Fatal Festivities: 10 Horror Movies to Watch on Your Birthday

For my birthday I wanted to talk about some aptly themed horror movies, so I spent my entire weekend watching as many as I could possibly find.
I wasn’t surprised to learn that most birthday themed horrors were slashers, or at the very least had strong slasher elements. Even though it’s not my favourite sub-genre it’s one I always find really enjoyable to watch and it made for a very fun weekend.

So, starting from the bottom…

10. RED VELVET

Red Velvet is a 2008 American independent horror film, directed by Bruce Dickson, written by Anthony Burns and Joe Moe.

A man called Aaron(Henry Thomas) and his neighbour Linda(Kelli Garner) have a chance encounter at a laundry mat which leads to them getting lunch and going over a story about a birthday party, where everyone has been killed by a madman in a white jumpsuit.

This is a slasher that takes a unusual approach to story telling, showing most of it through glimpses in to our main characters imagination. The cinematography was interesting and strange in a way that I appreciated, and I thought the interruptions from Aaron and Linda as they made changes to the story was something I hadn’t really seen before.
There’s some gore and humour in there, but there were also some parts that felt a little misplaced or jumbled, and the ending just didn’t really work for me.

09. SWEET SIXTEEN

Sweet Sixteen is a 1983 American slasher film, written by Erwin Goldman and directed by Jim Sotos.

A beautiful lonely girl names Melissa Morgan(Aleisa Shirley) tries to make new friends from a town she’s currently living in. The only problem is, each of the boys that she spends time with end up brutally murdered. Her sixteenth birthday is on the way, but Melissa turns out to be a suspect when it seems she’s the last person who has seen her boyfriend alive.

This is a strange little slasher with A LOT of problematic elements, but it’s kept interesting by the who dunnit aspect and a surprising commentary on Native Americans and white culture in the USA.

The characters aren’t very interesting or even pleasant for the most part, but I was entertained by the story and there were actually a few moments that made me laugh.
I’d only recommend this if you wanted to watch something you wouldn’t have to take too seriously.

08. FROGS

Frogs is a 1972 American horror film, co-written by Robert Hutchison and Robert Blees, and directed by George McCowan.

Jason Crockett(Ray Milland) is an aging, grumpy, physically disabled millionaire who invites his family to his island estate for his birthday celebration.
Pickett Smith(Sam Elliott) is a free-lance photographer who is doing a pollution layout for an ecology magazine.
Crockett hates nature and poisons anything that crawls on to his property. On the night of his birthday the frogs and other reptiles pay him back.

Like a lot of movies from this time Frogs has over the top characters and a lot of bad dialogue, but the story was fun and the characters were enjoyable to watch. And fortunately I like the sound of frogs croaking in the background, because that’s what most of this was while we’re stuck with the dysfunctional family at the centre of the story. Until the animals finally started attacking… Which was great. I actually liked the eco-horror element, it was goofy and cheesy, and it was cool to see so many real animals being used.

This film would definitely make a great drinking game with friends.

07. BLOODY BIRTHDAY

Bloody Birthday is a 1981 American slasher film, directed by Ed hunt, who co-wrote it with Barry Pearson.

In 1970 Curtis Taylor(Billy Jayne), Debbie Brody(Elizabeth Hoy) and Steven Seton(Andrew Freeman) are born at the height of a total eclipse. Due to the sun and moon blocking Saturn, which controls emotions, they have become heartless killers ten years later, and are able to escape detection because of their youthful and innocent facades. Timmy Russel(K.C. Martel) and his teenage sister Joyce(Lori Lethin) become endangered when they stumble on to the bloody truth.

This is a very straightforward plot of kid killers with no moral compass just being awful and obnoxious, and sometimes a little bit terrifying.

But the performances were good and I thought Lori Lethin’s character was enjoyable, every time she talked about astrology it made me laugh a little.

It’s not very gory even though there’s a lot of killing, and while there were a few tense moments, and a lot more nudity than I ever need in a film, it’s silly and has some truly memorable moments.

06. MY SUPER PSYCHO SWEET 16

My Super Psycho Sweet 16 is a 2009 American teen drama slasher television film, written by Scott Thomas and Jed Elinoff, directed by Jacob Gentry, it was inspired by the MTV show My Super Sweet 16.

It follows two girls; an outcast named Skye Rotter(Lauren McKnight), and an extremely spoiled girl named Madison Penrose(Julianna Guill).
Madison convinces her parents to re-open the Roller Dome for her sweet sixteenth birthday party. It had been closed down because of a series of brutal murders that took place there ten years ago. The killer, who happens to be Skye’s father, comes back to wreak havoc during Madison’s party.

This is a teen movie about characters that all embody typical slasher tropes and a mystery that wasn’t really a mystery at all. Expect lots of teen angst and school politics, down to the mean girls and the sensitive jock, with a story that had a lot of insta-love and highly implausible situations.

It’s definitely got its flaws, a lot of them, but It had better gore than I was expecting and a great soundtrack that made me feel 15 again. This film captures so well what being a teenager during the 00s was about and I’ll definitely be watching the sequels in the hope that they’re just as fun.

05. MADHOUSE

Madhouse, originally titled There Was A Little Girl, and also known as And When She Was Bad, is a 1981 Italian American slasher film. Directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis, who co-wrote it with Stephen Blakeley, Peter Sheperd and Roberto Gandus.

The film follows a schoolteacher in Savannah, Georgia being stalked by her psychopathic twin sister in the days leading up to their birthday.

This is another slow burn with a very unsettling atmosphere, aided by the score and the great performances, the suspense builds throughout the film and there are some really creepy and drawn out moments I liked.

I would have preferred more focus on the characters and their incredibly interesting relationship, instead of on the brutal murders and the dog that kills people which I didn’t really care for, however it kept me interested all the way through, and then it reached a finale that was twisted and disturbing. I really liked it.

04. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Happy Birthday to Me is a 1981 Canadian-American psychological slasher film, directed by J. Lee Thompson, co-written by Timothy Bond, Peter Jobin, John Saxton and John Beaird.

Virginia ‘Ginny’ Wainwright(Melissa Sue Anderson) is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. The top 10.
But before her 18th birthday a grueling set of murders take place and her friends are the ones being killed. Could it be her? She does suffer from blackouts because of a freak accident one year earlier. We soon learn the truth behind her accident and what is going on…

This is a more psychological take on the slasher genre and while I thought the story became a little difficult to follow sometimes, and went on for far too long, it included some fun twists and impressively bloody kills that I appreciated because of the practical effects used. The most famous being the one with the shish kebab, which is the sole image on the poster for the film.

I thought this was a lot of fun and the performances were solid, the story was interesting enough to keep me watching for almost 2 hours, and it was definitely worth it for the insane ending and the creative kills.

03. ALISON’S BIRTHDAY

Alison’s Birthday is a 1981 Australian horror film, written and directed by Ian Coughlan.

A young girl, Alison Findlay(Joanne Samuel) arrives home expecting a wholesome birthday celebration, but instead she is dragged into a diabolical cult of devil worshippers, and is subjected to a reign of terror so that her soul can be transferred to the body of an old crone.

This is another one of the few films on the list that isn’t a slasher, instead it’s a slow burn psychological horror about a cult/coven, with a creepy and effective atmosphere that only adds to the tension and the dread building throughout the story.

The two lead characters were likable and easy to root for, and the antagonists in the form of the cult only became more sinister and scary as the film went on.

I was surprised by how good this was, the story was one I’d seen similar versions of, but it was original and captivating with an ending I didn’t expect. I’d highly recommend checking it out and it’s one I’ll be rewatching in the future.

02. CHILD’S PLAY

Child’s Play is a 1988 American horror film directed and co-written by Tom Holland, and produced by David Kirschner, from a story by Don Mancini.

Widowed mother(Catherine Hicks) gives her son Andy(Alex Vincent) a Good Guys doll for his birthday. Unaware that the doll, Chucky, is possessed by the soul of the serial killer Charles Lee Ray(Brad Dourif).

Child’s Play is considered a horror classic, and with good reason, not only did it spawn an entire franchise that was incredibly successful, but the film itself is an incredible stand alone story.

The first time I watched this I was already very aware of who Chucky was, he had legendary status when I was a kid, but knowing that didn’t make it any less enjoyable.

The performances were great, especially from Catherine Hicks and Brad Dourif, and Alex Vincent is adorable as Andy. There are some good scares and some great special effects that I think still hold up today, and while he’s a fun and smart mouthed villain in later films, this Chucky is much more sinister and creepy in the best way

01. HAPPY DEATH DAY

Happy Death Day is a 2017 American black comedy slasher film, directed by Christopher Landon and written by Scott Lobdell.

College student Theresa ‘Tree’ Gelbman(Jessica Rothe), is murdered on her birthday and begins reliving the day over and over, so she sets out to find the killer and stop her death for good.

This is a fun, fast paced, action packed horror comedy with an enjoyable ‘who dunnit’ mystery woven throughout. It remains a slasher even though it successfully inverts a lot of the classic tropes, such as the final girl and the way they tackle the body count.

Tree isn’t really a likable main character, not at first, she’s self-centered and self-destructive but her arc is one I always love to watch play out. And the performance from Jessica Rothe is amazing in both this and the sequel, which I would also highly recommend, as it’s one of the few time travel movies I’ve ever enjoyed.

After this week I really do have to wonder if I enjoy slashers more than I originally thought. Even the movies on this list that I didn’t really like were still fun to watch, and that had a lot to do with the slasher tropes and how the comedy and cheesiness balances out the violence and horror. Perhaps I’ll dive a little deeper into this sub-genre.