Bloody Birthday

Bloody Birthday is one of those bizarro horror movies that takes the killer-kids concept up a few notches. The three "kids" supposedly lost all human feeling when they were born when Saturn was unavailable during a freak planetary alignment when they were born, which gives them a decidedly "grown-up" psychopathic capacity to kill both random targets or people they simply do not like. This has got to be seen to be believed. Now, this film was released on Blu-ray by Severin a few years back. The difference between that Blu-ray and the Arrow release are quite obvious, but not necessarily in a good way. On the back cover of the Arrow release it is stated that this print was struck from the "original film elements" which is not precisely true. It is actually struck from the "original" interpositive print, meaning that it is a "reverse" copy of the original camera negative. This is not necessarily a "bad" thing, because original camera negatives can be in bad shape if poorly cared for, and the original interpositive element (which is generally the "master" from which other prints are made) could be the best print available. But what is striking is how dark the Arrow version is, particularly in the deep reddish flesh tones in some scenes. Sometimes darker is "better"--especially in black and white films--but I can't really say that is true here. One thing that was not expected in an "improved" transfer is that there is noticeably less detail in medium to long-shots than in the Severin release, and unfortunately this is also true is some close-ups as well. I am really hard-pressed to say what exactly is improved in the Arrow release; maybe "darker" is better on larger screen sizes. Normally this wouldn't be a tough call because the "new" transfer is supposed to be "better," but in this case I prefer the first iteration of this film on Blu-ray.

I first saw this film one late night on cable, and I thought it was interesting enough to buy on DVD and add it to my horror film collection, I did some quick research online and I found the 2003 DVD version I purchased it and yes the film is great camp 80's fun, it's like The Bad Seed meets Friday The 13 lolbut the DVD picture quality was awful it was really old and faded looking and it was obviously not digitally remastered it looked a mess it looked like an old VHS tape not a digital quality DVD, and if your a bit picky about picture quility like me you won't be happy with a good film on a bad DVD, and you will want a better version if you can find it. maybe some may not care how the picture looks and thats great if you don't because the 2003 DVD cost less then the 2011 verson but I don't mind paying a bit more for a good picture on my favorite filmsThat said I decided to find out if the film was re-released on DVD with more features, and a better picture quality, I looked on Amazon and bam! I saw a 2011 release with audio interviews with Ed Hunt also another interview one of the stars of the film Lori Lethin jack pot! and the picture quality is much better the 2011 DVD is worth buying if you like this film, but avoid the 2003 DVD it made the film look bad and the movie is not bad it's fun.

I never saw such a strange movie before and I love 80s films so to see something new kinda shocking and different than what were used to it was good I liked it !The film quality wise looks beautiful great job restoring itThe extra features are plenty and Arrow always does a excellent job !For a good horror 80s film with killer kids and unknown actors im surprised more people dont know about this definitely worth checking out if you never have before.

this is terrible. some people said it is a must have. I listened and read from these people who don't know what a movie is. I read the reviews and feel like a fool. it is a shameful piece of film of 3 ten year olds killing every and anybody with no storyline. no suspense. no directing. no acting. nothing that makes a watchable film. what a waste.

I bought Bloody Birthday out on a whim. I love 80's slashers and after reading other reviews of this movie i had to see it for myself. I'm not disappointed at all. I love the look of this movie. It has the fuzz look that i associate with 80's slashers on dvd. It's not a bad thing i enjoy that look on these dvds. This movie has a couple of good scenes that make it a great addition to your dvd collection. A couple that stick out in my mind would be the scene where the little girl charges the boys a quarter to watch her teenage sister dance around topless. Another would be the teacher getting dispatched. The one scene i loved the most would be the kids chasing the kid Timmy i think his name is. He gets close to his house but they catch him and knock him down and start chocking him with a water hose. The ending is great too. The kids unleash unholy terror on Timmy and his sister with guns and arrows. The ending isn't something common in these kind of movies. Even though these kids are murderous demon spawns in the back of your mind you're thinking you can't kill these kids. Enjoy this movie there isn't quite anything else like it.

I got my movie in today and watched it...heard about this movie from a Facebook friend and wanted to see it bad...I wasn't sure I was going to like it....the killer kids were evil to the core and played their parts very well....the only compliant I have is that the little girl should have been caught as well like the 2 boys were...overall it was a great movie if your a fan of horror or psychological thrillers such as myself...YouTube has this movie but it's piss poor quality and could not set through it..I tend to enjoy movies that are b-rated, obscure and trash cinema style that the mainstream audience don't seem to enjoy....I recommend this DVD for fans of obscure movies

This movie is dull and boring as ever. Kids are not fun to watch at all. But the arrow blu ray release is a must own just for the special features. I still enjoyed watching this movie. But as far as 80s slashers its one of the stupidest

This movie is truly a waste of film and extremely unbelievable. I refuse to believe that three ten year old kids can get away with killing all those people and not get caught early on. I think the script is really bad. Shootings, stabbings, hangings. Really?

This is another cool slasher movie from the early 80s, but with a slightly different and more interesting twist than usual, its three children who are doing the slaying!! It has a slightly supernatural side to the story as they were all born together under an eclipse making them evil for some reason, its well scored so there is some creepy music that backs up the killings quite well, the kid cast is really good especially the evil little girl played by Elizabeth Hoy, there is some bloody scenes in places, no major gore or anything, there is some nice topless nudity though!! if your into the 80s then its worth picking this up to add to your collection, great fun movie that's worth going back to.The 88 Films Blu-ray is really good with a great picture transfer.A cool booklet of information.Very nice reversible cover with original cake art.A few great features, interview with the main actress, a commentary and trailers.

Excellent blu ray release, if you like slasher films buy this.

Cheap and not really THAT nasty, this not a bad horror flick.The evil kids in it are genuinely creepy and acting is enthusiastic if not always great.I've sat through a lot worse. As with most early 80's horror there's some oversexed teens and of course the usual script silliness. The adults aren't particularly bright and direction could have been better but hey with that title and a cast which includes Jose Ferrer and Michael Dudikoff, you're not looking at Oscar-winning material.

One of the great slasher classics, nice to see this in great quality

The early 80's slasher film is certainly dated and cheesy. Not your run of the mill slasher. The little monsters in this film are just that, 3 little kids. Not a great slasher film, some will find it to corny, while others will no doubt find something to enjoy about it. Special features include an audio interview with the director. An interview with one of the films stars Lori Lethin. And in my opinion the best of the special features is the featurette "A brief history of slasher films"