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.

An on screen caption informs us 'Alison - Sixteen years, Four months'. Alison Findlay (Joanne Samuel) & two of her school friends, Chrissie Willis (Margie McCrae) & Maureen Tate (Julie Wilson) are holding a séance. Spooky things begin to happen & Chrissie becomes possessed with Alison's dead Father's spirit who warns her about what will happen on her nineteenth birthday. Chrissie is crushed to death by a bookcase that falls on her. The credits roll & then another on screen caption now helpfully informs us 'Alison - Eighteen years, Eleven months, Twenty Six days'. As Alison's nineteenth birthday fast approaches her Aunt Jenny (Bunny Brooke as Bunney Brooke), who along with her Uncle Dean (John Bluthal) brought Alison up when her parent died while she was a baby, phones her & invites Alison to her childhood home for her birthday. Alison agrees as Jenny also informs her that her Uncle is ill & has only a short time to live. Alison decides to take along her boyfriend Peter Healy (Lou Brown, the IMDb is wrong as Peter is not Alison's uncle, it's definitely Uncle Dean), they travel down & at first things are fine as Alison remembers her childhood & is reunited with Jenny & Dean, Alison is untroubled by the miniature Stone Hendge at the bottom of their garden. But that night Alison has terrible nightmares & wakes up to find a 103 year old woman (Marion Johns) in a wheelchair by the side of her bed. Jenny & Dean claim that the woman is her Grandmother they never told her about, despite this Alison still thinks everything is fine. Peter becomes suspicious when Uncle Dean warns him to stay away from Alison for a couple of days, Peter tries to see Alison but is told a phony excuse about her having nervous exhaustion by a dodgy looking Doctor named Jeremy Lyall (Vincent Ball) who when questioned is very evasive. When Peter forcibly tries to remove Alison the police are called & he is arrested. Peter decides to investigate further & visits a friend named Sally Brown (Lisa Peers) who seems to be some sort of astrologer, Peter mentions the name Mirne, the name Alison mentioned from her nightmare. Sally looks in a book & authoritatively says that Mirne was in ancient Celtic mythology a powerful female demon worshipped by Celtic magicians & was said to dwell in stone. Things turn nasty quickly for both Peter as he unearth's some sinister & shocking facts, & for Alison as her Aunt & Uncle have special plans for her nineteenth birthday party...Written & directed by Ian Coughlan Alison's Birthday is as dull as dishwater & as exciting as watching paint dry, I was bored to tears. The script is so slow it's untrue, the script goes for psychological terror totally ignoring the exploitative possibilities, & it fails completely which is no surprise. There is no suspense or tension & everything is so uninteresting & just plain dull. Nothing exciting, scary, gory or interesting happens until the last ten or so minutes when there is a decent climax & twist ending, unfortunately for Alison's Birthday this is far too little, far too late. Not one single drop of blood is spilt throughout, there is no nudity or bad language either & while these things aren't necessary for a horror film to be either good or entertaining they sure as hell help & since Alison's Birthday is so drawn out & dull some decent exploitation elements would have livened things up considerably. As it is Alison's Birthday is one of the most boring uneventful films I've seen. The film is also very flat & basic in terms of production values, it's not a poorly made made film but it isn't a particularly well made one either which makes it even more painful to sit through. Another minus against Alison's Birthday is that it is an Australian produced film & therefore everyone have annoying accents (G'day mate want to come to me barbie?), sorry but it's true! I can't think of a single good feature about Alison's Birthday by which I could recommend it. I pretty much hate this film, no matter how cheap you may be able to pick this up for don't bother unless your an insomniac that is. Guaranteed to have most people reaching for the 'stop' or 'fastforward' buttons well before it's anywhere near finished, do yourself a favour & avoid Alison's Birthday. Trust me you'll be glad you did.

**** POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILERS ****Australian entry into the 1970's demonic/witchcraft horror cycle. Film starts with a prologue ( similar to 'Halloween' or 'Prom Night'), where 16-year old Alison is warned, whilst doing a Ouija Board, that she must get away before her 19th Birthday.Film moves forward a couple of years to find Alison invited to her Aunt and Uncle's to celebrate her birthday which is fast approaching. Film has similarities to 'Rosemary's Baby' with vulnerable young girl falling foul of a witchcraft cult, personified by much older, normally trustworthy characters. Her Aunt makes Alison drink her 'herbal chocolate', in the same way as Ruth Roman brought Mia Farrow concoctions in the Polanski classic.The film has basic production values and the acting is poor, but the storyline is well thought out and quite complex, remaining true to its horror roots. The middle section of the film concerns Alison's boyfriend (an annoying character who drives around in a feeble yellow buggy), trying to uncover what is going on and save Alison. He goes through old newspapers and searches hospital records, slowly piecing things together, as Gregory Peck did in 'The Omen'.If you're not mad about the genre 'Alison's Birthday' will be barely watchable, but for horror fans there is more than enough here to keep the interest from waning. The storyline is quite strong and manages to carry the film along. The ending seems a foregone conclusion - but in a final effort the film keeps the horror dark and provides a bleak, nightmarish finale.Great video cover with a naked girl lying on an altar before a horned demon.

I haven't seen this one in years, however it does stick out my mind as one of the most bizarre movies I have ever seen. I saw it when I was 12 and can't remember most of it. The part at the end with the old lady freaked me out though.