Alison's Birthday

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<IMG SRC="http://gammillustrations.bizland.com/chfb/rondo_banner_bk.jpg" BORDER=0 HEIGHT=100WIDTH=221 HSPACE=20></A>  </B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFF99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Alison's Birthday</B></div> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="578" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 218 WIDTH="116"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="218" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="116" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="451"><div> <B>(Demon Worship/Cult)                                         7*******skulls</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>*No Blood* *Not Violent* *No Strong Language* *No Nudity* *No Sexual Situations* *Not Gory*</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1979/Color/99 Min./VidAmerica Inc. & Satori Productions & Fontana Films/Australia/Not Rated</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Director..............Ian Coughlan</B></div> <div> <B>Screenplay........Ian Coughlan</B></div> <div> <B>Music................Brian King & Alan Oloman & Ian Coughlan</B></div> <div> <B>Producer...........David Hannay </B></div> <div> <B>Executive Producer.....</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B><U>Dramatis Personae</U></B></div> <div> <B>Alison Findlay...........Johanne Samuel (</B><I><B>Gallagher's Travels, Mad Max</B></I><B>)</B></div> <div> <B>Pete Heally................Lou Brown (</B><I><B>The Irishman</B></I><B>)</B></div> <div> <B>Jennifer Findlay........Bunney Brooke </B></div> <div> <B>Dean Findlay............John Bluthal</B></div> <div> <B>Dr. Jeremy Lyle........Vincent Ball (</B><I><B>Blood of the Vampire</B></I><B>)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Critique</U></B><B>: This well made thriller does a nice job of blending rudimentary cult elements with the modern thriller, a rare success for Australian horror. As Alison is drawn into the web of terror, a good job is done of bringing the viewer along for the ride despite the pace which can at best be described as steady.  Although this film predates a slew of malevolent demon-cult films which were a great deal more expensive, it succeeds at focusing interest (and dismay as attempts to wrest Alison from their clutches fail) in a way that many of its successors don't without ever resorting to low-brow effects or gore. Unlike so many films, this film does a good job of making us care about the protagonists, and thus when they become ever more ensnared in the clutches of the cult, the terror is effective. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Plot Summary</U></B><B>: Alison is 16 years, four months old, and sits with two girls around a Ouija table. Suddenly, the glass moves about the board, spelling out "Alison". The message is, "Don't go 19 birthday". Chrissie is suddenly possessed as a demonic voice claiming to be the spirit of Alison's father says Alison must get away from "them" before her 19th birthday. Then the spirit voice wavers. It fears that "Mirne" is coming. Suddenly, objects in the room fly about and Chrissie the spirit host is crushed by falling furniture. Shortly before her 19th birthday, Alison gets a long distance call from Aunt Jenny. It seems Uncle Dean has fallen ill, and the family thinks it would be best if Alison came home to combine a last visit with Uncle Dean and her nineteenth birthday celebration. Apparently forgetting the warning at the seance, she and her boyfriend, Pete make the trek. Wearing the pendant Uncle Dean gave Alison when she was five years old, she wanders into a wooded area near her relatives home and stumbles onto a small alter, perhaps a pre-Christian ritual site, and soon the woods that she was happily exploring have become horrifying to her. After she escapes, her questions about the miniature Stonehenge are avoided. Uncle Dean says it was built by a previous owner who believed that such structures were astronomical devices. That night, Allison awakes to find a wizened woman in a wheelchair staring hungrily at her, wearing a pendant identical to her own. She later learns this was her previously unknown great grandmother Thorn. Allison has been having nightmares and believes they might have something to do with the ringstones. After Alison has consumed her nightly "tonic" provided by aunt Jennifer, she dreams of Mirne among the ringstones. Mirne's followers chant, "Hail Mirne", and summon the old ones. The next day, a Dr. Lyle tells Pete that Alison is suffering from nervous exhaustion. Pete finds Dr. Lyle's manner strange and looks him up in the directory. No Dr. Lyle is listed at all. That night, Pete, who has been warned away, exhibits something of a checkered past, picking the lock to visit Alison. She wakes and remembers another dream of a black magic ritual. As they make their escape, the family is waiting at the door. Things go from bad to worse as soon Alison denounces Pete, accusing him of attempting to abduct her. Pete then  turns to an old friend who dabbles in the occult, to whom he mentions the medallion and the name "Mirne". It turns out Mirne is a powerful female demon from ancient Celtic mythology said to dwell within stone. Her ritual number is 19. According to the calendar of the Celtic magicians, today is the 19th day of the year. It appears that Alison is the victim of a modern day Mirne cult. Meanwhile, the cult has deemed Pete's activities too dangerous and he is drawn to their evil hind. He learns from the sectarians that "grandmother" Isabelle Thorne raised the demon in the seventeenth century. Every eighty years or so, a child born at precisely the right time is abducted by the members of the sect to provide a fresh house for Mirne's representative on earth. If Pete fails in his efforts, Alison will be next!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B> <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=26864318&siteid=39400660&bfpage=home" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=26864318&siteid=39400660&bfpage=home" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://www.dvdplanet.com/satellite/banners/generic2b_468X60.gif" BORDER="0" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="60" ALT="DVDPlanet.com"></A>  </B></div> </td> </tr></table></body>