Unhappy Birthday

A low budget film like this gets reviews all over the map, but even great films have critics that didn't like them. The Kid With a Bike got reviews in the papers of 2, 3, 4, and 5 stars. You wonder if they are watching the same movie.

This is a first effort for writer/directors Mark Harriott and Mike Matthews. They evidently worked hard to present a film with an atmosphere that is really creepy. The music and sound really matched the scenes and keep the tension high.

The sexual scenes are intense, both heterosexual and homosexual, as Rick (David Paisley) brings his boyfriend Johnny (Jonathan Keane) along with his girlfriend Sadie (Christina De Vallee).

It had a strange, but no unexpected ending that really drove the insanity home.

The acting was very good, and it was a compelling story.

It is extremely perplexing to me that a film as good as "Unhappy Birthday" could possibly be running a 2.4 rating on this site. Huh? I personally think it's one of the best small-budget horror films of the last 10 years-- dread-filled, well acted, and beautifully shot. I just watched it last night on On Demand and was blown away.

The only thing I can think of that might explain the low rating is that there is a very frank sexuality to the film, both hetero and homosexual. Maybe that was too much for some folk? For me, it is the rare film where sex is an integral part to the overall story and characters, not just thrown in for titillation (and easier distribution).

Otherwise, I am at a loss as this is a perfectly awesome little gem of a horror film that is really affecting and haunting.

I did not manage to sit through the whole film. I don't know how anyone could.

This is truly one terrible film. The direction and editing are all truly awful. Whoever edited this film has on idea about timing or what kind of duration is appropriate for shots. The camera work is rubbish.

There is no sense of suspense. Visual clichés are everywhere and are badly executed. The dialogue is badly recorded and the soundtrack is full of relentless clichéd tension building sound which does not build tension at all. Even the costumes are awful. One character wears an outfit which is so hideous to look at that I wanted to stop watching it on for that reason alone.

I don't know what happens a the end and I don't care. Some say it is like the Wicker Man. Well the original 1973 Wicker Man is a great film, so if you are considering watching this, do not, watch the 1973 Wicker Man instead.

Unhappy Birthday goes under the title Amen Island in Australia. Call it what you like, it is really, not very good. It is a UK production and is sort of experimental but definitely low, very low, budget.

Lots of handheld camera work, gratuitously sexually explicit in parts, random close ups of sheep and other oddities, awkward dialogue delivery, awkward acting and a very large unacknowledged indebtedness to The Wicker Man - and then there are the problems with the film.

Directors and writers Mark Harriott and Mike Matthews have experience in other areas of film making but this is their first stab at the steering of a production. There is a big jump between costuming and directing and both fall a bit short.

There is little sense of building tension or suspense. In fact, at times, there is little sense of coherence.

Cinematography is by Mark Hammond who has lots of experience in related areas but again stumbles a little. He seems compelled to use every cinematic technique in every scene which becomes quite unsettling for the viewer. On their own there are some fine moments but collectively they are a jumble.

The plot belts along at a breakneck pace. There is an incredible i.e. Unbelievable degree of acceptance and accommodation by the cast as things develop.

The film should be characterized by a rural, Gothic, folk horror sensitivity. It's not.

The climax and denouement, the tying together of loose plot threads, are hysterical, not in the funny sense but in the excessive sense.

I watched it expecting a homage to The Wicker Man. I was disappointed.

Words fail me. This review will not seem to bear any resemblance to the 10 star reviews above; subjective as the world is, this truly was one of the worst films I've had the misfortune to sit through. Are they acting we asked? Is it irony, we wondered? Was it improvisation? No, it is none of these. Hammy acting, a series of unconnected scenes with a 40 minute lead up to nothing and a hideous stereotyped gay man coming across like a mix of that horrid character from Gimme Gimme Gimme and Ian Beale. What I would say is that some of the time lapse photography ain't bad - what I'd also add is if the director (was there one?) wanted to avoid make up on the 'actors', natural as that may be flattering it certainly ain't! Avoid.