Zophael979

I rented HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME because of the good word of mouth I had been hearing about it. After watching it, I only had one thought. WHAT A LOAD OF S***!!!

There was some definite effort putting into this, but perhaps a little too much. The writer tried so hard to throw the audience off as to who was the killer that the whole thing became ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, I laughed my ass off when everything was explained in the end. Terribly cheesy. I also couldn't seem to care about the characters. Maybe it was the actors or maybe it was the writing, but I just couldn't care that these people were being chopped into little bits. Hell, I even wanted a few of them to die. Also, it's not very scary or suspenseful either.

I will commend the film on having a good lead and a few noteworthy death/gore sequences that made me cringe. Otherwise, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME isn't really worth it. Almost as bad as Halloween III

* out of ****

Carnival of Souls is one of the best horror films of the 60s and an obvious influence to the superior Night of the Living Dead. The basic plot is that a young woman survives a car wreck, but finds herself being stalked by a strange man who seems to appear out of nowhere and then disappear back into the darkness he came from. The man's stalking leads to many creepy moments through out the film, both due to the actor and the skill of the director. The actor has a very creepy stare and has this thing about him that just wreaks of death. Harvey's direction is better than solid. This film has a really creepy atmosphere and even made me jump a bunch of times. I must also credit the lead for carrying the film and giving a very believeable performance. She never really seemed like she was acting.

There is one huge flaw though. I already knew the ending after the first three minutes. Even if it hadn't been ripped off countless times after, it still would've been pretty obvious. It doesn't tarnish how effective this movie was, but I would've preferred something a bit more unexpected. Despite that one huge flaw, I highly recommend Carnival of Souls.

*** out of ****

While we are being sequeled to death in the grand year of 1988, two original classics were made and released that same year. One was PUMPKINHEAD and the other is this little suspense flick called CLOWNHOUSE. The premise is simple. A boy is afraid of clowns and someone upstairs really doesn't like him because three mental patients escape, steal clown gear, and head over to his house for some "fun". The movie, like HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13th, relies on atmosphere and suspense. CLOWNHOUSE starts in the day and grows creepier and creepier as night falls. The trio of crazies are spotted early on and stalk the boy, Casey, and his older brothers relentlessly until all hell breaks loose for the last half hour.

Part of the greatness of Clownhouse comes from director Victor Salva. He knows that clowns, dark rooms, and Michael Myers-esque stalking is really damn scary. So he does it constantly. From the beginning, there's a real sense of dread. I also credit Salva as a screenwriter for creating likeable characters with mostly good dialouge. All three brothers remind me of some kid that I know. The acting is even suitable. Sam Rockwall is the MVP and the Clown leader is one scary dude. Wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.

There are problems. The kids don't seem as scared as they should be when they finally realize the clowns are in the house. Lazy acting, but can be forgiven because they were just children. The murders were all kind of cheesy and they wussed out on the blood. Don't expect any good kills in this movie. While the chase scenes are suspenseful and even intense, the clowns are all dispatched way too easily...especially when you consider that they're getting beaten by scared (?) little boys who haven't even hit puberty yet.

Still, these flaws really don't mean much because Clownhouse has too much good stuff going for it to suck. I found Salva's most recent effort "Jeepers Creepers" to be superior, but his first horror film should definately not be missed. A bit hard to find but it's worth the look.

*** out of ****