Halloween Edition: Bloody Birthday (1981) Movie Review

Bloody Birthday (1981) Movie Review

**SPOILER ALERT! This review contains the movie ending**

A trio of ten year old kids Curtis (Billy Jayne), Debbie (Elizabeth Hoy) and Steven (Andy Freeman) all born on a lunar eclipse go on a killing spree.

A movie that features 10 year old kids as the killers is a pretty original concept. I have seen killer clowns, puppets, dolls, animals and cars but never children. There is actually much less swearing, drugs and smoking compared to the average horror movie but probably the same amount of nudity. I guess when you have a premises of kid killers you really don't need push the limits too much more.

This movie combined elements of some classic horror movies franchises. The music sounded very much like it was pulled from a Friday the 13th movie, while some of the scenes especially the ones with the two teenager girls walking home was plucked right from Halloween. Also considering the topic of this movie, you could also say it had some influence from The Omen.

At the beginning of the movie you see the eclipse and hear women giving birth but I needed a bit more back story which didn't come until the middle of the movie when Joyce is reading a book about astronomy. It turns out that the day the kids were born the sun and moon were blocking Saturn which controls peoples emotions and the way they treat others. I was fine with this back story but I didn't think it needed to wait until the middle of the movie to be explained.

Three of the questions that I was left asking through the movie were:
1) Why would the cop assume that a kid would have information on the murdered teenagers just because they found the handle of a jumping rope near the victims? I'm pretty sure adults are capable of purchasing skipping ropes. Also this scene came off as very unbelievable because I could never see a cop talking to a classroom of elementary school kids about what murder is. That seems wrong and unbelievable on many levels.
2) Why didn't the older sister Beverly close up the peep hole in her bedroom closet after being told by Joyce that her little sister Debbie is charging the neighborhood boys money to watch her while she's changing? Closing up the hole would probably be one of the first things I'd do after being told that information. Well that and collecting some of the profits!
3) Why weren't Joyce and Timmy more surprised that three ten year old kids were trying to kill them? It was no surprise for the audience that they have been the killers throughout the movie but when you see a ten year old coming at you with a gun wouldn't that surprise you even a little bit? They looked and acted like it happens to them all the time.

The ending of the movie was the worst part and a pretty big let down. The boys are seen with their father and grandfather being charged by the police while Debbie and her mom decide to run away, change their names and start new lives without the mom knowing that Debbie is one of the killers. If I have learned anything from this movie it will be to make sure I never give birth on a lunar eclipse! 

Grade: B+

Check back on Monday for a horror movie review from a 1974 title!