Happy Birthday to Me (1981)

Directed by J. Lee Thompson. Starring Melissa Sue Anderson, Lawrence Dane, Jack Blum, Tracey E. Bregman, Glenn Ford, Matt Craven, Sharon Acker, Lenore Zann, Frances Hyland, Richard Rebiere, Michel-René Labelle, David Eisner, Kesleh Donaldson. [R]

A psycho killer is targeting members of a clique comprising the ten most posh and popular students in school (the “Top Ten”); could it be newest member, Ginny (Anderson), who’s coping with psychological issues over her recently-deceased mother and keeps blacking out at inopportune times? Minor early-80s slasher is more densely-plotted and ambitious than average, but it drags on way too long for such a relatively low body count, and the storytelling is often confusing and littered with lame red herrings (to say nothing for a final act twist that’s completely ludicrous). Glenn Ford cashes a paycheck in another one of his late-career curios/trainwrecks (The Visitor, Day of the Assassin, etc.).

38/100