Happy Birthday to Me

This is another one of my “I wanted to watch it because of the cover art” movies. I mean, dude is getting impaled through the mouth with a shishkebob skewer. That’s memorable. But over the years, I’ve heard this is over-long, overly convoluted, and kinda dull. I’m pleasantly surprised to say it was better than I expected. The criticisms of it being overly long are definitely true; there’s got to be as much padding as an Olympic gym floor. Cut 10 minutes off this movie and it would have a better reputation. And the backstory told by flashbacks are a little jarring. And the ending is out there. Like, Kuyper Belt out there. Yet, I still enjoyed this, and I’ll be damned if I can say why. Is it because it synthesizes the Italian giallo the American slasher? Is it because it uses the mystery angle quite well and actually builds up some of its large cast? Is it an effective use of red herrings, and a twist in the middle that makes you wonder what they’re gonna do for the rest of the movie, and then throws a couple more curveballs at you for good measure? I don’t know. Maybe some of that, maybe all of that. It may be the great portrayal of the lead by Melissa Sue Anderson. It may be that, unlike a standard slasher, we know there’s motivation, and we know it isn’t some mindless hulk chopping up nubile youngsters because they’re just in his zip code, but a cold, calculating murderer with a plan. All I know is, I liked this one more than I expected, and I can look past its flaws. It does what I wanted it to do without being crass, derivative, or stupid. For an 80’s horror movie built around murders, that’s a tall orde.