HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981) (Retro-VHS Blu-ray Review)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981)

Retro-VHS Blu-ray Edition 

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Rating: R
Duration: 111 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Frances Hyland, Lenore Zann, Lisa Langlois, Michel Rene Labelle, Lesleh Donaldson

In this early 80's slasher directed by J. Lee Thompson (Cape Fear) we have a setting at the elite Crawford Academy's high school, where a group of popular teens form a click known as the Top Ten, they seem to have it all, but someone is killing them off. This is a movie I caught on cable TV back in the 80's, it's always stuck with me, starring a pair of my  childhood crushes, and blending American slasher-isms with a Euro-thriller notes, namely an endless parade of red-herrings and a black-gloved killer.

Our focus here is top ten member Virginia (Melissa Sue Anderson, Little House on the Prairie) who had some weird experimental brain surgery some years back, which figures into the story. The identity of the killer is kept from us for a long while, it has a sort of giallo flavor you don't usually see in an 80s slasher. The first kill involves a black gloved killer with a sagtright-razor, but sadly the film is no 80s slasher blood fest, with the kills themselves a bit bloody but very tame. Director J.Lee Thompson was a solid director, but in his later years he found himself working for Canon Films, relegated to some sub-par action and adventure films, stuff like Death Wish 4 and King Solomon's Mines, but with this slasher he showed some great direction, and the movie is lensed quite nicely.

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The kill are a lot of fun, featuring teens offed by the gassed-up rear tire of a motorbike, skewered by a shishkabob, and a guy having a hefty weight dropped on his balls while pumping some iron! It's all great stuff, nut the bloody payoff of each kill has been heavily edited, but the climax of this movie is so deliciously overwrought and WTF it erases anything that I had an issue with by that point. The reveal of the culprit's identity and reasoning in this one always leaves me reeling, and while I do think the movie is a bit too convoluted and over-plotted, I still count this is one of my favorite slashers of all time, it's just so dang fun. 

The film has a surprisingly great supporting cast, including the legendary Glen Ford (Pa Kdent from Donner's Superman!), and some lesser known, but no less solid actors, Lawrence Dane (Scanners), Lisa Langlois (Deadly Eyes) and Tracey E. Bregman who I had such a crush on as a kid, she having appeared on one of my mom's soap operas she use to watch in the 80's. 

Audio/Video: The film was previously available from Mill Creek Entertainment on a double-feature Blu-ray with with babysitter classic When a Stranger Calls (1979), now available in the U.S. as a proper stand alone Blu-ray, presented in 1080p HD and framed 1.85:1 widescreen. The slasher looks quite good, blacks are solid, the grain is well-managed. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Stereo, with the original score from composers Bo Harwood and Lance Rubin, no subtitles are offered, and there are no extras for the film.

The single disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with one sided sleeve of artwork, strangely they've gone with what looks to be a variation of the original DVD release, of a young woman (who's not in the film!) holding a birthday cake, it's ugly as sin. However, this release is part of the Retro-VHS Look collection from Mill Creek and features a slipcover with the original movie one-sheet, the one with the shiskabob skewering, that looks like a vintage VHS release with rental store stickers that label it horror, be kind rewind, and penalty stickers for not rewinding, not dissimilar to what MVD are doing with their MVD Rewind Collection. The disc also features an excerpt of the same key art as the slip, with one side of the spine looking like a VHS release, the other looks like the label from the VHS cassette, though I do wish they had used the skewering artwork for the wrap as well. 

Happy Birthday To Me (1981) is a pretty great slasher, it loses some points for being less bloody than others of the era but it's stylish, ludicrous and fun with a giallo bent and one hell of a shocker finale, just the way I like 'em. 

CURTAINS (1983) (Synapse Films Blu-ray Review)

CURTAINS (1983)

Label: Synapse Films

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 90 Minutes 

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.78:1) 

Director: Jonathan Stryker
Cast: John Vernon, Samantha Eggar, Lesleh Donaldson, Lynne Griffin


CURTAINS is a true slasher classic from the land of bacon and maple syrup starring John Vernon (CHAINED HEAT) as pompous film director John Stryker and Samanatha Eggar (THE BROOD) stars as Samantha his aging muse who just cannot seem to nail the mental state of 'Audra', the lead part in Strker's next film'. She is such a method actor that she has herself committed to an asylum so she can research the role - only she and Stryker are aware that she is not crazy... not yet anyway While there she soaks up the insanity but when she awakens to find that her screaming roommate has been lobotomized she thinks that maybe this was not such a smart move on her part. Her own sanity starts to crumble and she becomes non-responsive during Stryker's regular visits. Instead of informing the doctors that this was just research for a role he stops visiting. Afterward he announces via the trades that he will be auditioning for the role of 'Audra'. 

Hoping to land the role are comedian Patti O'Connor (Lynne Griffin, BLACK CHRISTMAS), seasoned actress Brooke Parsons (Linda Thorson, TV's THE AVENGERS),  dancer Laurian Summers (Anne Ditchburn), musician Tara DeMillo (Sandee Currie), and professional ice-skater Christie Burns (Lesleh Donaldson, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME). That's only five, the sixth unfortunate young woman is stabbed to death before she can make it to the audition. This first kill is a lot of fun - not only do we get some kinky sex but a prescient waking nightmare with some echoes of Argento's DEEP RED with a creepy doll! 

Once Samantha discovers that Stryker is recasting the role of 'Audra' she escapes from the asylum showing up at the mansion which causes a bit of friction as she and Stryker trade barbs back and forth. Things heat-up as the Stryker puts each of the actresses through auditions playing mind-games with each which they suffer through intent on landing a role worth killing for. The smooth talking director ends up bedding several of the actresses which further enrages his former lover Samantha, pretty soon thereafter the actresses are murdered one by one by someone wearing a creepy old hag mask which leads up to a shocker finale. 

A particular scene that has stuck with me through the years since I initially saw this on TV is the surreal ice skating sequence, a very weird scene which has an almost Lucio Fulci nightmare quality about it. Christie the skater is performing a routine on a frozen when the killer in that frightful hag mask skates up in slow-mo and slashes Brook with a razor-sharp sickle - it's a classic scene and one that you must see as the description I offer does not do it justice in anyway.

One of the other memorable scene is the final cat and mouse chase through a prop room with some cool Mario Bava-esque lighting with a few good moments of pulse pounding suspense, ll of which leads up to a champagne toast and a shocker ending which does feel like it was tagged on - because it was. . 

The set-up for each kill is pretty decent with some nice suspenseful moments even if the kills themselves are pretty bloodless. The film was a very troubled production with more than one director and at times can feel a bit piece meal with some glaring plot holes and sub plots that are not followed through on - including a possible co-conspirator who is only glimpsed once. Somehow the film manages to overcome these issues with a prevailing sense of dread and suspense - the original director Richard Ciupka wanted to make an art house psychodrama while the producer Peter R. Simpson - who took over the production when Ciupka was removed from the project - wanted to do more of a straight-up slasher film. And you can feel the it as they try to marry to the two together but it results in some strange tonal shifts. 

Considering how long the production went on for including re shoots many months later the performances throughout are strong. For starters we have character actor John Vernon as the pompous, mind-fucking director and Samanatha Eggar as the unhinged actress - if you've seen her in Cronenberg's THE BROOD you know she does crazy just right, plus she has a lot of presence. After that we have a nicely vulnerable performance from Lesleh Donaldson as the ice skater and a pretty good turn as comedian turned actress from Lynne Griffin from BLACK CHRISTMAS. 

Considering the schizophrenic shifts in tone I was quite entertained by CURTAINS and seeing it again restored on Blu-ray was a blast - not a perfect film but a perfectly entertaining slasher that I would place on par with HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME or APRIL FOOL'S DAY as a not-too-gory slice of cinema with some great atmosphere and a tagged-on shocker ending.

Blu-ray: Synapse present CURTAINS in HD widescreen in the original aspect ratio which has remastered in 2K resolution from original vault materials which sat  virtually untouched for over thirty years. Previous the films was only available on a budget DVD set from Echo Bridge which looked awful.The new restored transfer is a stunner. Colors are vibrant, there's a nice layer of film grain with some decent fine detail and a level of clarity that is beyond what I could have imagined for this one. 

Audio option include the original mono mix and a new DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 option. Glad they included the original mono for the purists but I'm quite a fan of the newly created 5.1 which exports the sound effects and the Paul Zaza (MY BLOODY VALENTINE) score to the surrounds with the dialogue kept to the front, creating a nice atmospheric presentation. There are English subtitles provided on the disc. 

Onto the extras we have brand new retrospective featuring interviews with Director Richard Ciupka, Stars Lesleh Donaldson and Lynne Griffin, Editor Michael MacLaverty, Special Make-Up Effects Creator Greg Cannom, and Composer Paul Zaza. This Red Shirt Pictures produced extras is fantastic with some great discussions about the troubled production and on-set anecdotes. We also have a vintage making-of featurette with some cool behind-the-scene video on the set of the film before the director was yanked off the production - this is exclusive to the Blu-ray version.

There are two commentary options on the disc, the first is with actresses Lesleh Donaldson and Lynne Griffin moderated by Edwin Samuelson as the ladies reminisce about their experiences on set and making the film. The second is not a scene specific commentary but actually two separate audio interviews with producer Peter R. Simpson and star Samantha Eggar conducted via telephone for The Terror Trap website which play over the film. The audio quality is not the greatest but both offer some decent insights, particularly Simpson who speaks at length about his relationship with Ciupka and the problems on the troubled production. The interviews end at just under an hour and do not play for the entirety of the film. 

Special Features
- THE ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE: THE MAKING OF “CURTAINS” – An All-New retrospective featuring interviews with Director Richard Ciupka, Stars Lesleh Donaldson and Lynne Griffin, Editor Michael MacLaverty, Special Make-Up Effects Creator Greg Cannom, and Composer Paul Zaza (35:52) HD
- CIUPKA: A FILM-MAKER IN TRANSITION - Vintage documentary short featuring rare, behind-the-scenes footage from the making of "CURTAINS" (165:09) HD (Blu-ray Exclusive)
- Audio Commentary with Stars Lesleh Donaldson and Lynne Griffin
- Audio Interview with Producer Peter R. Simpson
- Audio Interview with Star Samantha Eggar
- Theatrical Trailer (1:44) HD 

Synapse have continually raised the bar for hi-def transfers and their release of CURTAINS is a stunner - after years of cruddy home video viewings I dared not dream we would see such a loving restoration. This just might be the release of the year for slasher fans who have long suffered with inferior versions of the beloved title. Coming up next from Synapse is the Blu-ray restoration of the classic American/Canadian slasher classic PROM NIGHT (1980)!