Feliz cumpleaños para mí

stars Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Tracey E. Bregman, Jack Blum, Lawrence Dane, and Lesleh Donaldson.

plot: The 'top ten' at Crawford University are disappering one by one, starting with Bernadette (Lesleh Donaldson). Meanwhile, Ginny (Melissa Sue Anderson) begins having flashbacks of an accident and brain surgery during the time she lost her mother. Her psychiatrist and friend David (Glenn Ford) tries to comfort her, but she can't help but think that she is the one doing the killing and then forgetting.

reveiw: This movie is wicked fun to watch! It's very confusing to find out who the killer is. The murders are also very original and very gory. Melissa Sue Anderson is great at playing Ginny. And the revealing of the killer is very surprising!

10/10!

The teenager Virginia Wainwright (Melissa Sue Anderson) studies in the traditional Crawford Academy and belongs to a group of wealthy friends named The Top Ten. Virginia had a serious car accident a couple of years ago where her mother died. Now she lives with her father and is psychologically treated by the prominent Dr. David Faraday (Glenn Ford). She has also frequent blackouts but she is slowly recovering her memory. When one by one of her friends are murdered and disappears, Virginia starts to believe that she is the killer, but Dr. Faraday does not think so. Who might be the serial-killer?

"Happy Birthday to Me" is a creepy slasher with a good story with many twists. When it seems to have disclosed the killer and the motive, there is one last unexpected twist that surprises the viewer. The conclusion is extremely dark and makes this movie one of the best in the genre. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Feliz Aniversário para Mim" ("Happy Birthday to Me")

Note: On 30 Jun 2020, I saw this film again.

With seasoned pro J. Lee Thompson behind the camera, well known TV actress Melissa Sue Anderson in the lead role (hoping to make the transition from the small screen star to movie star), and veteran actor Glenn Ford giving able support, Canadian slasher Happy Birthday To Me is a far more competently made film than many of its contemporaries: the direction, cinematography, editing, lighting and acting are all top notch.

Unfortunately, it is this very slickness, along with the rather convoluted plot, lack of gore, and very silly finalé, that prevented this from being as enjoyable as I had hoped; I guess I just prefer my 80s slashers to be simpler, cheaper, nastier, and just a little more willing to shock!

Anderson plays Virginia Wainwright, newest member of the 'Top Ten', a clique of rich kids at exclusive private school, The Crawford Academy. After a game of chicken almost results in a terrible accident, Virginia begins to have flashbacks to a similar incident which claimed the life of her mother and left her with terrible injuries to her brain. When a gloved killer starts to stalk and kill the 'Top Ten', Virginia begins to wonder if she is the person responsible for the grisly murders...

Thompson, the director of highly regarded classic Cape Fear, puts his obvious skills to use, making the most of the silly script and delivering some well executed scenes of mayhem: the road race at the beginning wouldn't have looked out of place in a modern action movie, whilst the first death is worthy of an Argento giallo. However, the plot is so silly that even a skilled director like Thompson, with over thirty years experience, struggles to hold things together. The film eventually becomes a mess of disappointing gore-less deaths (the MPAA apparently cut some of the bloodier moments before its original release) and silly red herrings, and at times it also feels rather restrained (there is no nudity, despite there being the obligatory shower scene).

Thankfully, there is a sufficiently twisted ending, with the manky murder victims assembled around a table to take part in a macabre birthday party, although the final revelation is so daft that any suspense or terror is quickly dissipated.

After Happy Birthday To Me, Anderson returned to TV, Ford was given flack from critics for his appearance, and Thompson's career went downhill (King Solomon's Mines, anyone?); despite all this, the film isn't THAT awful, and should be of some interest to fans of the genre, if only for the infamous shish-kebab scene that featured on the excellent poster.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

A nearly 2 hour excuse to showcase some grisly deaths and silly plot twists, but that's not a bad thing. I did sometimes wonder if the film's content really supported the run time, but the pacing isn't terrible, so you don't spend most of the movie checking your watch. It's nice to see Melissa Sue Anderson in something other than Little House on the Prairie and she's really likable in this as the birthday girl with memory problems whose friends keep disappearing and she might be the one responsible. The finale is one of the silliest and most entertaining conclusions I've ever seen.

I enjoyed this movie, but I'm pretty sure a few trims wouldn't hurt it. There are a few plot lines that seem to go nowhere and the whole thing is a bit too convoluted for its own good. It's nice to see Melissa Sue Anderson as a bad girl and slasher movie final girl all in one and the makeup effects are great. That ending is completely ridiculous and I loved every second of it.