BLOODY BIRTHDAY 1981
Lori Lethin (Joyce Russel), Billy Jacoby (Curtis Taylor), Elizabeth Hoy (Debbie Brody), Andy Freeman (Steven Soton), K.C. Martel (Timmy Russel), Susan Strasberg (Miss Viola Davis), Jose Ferrer (Doctor), Melinda Cordell (Mrs. Brody), Julie Brown (Beverly Brody)
Directed by Ed Hunt
The Short Version: This repugnant, ugly little 83 minute exploitation wonder is incredibly brazen in its depiction of children butchering adults. Not only that, but these creepy little 10 year old devils also display an interest in sex whether watching a woman do a strip tease in front of her mirror, or killing a horny couple, this is possibly the most disturbing representation of child murderers the screen has ever seen.
***WARNING! This review contains images of violence and nudity***
In Meadowvale, California, three children are born simultaneously on June 9th, 1970 during a solar eclipse. Ten years later, a series of bizarre and brutal murders occur in Meadowvale and it is soon discovered that the killings are perpetrated by three seemingly innocent 10 year old children, the same three born during the solar eclipse ten years prior.
Utterly tasteless killer kid movie from the early 80's is one of the most shocking of its kind. Very little is left to the imagination where these murderous youngsters are concerned. It's an occasionally nauseating horror flick unusually well made by obscure director, Ed Hunt. There had been a fair number of terrible tyke movies both before and after, but Hunt's movie is arguably the best of the more sadistic exploitation movies of this subgenre.
BLOODY BIRTHDAY follows a similar trajectory of an earlier movie entitled DEVIL TIMES FIVE (1974), but outdoes it in the violence department. MIKEY from 1992 featured a sole homicidal child and was equally disturbing. Most recently, a suspensefully gruesome independent movie called THE CHILDREN (2009) comes off as something of an unacknowledged remake of DEVIL TIMES FIVE. While violent in its depiction of children murdering their neighbors, BLOODY BIRTHDAY is particularly nasty as a good amount of time is spent with these killers plotting who they will kill next and how they will execute their victims.
What makes BLOODY BIRTHDAY (1981) stand out from the pack of explicit movies featuring pint sized savages is that not only do this terrible triumvirate calculate and plot the murder of their parents and others in the neighborhood, but they also are preoccupied with sex! They watch Julie Brown (from the late 80's MTV program, JUST SAY JULIE) do an extended strip tease in front of a mirror after her baby sister (one of the killers) has them pay to peek through a peep hole in a closet! Another scene has Curtis (who does the bulk of the murders) watching a young couple have sex in a van before brutally (and happily) executing them with a revolver.
The three tiny terrors aren't exclusive to cutting down adults, they also have no qualms about butchering kids their own age. They spend nearly the entire movie trying to snuff out Timmy, a boy from their class, who is unable to convince any of the adults that several of his classmates are trying to kill him. Another scene plays with audience perception where Curtis apparently tries to kill everyone at his birthday party by putting insect poison in the icing used to make his cakes. The one adult who believes something is seriously wrong with Curtis tries to halt anyone from eating the cake with disastrous results.
In addition to all the bloody murders, the script occupies itself with astrology and the apparent dangers of being born during a solar eclipse. However, the script is weak in establishing the presence of law enforcement. Granted, we see the police from time to time, but there's veritably little in the way of some kind of investigation. Also, Jose Ferrer's role isn't as strong as it could be. He's barely in the movie, but with a little more of his character, this could have went a long way in balancing out the reprehensible nature of the film. However, the script is strong in showcasing these three children as the epitome of pure evil. Who would ever suspect them?
Even with some decent performances and an occasionally riveting script, the film is far too revolting to gain any respectability from anyone other than fans of lowest common denominator entertainment (of which I am one). In light of everything that has happened since with the rampant violence within the nations school systems, I seriously doubt a film like this could get by today with being this graphic. Ed Hunt's movie has no qualms about showing these three pint sized serial killers as they go about executing people who pose a threat, or are just random victims. Treating murder as a playful game, these killer kids are cognizant of their actions and show no remorse even towards their own families.
Child actor, Billy Jacoby will be instantly recognizable to fans of 80's movies and television programs. He had roles as young Dar in THE BEASTMASTER, the son of a doomed family in the gory low budget favorite, SUPERSTITION (both 1982) and in other horror fare like CUJO and NIGHTMARES (both 1983). He totally sells his role as the sadistic serial killer no one would suspect. From his facial expressions and attitude, he's successful at making the audience hate Curtis Taylor.
Michael Dudikoff (middle) became a heartthrob in the mid 80's after his big action movie debut with AMERICAN NINJA (1985) and his short lived stint as an action hero. He followed it up with AVENGING FORCE (1986) and AMERICAN NINJA 2 (1987) among other credits.
Amidst such questionable subject matter, the production was able to attract a couple key names. Susan Strasberg was an actress of some repute. She has a small guest appearance here as a doomed school teacher. She also starred in another prime slice of exploitation heaven in THE MANITOU (1978). Oscar winning actor, Jose Ferrer plays the doctor who suspects something may be seriously wrong with the three children. Also, Michael Dudikoff, later to become a star after appearing in the hit cannon movie, AMERICAN NINJA (1985), plays the boyfriend of Beverly, Debbie's normal sibling. The music is also spot on and recalls the familiar Harry Manfredini music from the iconic FRIDAY THE 13th series as well as a hint of James Horner's work for Roger Corman movies.
There are also several exceptionally captured suspense sequences wrapped up in this tasteless buffet of cherubic mayhem. The score by Arlon Ober (EATING RAOUL, HOSPITAL MASSACRE) helps punctuate many of the movies most harrowing sequences. There's also quite a lot of gratuitous nudity that only adds to the less than wholesome atmosphere of this film. Ed Hunt may not have done much of particular note during his career, but BLOODY BIRTHDAY is one sick puppy of a horror flick that, despite its flaws, doesn't deserve to languish in a pool of obscurity. Get your horror hound buddies together, blow out the candles and enjoy an 83 minute slice of BLOODY BIRTHDAY cake.
This review is representative of the VCI DVD
Never before has a horror film began with such 80's accouterments as big hair, big butts and tight workout attire backed by a kitschy pop tune and about 30 minutes of laughable teen angst.
Patrick Lowe (Sam Nash), Cheryl Arutt (Lauren Daly), Bo Svenson (Ethridge), Sarah Buxton (Debbie), Mitch Watson (Frank Duffy)
Directed by Vittorio Rambaldi; written by Umberto Lenzi
The Short Version: Stunningly awful Italian horror film shot in Florida is all the more ludicrous in that it has such an accomplished pedigree behind the camera. Probably the single most interesting facet of this film is that it possibly was inspiration for 28 DAYS LATER (2002). Fans of unintentionally bad movies will find a lot to savor here.
A research scientist creates a deadly contagion while performing experiments on baboons in an effort to restore dead brain cells. A group of young college journalists plan to break into the doctors laboratory and one of them is bitten by an infected baboon. The virus spreads rapidly through scratches, or bites resulting in a mass slaughter on the college campus.
Bo Svenson and company prepare to 'Shock the Monkey'.
Brazenly stupid Italian horror movie has none of the verve and blood dripping energy of its Euro brethren from the 70's and early 80's. Michele Soavi seemed to be the only Italian director capable of turning out consistently good product at this time. What makes PRIMAL RAGE all the more disappointing is that it's a family affair with the Rambaldi clan. However, when I say disappointing, it's because that an award winning effects family couldn't have turned in a more polished movie than this. It's akin to the time another famous special effects ace, Gianetto De Rossi, took the helm of KILLER CROCODILE 2 (1990), a sequel to an already middling movie directed by Fabrizio De Angelis.
PRIMAL RAGE is a terrible movie, but one that fans with a sweet tooth for crap cinema will gleefully gobble up. From the very beginning the viewer instantly knows they are in for a riotously horrible good time. In fact, you're not even sure if what you're watching is a horror movie what with sappy opening resembling a teen sex comedy than anything else. If drivel like ZOMBIE 3 (1988) is your cup of tea, than PRIMAL RAGE will satisfy the beast inside. Probably the most fascinating (and that's about the only time such a respectable description will be used for this film) thing about this Umberto Lenzi scripted (using a pseudonym) production is how much it shares with the much later "zombie" hit, 28 DAYS LATER (2002). The similarities are quite astonishing (that's not to imply that there's anything remotely "astonishing" about PRIMAL RAGE aside from how astonishingly awful it is).
From the infected baboon, to the group that breaks into the lab housing the animal and the deadly "rage virus" itself, about the only real difference is that this poverty budgeted Italian non epic remains college bound while the Danny Boyle post apocalyptic nightmare is on a bigger scale. Still, what PRIMAL RAGE does reasonably right is in its plentiful gore effects which appear mostly during the last half. However, the scene with the insane baboon escaping the lab will have you pissing your pants with laughter. The sight of the infected baboon going ape shit, taking a bite out of a college snooper, then leaping through a window before being run over by a cop car all to the musical accompaniment of the metal group, Steel Grave is one of the funniest things I've seen in any movie.
The production crew had enough money in their budget for this incredibly realistic stunt mannequin employed to stand in for one of the actors during a crucial moment in the film.
While mostly for those who love good bad movies, there will be little, to nothing of interest for anyone else save for the most jaded of curiosity seekers. In addition, those who get off on subjecting themselves to all manner of painful torture will get a 90 minute cheap thrill. Bo Svenson looks both lost and embarrassed to have appeared in this delightfully smelly stinker. His participation was one of the reasons I purchased this disc, but he seems hopelessly miscast here as the doctor who is responsible for creating the deadly disease. He's much better suited to his tough guy roles.
The movie also apes (haha, get it? Baboon? Ape?) Dario Argento's propensity to lace his movies kill sequences with pounding metal music. Not only do you get a lot of head banging cues (courtesy of ex Goblin man, Claudio Simonetti and a band called Steel Grave), but you also get this seemingly interminable 80's style pop song that gets repeated several times. "Say the Word" is inexplicably hammered into your brain so you may be humming it for a time after the movie has ended whether you like it, or not. There's also other pitifully poppy 80's tunes to jam along with during the non horror sequences where the soundtrack automatically switches to metal mayhem.
More of a gore drenched version of a John Hughes movie, it's "complimented" (and I mean that as patronizing high praise) by an onslaught of 80's fashion sense and an aura that belies its Italian origins. It was shot in Miami, Florida and also with live sound which would make the most sense considering the predominantly American cast. The gorgeous Sarah Buxton is probably the most successful participant in the cast having gone on to a very prolific and recognizable career in television.
Not sure why this rapist decided to put a pantie over his head since he wasn't wearing one when he and his sex hungry friends kidnapped this infected woman.
For the most part, the acting is atrocious and the characters incredibly stupid. Nearly everyone in the film that isn't infected with the virus is afflicted with apparent nymphomania right down to the teachers who give good grades for "hard" work. Lenzi's script embraces every slasher cliche turning the proceedings into a funnier mess than many of those movies could ever hope to muster. One character leaves his car after its become apparent someone is outside and while wandering around in the woods utters, "I'm warning you, I know kung fu!"
I must admit this 'leaky faucet' gag is pretty damn funny. It gets better when the faucet on the OTHER side of this guys head begins leaking, too.
The aforementioned gore does come on fast and furious during the last twenty minutes or so during a Halloween costume party (I'm instantly reminded of NEON MANIACS during this sequence). Actually, the costumes here are very elaborate and fun to look at for there creativity. As for the gore--a guy gets his scalp ripped off, another poor sap gets his throat ripped out, skin is torn away from an arm, there's a hanging, a costumed victim is choked till they erupt blood everywhere, a head is lopped off, another has his head crushed in some bleachers and a guy is impaled through the mouth with a sharp implement among other things.
I could go on about the abject nuttiness and unintentional hilarity found in this goofy good time, but PRIMAL RAGE can be summed up best by two dialog exchanges between the two main protagonists towards the end of the movie: "It was all such a nightmare...", and "It'll be over soon."
This review is representative of the Code Red DVD
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BLOODY BIRTHDAY follows a similar trajectory of an earlier movie entitled DEVIL TIMES FIVE (1974), but outdoes it in the violence department. MIKEY from 1992 featured a sole homicidal child and was equally disturbing. Most recently, a suspensefully gruesome independent movie called THE CHILDREN (2009) comes off as something of an unacknowledged remake of DEVIL TIMES FIVE. While violent in its depiction of children murdering their neighbors, BLOODY BIRTHDAY is particularly nasty as a good amount of time is spent with these killers plotting who they will kill next and how they will execute their victims.
What makes BLOODY BIRTHDAY (1981) stand out from the pack of explicit movies featuring pint sized savages is that not only do this terrible triumvirate calculate and plot the murder of their parents and others in the neighborhood, but they also are preoccupied with sex! They watch Julie Brown (from the late 80's MTV program, JUST SAY JULIE) do an extended strip tease in front of a mirror after her baby sister (one of the killers) has them pay to peek through a peep hole in a closet! Another scene has Curtis (who does the bulk of the murders) watching a young couple have sex in a van before brutally (and happily) executing them with a revolver.
The three tiny terrors aren't exclusive to cutting down adults, they also have no qualms about butchering kids their own age. They spend nearly the entire movie trying to snuff out Timmy, a boy from their class, who is unable to convince any of the adults that several of his classmates are trying to kill him. Another scene plays with audience perception where Curtis apparently tries to kill everyone at his birthday party by putting insect poison in the icing used to make his cakes. The one adult who believes something is seriously wrong with Curtis tries to halt anyone from eating the cake with disastrous results.
Even with some decent performances and an occasionally riveting script, the film is far too revolting to gain any respectability from anyone other than fans of lowest common denominator entertainment (of which I am one). In light of everything that has happened since with the rampant violence within the nations school systems, I seriously doubt a film like this could get by today with being this graphic. Ed Hunt's movie has no qualms about showing these three pint sized serial killers as they go about executing people who pose a threat, or are just random victims. Treating murder as a playful game, these killer kids are cognizant of their actions and show no remorse even towards their own families.
Michael Dudikoff (middle) became a heartthrob in the mid 80's after his big action movie debut with AMERICAN NINJA (1985) and his short lived stint as an action hero. He followed it up with AVENGING FORCE (1986) and AMERICAN NINJA 2 (1987) among other credits.
Amidst such questionable subject matter, the production was able to attract a couple key names. Susan Strasberg was an actress of some repute. She has a small guest appearance here as a doomed school teacher. She also starred in another prime slice of exploitation heaven in THE MANITOU (1978). Oscar winning actor, Jose Ferrer plays the doctor who suspects something may be seriously wrong with the three children. Also, Michael Dudikoff, later to become a star after appearing in the hit cannon movie, AMERICAN NINJA (1985), plays the boyfriend of Beverly, Debbie's normal sibling. The music is also spot on and recalls the familiar Harry Manfredini music from the iconic FRIDAY THE 13th series as well as a hint of James Horner's work for Roger Corman movies.
There are also several exceptionally captured suspense sequences wrapped up in this tasteless buffet of cherubic mayhem. The score by Arlon Ober (EATING RAOUL, HOSPITAL MASSACRE) helps punctuate many of the movies most harrowing sequences. There's also quite a lot of gratuitous nudity that only adds to the less than wholesome atmosphere of this film. Ed Hunt may not have done much of particular note during his career, but BLOODY BIRTHDAY is one sick puppy of a horror flick that, despite its flaws, doesn't deserve to languish in a pool of obscurity. Get your horror hound buddies together, blow out the candles and enjoy an 83 minute slice of BLOODY BIRTHDAY cake.
