Trust Hammer to make one of their most ghastly movies a black comedy with not a trace of horror in sight. This entire production is centred around a ghoulish performance from a barnstorming Bette Davis as the matriarch of a rich family. The family are brought together to celebrate the wedding anniversary between Davis and her late husband, and as the night goes on everybody's dark secrets are gradually revealed with skeletons dropping out of closets all over the place.Roy Ward Baker's superior direction keeps what is in essence a single location film moving along nicely. This would have worked well as a stage play as for 90% of the running time we get Davis going around and dominating the screen in being absolutely horrible to everybody. As such, few of the other cast members get much of a look in, but nobody puts a foot wrong here. There are many genuinely funny moments throughout, particularly in Davis's put-downs, and a darkness of touch which is surprising given that this is a family friendly production.

Screen legend Bette Davis, working again for Britain's Hammer Studios after 1965's "The Nanny", gets a part here that she can really sink her teeth into, and does, in this often quite amusing dark comedy, scripted and produced by Jimmy Sangster, that is based on the play by Bill MacIlwraith. Davis plays Mrs. Taggart, matriarch of a family in the construction business, whose put-upon sons gather for her 40th anniversary, which is still celebrated even though her husband has passed on. Two of the men, Henry (James Cossins) and Terry (Jack Hedley) are rather meek; Henry has a penchant for stealing ladies' underwear and wearing womens' clothes, and Terry is dominated just as much by his wife Karen (Sheila Hancock) as he is by his mom. The youngest, Tom (Christian Roberts) is substantially more carefree and brings his fiancée Shirley (the stunning Elaine Taylor) along to this anniversary. One can see this movie's roots in the stage with the way it basically revolves around its dialogue and acting. And it takes really good acting and writing to hold one's attention in such circumstances, and fortunately "The Anniversary" does satisfy in that respect. The dialogue is frequently, devastatingly biting and sardonic, and the actors do really seem to delight in it, especially Davis. The biggest key to why the movie works as well as it does is the whole nature of the Mrs. Taggart character - ultimately, we can see that it's impossible to keep this lady down for very long. She's on to the others' secrets more than they realize, and can quickly shift gears or provide a revelation of her own if it looks like someone else has her on the ropes. Even at the end, we see how she can continue to stay in control, and manipulate all of her kin like so many puppets. It's also good fun to see the various revelations play out and characters' reactions to them. It drags a little at times, but always comes up with another delicious exchange of dialogue. Also indicative of the stage origin is how few locations there are; the majority of the scenes take place inside the Taggart home. Davis truly leaps off the screen, especially when she's decked out in red dress and eye patch. But that's not to say that the rest of the cast doesn't do fine work as they all have their good moments and hold their own opposite this iconic actress. "The Anniversary" definitely stands out among Hammer's output and is well worth watching for fans. Seven out of 10.

Every now and then Hammer Films sidestepped vampires, Frankenstein, period costume, and other horror fodder, and knocked out a film which didn't fit their expected profile. The Anniversary is one such, but it is also a horror in its own way.The Taggart family get together for a family gathering - "celebration" is entirely the wrong word - under the auspices of eyepatched matriarch Bette Davis. And, as the occasion moves along, it becomes clear that each family member desperately needs to move away from the malevolent maternal influence, but also that every family member (and their partners, where relevant) is completely outclassed by the manipulative old witch, who is able to keep them exactly where she wants them - under her thumb.This adaptation of a stage play is a very funny black comedy, with Miss Davis having a blast playing a gloriously over the top monster. This is not to belittle the rest of the cast, who provide wonderful prey for Mother.This overlooked film is well worth catching.

Owch. This film manages to portray a family even LESS likable than the Bickersons or Mama's Family. Heck, even the Mansons seem downright cuddly compared to these freaks in THE ANNIVERSARY. So, if you see this film, be prepared to see some truly dreadful people--with Bette Davis playing one of the most awful women in film history! The only one worse that I can think of, off the top of my head, is Divine in PINK FLAMINGOS! THE ANNIVERSARY is about an evening where three grown sons come to a party for their mother. It seems that their parents anniversary has arrived, but the father is the lucky one--he died years earlier! Each of the three sons has a secret. The oldest loves to steal women's undergarments and is most likely gay. The second is planning on emigrating to Canada with his family to get away from his mother's domineering ways. The third is planning on marrying his pregnant girlfriend--who up until this point has never met his screwy family. As for Bette Davis, as the matriarch she seems (based on her real-life daughter's book) to be playing herself! Manipulative, blunt, cruel and vicious--this old lady has all the maternal instincts of a rabid hamster! Now some of this is so horrible behavior is so bad that the film is a great black comedy. Others might just find it all a bit tedious. And others might just leave the room screaming--as it reminds them of their own dysfunctional families!! As for me, it was a lot like watching MOMMY DEAREST without the physical abuse. At times I did laugh, as some of the cutting comments were pretty clever. However, I must say that after a while, Bette's evil ways did get a little tough to take simply because I was longing for one of the sons to strangle her or at least show some guts--though I guess if they had, then they wouldn't have made such an "interesting" family.By the way, although Davis played a truly awful and manipulative person, it was also amazing that for all the horrible things she said to the fiancée in particular, that no one stood up for her--not even the boyfriend. And, when each gets in some sort of trouble, the others simply stand back and do nothing to help. These show that the entire family was a mess--not just the matriarch. This makes for a very fascinating portrait and giving the film more depth than if she'd just been a horrible person herself. This is especially true because, in some ways, the two younger sons seemed to be attracted to women who were domineering--and had SOME similarity to Mum.By the way....if you dare and do watch this film, get a load of the kiss that occurs 78 minutes into the film. You certainly WON'T miss it. And also, shortly after this, get a load of Davis' comment about "Christian values"--it's simply unbelievable.This has "cult film" and "guilty pleasure" written all over it. What a kooky film!