Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker

Virginia is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. But before her 18th birthday, a grueling set of murders take place and her friends are the ones who are falling p...( read more  read more... )rey. Could it be her? She suffers from blackouts due to a freak accident one year earlier. We soon learn the truth behind her accident and what is going on...

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44% liked it

675 ratings

R, 111 min.

Directed by: J. Lee Thompson

Release Date: January 1, 1981

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DVD Release Date: October 26, 2004

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Flixster Reviews (223)


  • July 25, 2009
    This has to be the most unintentionally funny film I have ever seen. I cannot believe there is not a goofs list for this film, when it contains the worst bit of Continuity EVER!! Imagine the scene, the young star has a flashback, her and her mother are trapped on an opening bridg...( read more)e. As it opens, the car falls, spins 180 degrees and lands roof first in the water. The Director, Editor, whoever, obviously loved this stunt as we see it 4 times, in slo mo, from 4 different angles, then, as a climax to her flashback we see it one more time, this time, however, the car falls into the water Roof UP!!! Who was editing this thing?? Anyways, its worth a look for its laughs, and has a few decent effects too, including a kebab skewer through the head. Watch it, you may actually like it!!
  • April 15, 2009
    As far as '80s holiday slashers are concerned, Happy Birthday to Me is considerably more sophisticated than most. Relying heavily on a twisting plot and strongly developed characters to carry itself rather than pure body count, it's a refreshing change in an otherwise formulaic ...( read more)genre. Unfortunately, its one downfall seems to be that it tries to be too sophisticated, and stumbles over its nonsensical final twist. Otherwise, however, Happy Birthday to Me is a surprisingly intelligent, well-acted, well-shot gem of the '80s that is often sadly overlooked. Recommended to genre fans!
  • June 20, 2008
    Need to see it again to be fair with the rating. I saw it in my childhood and the one thing I recall vividly is the ending, a seriously creepy birthday party.
  • December 26, 2008
    B-Horror movies are totally awesome, although this one was kind of lame. It was ok though. I was kind of put off because the main actress was so damn ugly, but other than it was alright. Um.. the ending was extremely lame, most probably due to the fact it was just thrown on and t...( read more)here was no build-up to it. Other than that though, people die = yay.
  • October 1, 2008
    A surprisingly good underrated 80īs slasher above the average of its genre. With gory killings and great ending.
  • October 27, 2009
    Another great example of how no generation can beat the '80s when it comes to slasher flicks!!! Glad they finally got around to releasing this!!
  • October 19, 2009
    It was a great cheesy 80's slasher flick!
  • October 17, 2009
    Didn't really like it. TOO bad.
  • October 16, 2009
    Another slightly above average slasher flick from the heyday of the genre. Thanks to a surprisingly good cast and Oscar nominated director, Happy Birthday to Me is better than most of its kind. Of course it's full of cliches and the usual "stalk and slash" stuff, but it'...( read more)s all enjoyable, and you can tell they really tried to put the emphasis on story and character rather than blood.

    The poster promised "six of the most bizarre deaths you'll ever see", and sadly that couldn't be further from the truth. One or two are pretty out-there, but otherwise it's nothing we haven't seen before. Happy Birthday to Me is probably best remembered for one of the craziest "what the fuck?" endings of any horror film. The studio wasn't happy with the scripted ending and demanded a "twist" ending to be filmed at the 11th hour. And because of this it really doesn't make a lick of sense, but is still kinda cool. My vote would've gone to the simple ending that actually made sense within the story. Oh well, some love it, some hate it. I fall somewhere in between.

    Happy Birthday to Me remains one of the more stylish and enjoyable slasher films to come out of the 80's thanks to the cast and director, but the ending will definitely put some people off. If your a fan of the genre and haven't seen this little gem, I recommend picking it up (it recently got re-released on DVD with its original score now fully intact).
  • October 14, 2009
    One of the many holiday slashers from the 80's, this film sadly fails to live up to its marketing campaign, and only comes remotely close during its final set piece. Thanks to Anchor Bay, the latest DVD release restores the original score to the film that was sadly lacking from t...( read more)he old DVD. Unfortunately, it'll take a lot more than music to save this picture. Low on kills, plot, characters, or brains, this is for slasher completists only.

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