Alison's Birthday (1981)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Ian Coughlan

Writer:

Ian Coughlan (written by)

Release Date:

26 December 1981 (Australia)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Satan's only gift is death...

Plot:

A young girl is subjected to a reign of terror so that her soul can be transferred to the body of an old crone.

Plot Keywords:

Celtic Religion | Druid | Ghost | Possession | Teen

Cast

Joanne Samuel	...	Alison Findlay
Lou Brown	...	Peter Healey
Bunny Brooke	...	Aunt Jennifer Findlay (as Bunney Brooke)
John Bluthal	...	Uncle Dean Findlay
Vincent Ball	...	Dr. Jeremy Lyall
Margie McCrae	...	Chrissie Willis
Julie Wilson	...	Maureen Tate
Martin Vaughan	...	Mr. Martin
Rosalind Speirs	...	Maggie Carlyle
Robyn Gibbes	...	Helen McGill
Ian Coughlan	...	Dave Ducker
Ralph Cotterill	...	Brian Healey
Marion Johns	...	Granny Thorne
George Carden	...	Druid Leader
Belinda Giblin	...	Isobel Thorne

Runtime:

97 min | UK:94 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:18 (self applied) | Australia:M | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

South Coast, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

7 Network

Movie Connections:

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

Not a bad little horror flick from the land of Oz

This movie was part of a Down Under horror mini-boom that took place for some reason in late 1970's and early 1980's and included some pretty decent if low-watt films like "The Survivor", "Thirst", and "Razorback". It was kind of a little late therefore in getting into the whole satanic cult craze that started with "Rosemary's Baby" in the late 1960's. The cult in this movie though is not technically a satanic cult, but a Druid cult relocated from the British Isles, and they aren't trying to pass the devil's seed into an oblivious virgin, but some kind of ancient centuries-old spirit.

The movie starts with a Ouija board session, involving "Alison" the teenage protagonist, that goes horribly awry. One of Alison's friends starts speaking in her dead father's voice. She/he warns "Alison" not to "go with them" on her nineteenth birthday. Then a bookcase falls on the possessed friend, killing her. You would think she would heed this very compelling warning several years later on her nineteenth birthday when her creepy "uncle and aunt" invite her out to their country estate for a party, but then we wouldn't have much of a movie, would we? Once there "Alison", who is not the sharpest tool in the garage, is remarkably unperturbed to see that her relatives have a miniature of Stonehenge on their property. And what's up with her dessicated 104-year-old great grandmother?

Her slightly smarter friends eventually find the truth and ride to her rescue, and they turn out to be every bit as effective as Scatman Crothers in "The Shining". The ending is great and ALMOST redeems the occasional absurdities and periodic lulls of the earlier parts of the movie. Still, all in all, this isn't a bad little horror flick from the land of Oz.