''Happy Birthday'' is a 2016 American

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written and directed by

Casey Tebo Casey Tebo (born Casey Patrick Thibeault) is an American film director from Boston, Massachusetts. In the fall of 2020, he directed the scifi horror action film Black Friday Starring Bruce Campbell and Devon Sawa. Black Friday received overall p ...

. The film stars Matt Bush and Riley Litman as two friends that travel to Mexico and end up getting kidnapped. ''Happy Birthday'' also stars

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

as a shaman.

Plot

Brady and Tommy have decided to travel to Mexico in search of drinks and debauchery to celebrate Brady's birthday and to help him get over his girlfriend's infidelity. Their vacation takes a dark turn after they pick up two American women, Katie and Lucia, who trick the two men and kidnap them as part of a scheme by the local drug lords to gain ransom money from their parents.

Cast

* Matt Bush as Brady Baxter * Riley Litman as Tommy Quinn * Vanessa Lengies as Katie Elizondo * Britne Oldford as Lucia Frankie Allen * Erik Palladino as The Texican *

Matt Willig Matthew Joseph Willig (born January 21, 1969) is an American actor and former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League. Early life and education Willig was born in La Mirada, California. He played football and basketb ...

as El Caballo *

as Kasape Sukka *

Robert Miano Robert Miano (born September 25, 1942) is an American actor. Early life Robert Miano was born in New York City and raised in the Southeast Bronx neighborhood. He is of Italian descent. At the age of fifteen Robert Miano was discovered by a tale ...

as El Gato Enfermo *

Tristin Mays Tristin Mays (born June 10, 1990) is an American actress. Mays portrayed Riley Davis in the reboot of the ''MacGyver'' series on CBS who works as a covert operative for the Phoenix Foundation. Early life and education Mays' parents, Viveca and Mi ...

as Janie *

Jeff Daniel Phillips Jeffrey Daniel Phillips is an American actor and filmmaker. Career He is best known for playing a caveman in a popular series of GEICO commercials. He played the part of Maurice in the short-lived ''Cavemen'' sitcom on ABC. Other credits to him ...

as Frank Zappa *

Inanna Sarkis Inanna Sarkis is a Canadian actress of Bulgarian and Assyrian descent. Early life and career Sarkis was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the daughter of a Syrian father who was a dentist and a Bulgarian mother who used to be a surgeon in Bulgaria. Bo ...

as Kasape Sukka's girlfriend

Reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' panned the film overall, writing that "Tebo brings some admirable ambition to this microbudget project" but that "from the overwritten, pop-culture-reference-laden dialogue to the incessant attempts to be shocking, “''Happy Birthday''” tries way too hard." ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' also reviewed the movie, stating "A bizarre mixture of black comedy and horror/suspense, ''Happy Birthday'' is a juvenile effort that at least has the decency to make its American and Mexican characters look equally bad." In contrast, genre website

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

praised the movie and felt that "the sheer originality behind ''Happy Birthday'' makes up for most of its cinematic blunders" and that "Tebo’s direction and storytelling skills shine brightly in this flawed but compelling thriller."

References

External links

* 2016 films 2016 horror films 2016 horror thriller films American horror thriller films Cockfighting in film 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{2010s-horror-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links