Alison's Birthday

In case you are - like I was - somewhat reluctant to watch "Alison's Birthday", then hopefully this review can help persuade you to give it a fair chance! Admittedly, it looks and sounds rather boring at first sight, but it's a surprisingly good and intense piece of occult horror from the land of Oz. The Aussies were perhaps a little late with their cashing in on the success of "Rosemary's Baby", but at least their contribution is far better and more memorable than the vast majority of cheap & trashy rip-offs that were released throughout the 70s.

"Alison's Birthday" has a really powerful opening sequence and a staggeringly bleak climax. That's already more than other movies have to show for, and everything in between isn't too bad, neither, albeit a bit slow, derivative and predictable. The intro is fabulous! I usually don't like séance sequences or Ouija-board horror, but this particular scene knows quite a grisly and effectively shocking twist.

A few days prior to her 19th birthday, Alison is begged to come home to the aunt and uncle who brought her up since she became an orphan. The girl has doubts, because a nightmarish séance on her 16th birthday (the one from to the intro) forewarned her to stay away from there at all costs. Boyfriend Peter accompanies Alison, but he's unsubtly shut out by the overbearing aunt and uncle. With Alison further and further out of reach, Peter discovers strange and mystic occurrences, involving a demonic cult, Stonehenge rituals, modern Druids and a 103-year-old granny wandering about! "Alison's Birthday" is far from perfect, but it's one of those rare horror movies that manages to be atmospheric and genuinely unsettling without featuring a single drop of blood. And that final shot, oh man, ... magnificent!

One of the best I've seen from the Occult genre of the 70s. Copyright year is 1979, so its not a 80s flick. Reminds me of movies on the CBS Late Night movie I use to enjoy watching when I was a in my late single digits to my early teens. When, as we kids called it, the midnight hour approached, the witching hour, we all knew 'scary' movies may be coming on, but we usually fell asleep at the TV set. I don't recall ever watching this one, but its in the likes of Gargoyles, Beyond the Door, Devil Dog, Devil's Rain, Shadow of the Hawk, and of course Rosemary's Baby; all of which is supernatural horror. If your a spoiled 21st century computer effects lover, then you will be disappointed since you are use to "visual" rather than "psychological" fun.

I spent the first twenty or so minutes of Alison's Birthday trying to figure out where I had seen the lead actress before; I eventually gave up and consulted IMDb, and it's only Joanne Samuel - Mrs. Rockatansky from Mad Max! That sorted, I settled down happily for what turned out to be a very enjoyable occult horror movie in a similar vein to Rosemary's Baby.

At age 16, Alison Findlay (Samuel) and two school friends decide to hold a seance, contacting Alison's dead father, who warns his daughter to not attend her 19th birthday party. Despite her friend Chrissie (Margie McCrae) dying during the seance (crushed by a falling bookshelf), Alison seems to forget about the warning, and, a few days before turning 19, travels to the home of her Aunt Jennifer (Bunney Brooke) and Uncle Dean (John Bluthal) to celebrate her impending birthday. Joining Alison for the trip is her boyfriend Peter (Lou Brown), who, as the party draws nearer, comes to believe that Alison is in danger from her Aunt and Uncle, who might not be who they claim to be.

Yes, we've seen this sort of thing done before, and yes, the story develops as we expect it to, but with likeable leads, a strong supporting cast, and capable direction from Ian Coughlan, plus a neat, downbeat twist ending, what you have is a consistently entertaining 97 minutes of supernatural thrills. Furthermore, zero nudity and gore means that the film is ideal to introduce your kids to the horror genre.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

A 16 year old girl named Alison receives a deadly warning during a seemingly harmless ouija game. It tells her that at age 19, she will be in serious danger. It appears that Alison's Birthday at age 19 will be a deadly one.

After playing the ouija game that warns 16 year old Alison of the upcoming danger, the film take us three years forward to Alison's 19th birthday. Alison is a well put together young adult with a job and charming boyfriend named Peter. Her Aunt Jenny calls and begs her to come home for her b-day celebration. She decides to go home to visit them.

Once there, she is startled in the middle of the night by an old woman in a wheelchair who her Aunt Jenny claims is her 103 year old great grandmother. Something seems fishy to Alison (and to me as well when I was watching it). Alison also stumbles upon some weird stonehenge looking stones in the backyard which she starts having nightmares about. The whole place starts to freak her out and she can't figure out why. Eventually, the aunt and uncle are exposed as not so innocent people and it's up to Alison's boyfriend Peter to save her from a horrific fate that was predicted three years prior during the ouija game.

What an unexpectedly interesting little Australian horror flick from the 80's! Alison's Birthday is spooky and has an eerie feeling at all times. In the first half, you get the sense that Alison is in serious danger despite the seemingly loving aunt and uncle who welcome her with open arms to their house to celebrate her birthday. Once the film exposes what is really happening around Alison, we learn some family secrets and things get very creepy leading to a bit of a disappointing ending.

If you can catch this on VHS somewhere I would grab it for sure! It's a fun and at times scary evil presence/ritual type horror film that is pretty unknown at this point in time.

6/10

We've seen other movies with similar story ideas, but that's no reason why we can't enjoy this one. Between such story ideas and the overall tone, this picture also bears a certain kinship with others of the same timeframe. Whether it's a stylistic choice or a matter of budgetary constraints, it's noteworthy that this particular rendition is especially low-key and reserved. We're treated to only a smattering of accumulating odd goings-on heading into the last third, and as details of the mystery are pieced together, there's not a significant amount more to it than what we're likely to have read in any basic premise. Still, the concept is sufficiently enticing, and there's just enough in the plot to keep us engaged as the tale progresses. 'Alison's birthday' isn't anything special, but it's duly enjoyable.

There's definitely a lack of subtlety or finesse about the feature, notable in most every regard. Ian Coughlan's direction is competent, but a tad heavy-handed; the cast demonstrate their capability, but under Coughlan's guidance their acting in some scenes is discernibly blunt. I quite like the original music of Brian King and Alain Oulman, and for the most part it's excellent pairing with the proceedings, though sometimes themes or cues are employed in ways that conflict with the scene to greet us. These same thoughts apply as well to Coughlan's screenplay: there are strong ideas here in every aspect, but dialogue and plot development are decidedly on the nose at points; pacing is a little stilted; the narrative is maybe a tad light, and it's broadly communicated without a major sense of urgency. Even the sound design and editing come across as distinctly rough around the edges, and all this is to say nothing of the robust suspension of disbelief that the title requires at large.

It's a swell concept, though - ill tidings awaiting a girl on her forthcoming birthday. I recognize the hard work and sincerity everyone put into the feature, even if it doesn't meet with total success. I do quite like the cast, and this is more well made than not. It's safe to say, however, that 'Alison's birthday' quite comes across as VERY indie and very low-budget - a labor of love, a passion project, that was seen to fruition without the best means or capability to do so. This isn't to say that it's not entertaining, but anyone who has difficulties engaging with such fare won't have their mind changed here. Still, while it's no must-see, I had a good time watching, and sometimes that's all a movie needs to be. Don't go out of your way for it, but if you happen across 'Alison's birthday' and can appreciate the style, this is suitably fun on its own merits.