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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Anyone who doubts the giallo film's influence on the slasher film need look no further than HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, a 1981 Canadian slasher film that plays more by the giallo rules than the slasher rules. This is essentially a whodunit belonging to that breed of slasher film that could be called a North American giallo. It has the feel of a film like THE PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK, a giallo with a similar narrative thrust, in that it focuses mainly on one young woman whose grasp on reality is so shaky that she may or may not be responsible for murder. While the comparison with that particular giallo ends there, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME shares several giallo elements - the black gloved killer, the heaps of red herrings, an over-complicated twist ending, a motive built on ridiculous circumstance and shaky psychology - that makes it feel awfully familiar to giallo fans.

Virginia is a young woman with some serious emotional problems. She was injured in a car accident that also killed her mother. She had undergone experimental brain therapy for her injuries and has been seeing a shrink to help her cope with her repressed memories and emotional scars. She hangs out with an obnoxious group of rich kids - they call themselves the "Top Ten" - and generally wastes more time than she should. But something bad is happening to Virginia and her friends. Someone is bumping them off one by one. Is it the overbearing head mistress of the school? One of the Top Ten, like Arthur, the quiet weirdo interested in taxidermy? Could it be Virginia's shrink, an older man with a strange relationship with his young patient? Or maybe Virginia herself?

The solution to the puzzle definitely comes out of left field, culminating in a literal unmasking of the Scooby-Doo variety. In a way, this ending is perfect for this film. It sums up all the problems with the film. It's too bland, too absurd, too dull, too bloodless to really make a dent. This definitely feels like a middle ground slasher stuck somewhere between the bloodless HALLOWEEN and the gushing-like-a-geyser FRIDAY THE 13TH series. It has no clear identity to it and no real momentum behind the narrative. It's largely meandering and uneven in tone throughout. While many early slasher films feel a bit undercooked - most slasher films from 1980 and 1981 seem off, the vernacular of the sub-genre hadn't yet solidified - this one is a bit worse than most. Nothing ever gels. The ever-shifting tone and wobbly narrative makes HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME feel like a mess and the ending just confirms it.

Die-hard slasher fans may find something to like in HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME - though the absence of bare breasts will definitely disappoint - but it simply didn't work for me. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, didn't find anything about the film tense or frightening and was generally bored through the whole film - not to mention having to watch Glenn Ford slum it up for a paycheck was just painful. I have to give the film kudos for a few creative kills but overall I don't think I'll be revisiting HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME again. Not when there are so many better slashers to kill time with.

Not recommended.