newspapers and searches hospital records, slowly piecing things together, as Gregory Peck did in 'The Omen'.

If you're not mad about the genre 'Alison's Birthday' will be barely watchable, but for horror fans there is more than enough here to keep the interest from waning. The storyline is quite strong and manages to carry the film along. The ending seems a foregone conclusion - but in a final effort the film keeps the horror dark and provides a bleak, nightmarish finale.

Great video cover with a naked girl lying on an altar before a horned demon.