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Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to Me

Horror · Mystery · 1981

Virginia is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. But before her 18th birthday, a gruesome set of murders take place and her friends are the ones who are falling prey. 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.

Movie details

Happy Birthday to Me

“Six of the most bizarre murders you will ever see.”

1981 Horror · Mystery 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

Virginia is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. But before her 18th birthday, a gruesome set of murders take place and her friends are the ones who are falling prey. 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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Happy Birthday to Me?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

J. Lee Thompson

Written by

John C.W. Saxton · Peter Jobin · Timothy Bond

Melissa Sue Anderson

Melissa Sue Anderson

Virginia Wainwright

Glenn Ford

Glenn Ford

Dr. David Faraday

Lawrence Dane

Lawrence Dane

Hal Wainwright

Sharon Acker

Sharon Acker

Estelle Wainwright

Frances Hyland

Frances Hyland

Mrs. Patterson

Tracey E. Bregman

Tracey E. Bregman

Ann Thomerson

Jack Blum

Jack Blum

Alfred Morris

Court is in session

Put Happy Birthday to Me on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.