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Happy Birthday to Me - Bluray

Kebob skewers.  They aren’t meant to be shoved straight into the throat.  But that’s what happens when one poor girl is pushed to the limits and finds herself without the usual murder weapon.  Happy Eating!

Opening with a brutal scene in which a college student survives a nasty leash tripping only to get violently strangled in her car, Happy Birthday to Me, thanks to Indicator, final arrives on Blu-ray with a brand-new HD Master.  This slasher, built around a cake-eating event we all can relate to, quickly switches from horror to feature a common night in college town.  There’s a drowned rat in a mug of beer, a fight between some college students and Shriners, and then, as if that wasn’t enough, a car race across a rising bridge that practically bottoms out a firebird.

"With scenes involving experimental brain tissue restoration while on the surgeon’s table, Happy Birthday To Me has never looked this good"


And then, with Virginia (Melissa Sue Anderson of Little House on the Prairie fame) bailing on the street-racing festivities, we end up in a fog-smothered graveyard.  After nearly dying in the firebird, she wants to visit her mother’s grave.  It is there where she confesses of her desire to be in the top ten of the popular list.  Nice; it’s good to have goals, right?

Except, while she blacks out, her friends – the same ones she is trying to climb the social ladder against –  are dropping dead all around her.  Weird. Could their be a connection?

Directed by J. Lee Thompson (Cape FearKing Solomon’s Mines), this Canuxploitation cult flick was filmed in part to cash in on the success of Halloween as Canada, who kicked off the whole reign of the slasher with Bob Clark’s wonderfully creepy Black Christmas, attempted to show their dominance over the horror and comedy market.  After all, they had given the world David Cronenberg and Ivan Reitman!  But this overlong flick, clocking in at a whopping 110 minutes, wouldn’t do that. 

Co-starring a drunkenly blitzed Glenn Ford as Dr. David Farada, Happy Birthday to Me is a deliciously wicked slasher that, while toned a bit down in the blood department, definitely ratchets up the taxidermy and the tension.  Complete with “accidents” involving really long scarves and motorcycle spokes, one by one her friends go down.  The Top Ten list is getting shorter with each passing night. 

The film was booted and locked down thanks to the Video Nasty craze, but really the gore – rumored to have been much heavier – barely squeaks by, registering on the lower end of expectations.  However, thanks to Thompson’s behind the scenes shenanigans with buckets of blood, the blood was once thick.  But who is it that is doing all the killing?  And why is it just the members of the Top Ten?

The answer is a disturbing one and it might just crush your neck with heavy bar weights.  Poor Greg (Richard Rebiere).  The dumb bastard never stood a chance.  But you might.  Especially if you steer clear of Virginia and her fireplace poker.Happy Birthday to Me - Bluray

Happy Birthday to Me is only available, in special packaging, at Wal-Mart.  I know it’s weird.  Just go with it, though.  You'll be damn lucky if you can find it on the shelves.  The results of the HD restoration, including the packaging and the booklet, are quite astounding. 

With scenes involving experimental brain tissue restoration while on the surgeon’s table, Happy Birthday To Me has never looked this good.  It will also twist your mind into a pretzel.  The murders are not too easy to solve.  Now, blow out the candles on this cake and get to watching!

3 beers

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[tab title="Details"]

Happy Birthday to Me - Bluray

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime:
110 mins
Director
: J. Lee Thompson
Writer:
John C.W. Saxton, Peter Jobin
Cast:
Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
It is up to you to determine whether you wish to subject yourself to fear, terror... and shock!
Memorable Movie Quote: "Those goddamn little snots. We'll show them. If they won't come to our party, we'll go to theirs."
Theatrical Distributor:
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Official Site:
Release Date:
May 15, 1981
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
October 30, 2018
Synopsis:Popular high school senior, Virginia Wainwright (Melissa Sue Anderson), survives a freak accident but suffers from memory loss and traumatic blackouts. As she attempts to resume a normal life, something terrible is happening – her friends are being ruthlessly murdered one by one. But will she be the next victim or is she the killer?

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Happy Birthday to Me - Bluray

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Indicator
Available on Blu-ray
- October 30, 2018
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English SDH
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Mono audio track
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

The brand new transfer is from a 2K restoration from the original camera negative.  The 1080p transfer is the best the film has ever looked before.  Mined from pristine original elements, the disc offers the original mono audio of the film and an alternative 5.1 soundtrack.  Both offerings are crisp with color and fine detail.  For a film from 1981, the fact that only a couple of scenes are soupy and murky speaks volumes about the source material.  Skin tones are perfectly natural throughout and contrast, as well as its DTS-HD Mono audio track, is super clean, tight, and uber groovy.  Black levels are solid and colors are bold.  There are also lots of details to enjoy while you watch.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • See Special Features.

Special Features:

Indicator has a good series of releases already.  Their latest release will definitely keep you entertained.

HD restoration

Original mono audio

Alternative 5.1 surround sound track

Alternative score: experience the film with the controversial re-scored electronic music soundtrack, as used on the 2004 home video re-release

Audio commentary by The Hysteria Continues team: Justin Kerswell (author of Teenage Wasteland: The Slasher Movie Uncut) Joseph Henson, Erik Threlfall and Nathan Johnson

Image gallery: on-set and promotional material

Original trailer and TV spots

New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

Limited edition exclusive 24-page booklet with extracts from the original press kit, advertising and promotion guide, and selected film reviews

UK Blu-ray premiere

Limited Dual Format Edition of 5,000 copies

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Happy Birthday to Me - Bluray

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