Movie Info
Movie Name: Bloody Birthday
Studio: Rearguard Productions
Genre(s): Horror/B-Movie
Release Date(s): April 28, 1985
MPAA Rating: R
No way I could be evil…right?
Debbie (Elizabeth Hoy), Steven (Andy Freeman), and Curtis (Billy Jayne) were all born on the same day during a solar eclipse. As they have aged, they’ve grown closer and enjoy playing games…deadly games. When they begin killing, the only people in town who suspect anything are Timmy (K.C. Martel) and his sister Joyce (Lori Lethin). Debbie, Steven, and Curtis have no qualms on killing whoever gets in their way, and the bloodier, the better!
Directed by Ed Hunt, Bloody Birthday is grindhouse horror film. The low budget movie had a limited release and gained more fans upon its release on VHS. The movie received mostly negative reviews.
I love evil kid movies. Movies like The Good Son and The Bad Seed have kids acting awful…and paying for it. With excitement, I watched Bloody Birthday. Although the movie does pay off for evil kids, the movie doesn’t push it far enough.
That’s right…we’re packin!
The plot of the movie is pretty generic. The movie features a really forced “born during an eclipse” storyline that has no explanation and merit. Is everyone born under an eclipse evil because I’m thinking there were more than these three kids. Two of the three children are developed while a third is just kind of there and the ending is almost “TV movie” in nature in that two of the three characters are arrested and the third just gets away to live at a gas station with her mom…and continues to be “evil”.
The cast is pretty much what you’d expect from a cheap horror movie. There are some “known” actors in the film including character actors Jose Ferrer and Ellen Greer. Child star Billy Jayne has one of the bigger roles as the gun-toting Curtis and singer actress Julie Brown plays the doomed (stripping) Beverly Brody.
Watch out for arrows fired through tiny holes…that could easily be covered.
The movie also has a cheap look. The Bad Seed, The Good Son, and other killer kids horror movie seemed to have more style but this movie lacks style. If it had been totally grindhouse and gory (more like The Children), it might have worked slightly better, but it almost seems to chicken out on the concept of killer kids.
Bloody Birthday could have been so much better. The movie is ripe for remake, and it actually could be an improvement. That being said, Bloody Birthday is also so generic in its plot that a remake isn’t really necessary since (other than the eclipse), the characters have no explained motivation to kill. Bloody Birthday has some quirky amusement, but it isn’t worth it for the most part.
