Alison’s Birthday

Alison’s Birthday

Year: 1981

Runtime: 99 mins

Language: English

HorrorHorror

After a late‑night Ouija board session with her teenage friends, 16‑year‑old Alison receives a chilling warning from beyond the grave: never return home for her birthday three years hence. The ominous message haunts her, turning what should be a simple celebration into a suspense‑filled ordeal as the foretold day draws near.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Alison’s Birthday (1981)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Alison’s Birthday (1981). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Alison's hometown, Aunt Jenny and Uncle Dean's home, the forest with the stone monolith, the abandoned cemetery, the local library

The action unfolds in a small Australian hometown centered on Alison's family home near a forested area that features a Stonehenge-like monolith. Key locations include the family house, the woods where the ritual takes place, and the cemetery connected to the cult's activities. The library serves as a hub for researching Alison's birth details, grounding the supernatural plot in ordinary community spaces.

🗺️ Hometown 🌲 Woods 🏠 Family home 📚 Library

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:57

Main Characters – Alison’s Birthday (1981)

Meet the key characters of Alison’s Birthday (1981), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Alison Findlay (Joanne Samuel)

Sixteen-year-old Alison becomes the focus of a looming occult threat after a Ouija session hints at danger tied to her 19th birthday. She is curious, resilient, and increasingly unsettled as her family's secrets threaten her autonomy. Her arc centers on resisting manipulation while uncovering the truth about her origins.

👧 Teen 🕵️‍♀️ Investigator 🧭 Protagonist

Peter Healey (Lou Brown)

Alison's persistent boyfriend who hunts for the truth behind her past. He becomes a resourceful ally, researching birth details and occult lore to uncover the cult's plans. His attempt to confront the danger leads to a fatal confrontation that shifts the story's direction.

💪 Determined 🔎 Investigator 💘 Boyfriend

Dean Findlay (John Bluthal)

Alison's protective but controlling uncle who dislikes Pete and uses manipulation to keep Alison away from outsiders. He schemes to carry out the ritual and maintains the family’s influence over Alison, revealing a dark side of caretaking when secrecy is at stake.

🏠 Relative 🗝️ Manipulative 🛡️ Protective

Jennifer Findlay (Aunt Jenny) (Bunney Brooke)

Alison's aunt who is complicit in the family plot, helping to isolate Alison and sustain the false narrative presented to authorities. She embodies the calculated social face of the cult's containment strategy.

👩‍🏫 Relative 🗝️ Manipulative 🧭 Deceptive

Grandmother Thorne (Marion Johns)

A centenarian figure whose presence anchors the final soul transfer. She appears frail but becomes the vessel for Mirna, illustrating how age can be exploited within the cult's plan.

👵 Elder 🧬 Vessel 🕳️ Secretive

Isobel Thorne (Belinda Giblin)

A member of the Thorne family whose role in the cult’s scheme is implied by the family’s network, contributing to the tension within the broader circle.

👪 Relative 🗝️ Complicit 🧭 Ambiguous

Sally Brown (Lisa Peers)

An occult-savvy ally who helps Pete interpret the birth time and demon lore. Her astrology knowledge becomes crucial to uncovering the truth behind the ritual and the cult’s plan.

🔭 Scholar 🧭 Occult 🧠 Supportive

Dr. Jeremy Lyall (Vincent Ball)

The impostor doctor who drugs Alison to suppress her and seed the false narrative about Pete’s stalking. He represents the corruption of medical authority in service of the cult.

🕵️‍♂️ Conspirator 🩺 Impostor 🗡️ Deceptive

Detective (Stephen O'Rourke)

A law enforcement figure who initially interprets Alison's actions through the false report about Pete, highlighting how the cult's manipulation can misdirect authority.

🔎 Investigator 👮 Detective 🕵️‍♂️ Authority

Police Sergeant (Brian Wenzel)

A local police presence entangled in the case surrounding Pete's arrest and the subsequent cover-up, underscoring external pressure on the family’s ritual plan.

👮 Authority 🕵️‍♂️ Investigator 🗺️ Local

Chrissie Willis (Margie McCrae)

One of Alison’s school friends who directly experiences the horror of the Ouija session, foreshadowing the danger behind seemingly innocent peer interactions.

👧 Peer 💀 Victim 🕯️ Occult

Maureen Tate (Julie Wilson)

A classmate who shares the early session and the chilling aftermath, illustrating adolescence confronted with hidden forces beyond comprehension.

👧 Teen 🕯️ Occult 🧭 Insight

Cousin Richard (Adam Bowen)

A minor relative within the family circle whose exact role is not fully detailed in the summary, but who operates within the cult's social network.

👪 Relative 🕯️ Occult 🗝️ Secretive

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:57

Major Themes – Alison’s Birthday (1981)

Explore the central themes of Alison’s Birthday (1981), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🔮 Possession

A Celtic demon named Mirna transfers souls, turning Alison into a vessel for a supernatural entity. The birth time of 19:00 anchors the ritual and fate to Alison's body, underscoring a loss of personal autonomy. The film centers on the horror of identity being claimed by an outside force.

🕯️ Rituals and deception

The Celtic cult orchestrates a ritual to harvest souls, veiling their true aims behind appearances and misdirections. A fake doctor and manipulated authorities illustrate how ritual and belief can be used to control outcomes. Knowledge of occult lore is pieced together through the library and cemetery scenes, revealing the hidden practice behind everyday life.

👪 Family secrets

Dean and Jenny, Alison's relatives, engineer a protective but coercive environment that shields the cult's plans and distorts perception of truth. The family dynamic casts loyalty and fear as forces that override individual choice. The narrative frames kinship as both shelter and danger when confronted with supernatural manipulation.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:57

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern begins with an ominous supernatural revelation that defines the central conflict. The plot follows the protagonist's attempts to understand, delay, or circumvent the prophecy, which invariably leads to a climax where the foretold event comes to pass, often with a tragic and irreversible conclusion.

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Movies in this thread share a core plot device of an unavoidable supernatural fate, a high-tension steady pacing, and a consistently dark tone culminating in a bleak ending. The emotional journey is defined by heavy dread and the crushing weight of inevitability.

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Alison’s Birthday Summary

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Alison’s Birthday Summary

Alison’s Birthday Timeline

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Alison’s Birthday Timeline

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Alison’s Birthday Spoiler-Free Summary

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