Horror VHS Cover #95: Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to Me from 1981 has one of the most memorable photographic VHS covers of the 80s. It conveys how dramatic lighting can make an actor appear uncanny and ghostly, especially with the coked-up fog of an 80s lense. The poor man on the front has a shadow across the center of his face that makes it seems as though he is hiding under something- perhaps a front porch, bleachers or a picnic table.

Happy Birthday to Me was discussed on a podcast by Eli Roth and Tarantino as a potential American Giallo because of the killer’s use of a black leather glove and the whodunit aspect of the film. The end reveal is famous for a shot in which all of the film’s slaughtered victims are posed together like stuffed animals. This concept was used many times since in slasher films and I am pretty confident it started here.

Happy Birthday to Me did appear at my local video store, California Video (RIP) and I always perceived it to be one of the older covers on the shelf. Even as a kid I knew intuitively that this was from the very early 80s, and thus was manufactured at the beginning of the VHS era. The misty glow of the victim’s eyes on the front cover made me fearful of renting this film. It’s strange how a frightened look on an actor can be scarier than the threat.

Happy Birthday to Me, even though it isn’t my birthday.