To be honest, I never
understood the theatrical distribution history of Canadian filmmaker Ed Hunt’s
horror gem, Bloody Birthday. Just
about every source around points to an April of 1981 theatrical launch, which
must have been miniscule as it doesn’t show up in any of the Box Office
Magazine charts during that period.
Bloody Birthday then dropped out of sight for the next five years
and resurfaced as a theatrical release from Rearguard Productions, which was
Max Rosenberg’s company back in the day (with Milton Subotsky). The IMDB credits him as one of the film’s
producers, but digging up information is difficult, especially when time is
limited. The same year, 1986, Prism
released it on VHS … others have released it on DVD over the years.
With that said, word
arrived this past week that Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution
expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 2K restoration (from
original film elements) planned for delivery on Blu-ray on Dec. 4.
This should have been an
‘80s landmark slasher/horror film, instead of just a well-received “cult” curiosity
and genre-fan favorite. How many films
can you tick off that feature children as homicidal maniacs … not just one kid,
mind you, but a trio of bloodthirsty butchers!
It seems that all three
were born on the same day (some mumbo jumbo about a solar eclipse occurring during
the birth process) and have now come together as ten-year olds to kill, kill
and kill again. There’s the sweet
little Debbie (Elizabeth Hoy) and her cohorts, Curtis (Billy Jacoby, aka: Billy
Jayne — Cujo, Reckless, Just One of the Guys,
etc.) and Steven (Andy Freeman), who will brutally murder teen or adult at the
drop of a hat — wrong place, wrong time, you’re dead!
Another really
frustrating thing about Bloody Birthday is that the ending left it wide open
for a sequel … perhaps even a film franchise series, but sadly it didn’t
happen.
As to bonus features that
is a newly prepared commentary from writer/director Ed Hunt (Starship Invasions,
Plague), a new video session with actress Lori Lething (as Joyce), a featurette
titled “Bad Seeds and Body Counts,” and archival interview session with the
aforementioned Max Rosenberg.
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