Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Leofwine_draca 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.

Neil Welch 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.

Michael_Elliott Anniversary, The (1968) ** (out of 4) Bette Davis made her second and final appearance in a Hammer film with this dark comedy that certainly gives the actress a memorable role. In the film she plays a mother from hell who invites her sons and their families back to her mansion to celebrate her wedding anniversary. Once the sons get there, mommy goes to work by ruining their relationships with their women and really sets her eyes on her youngest son's fiancé (Elaine Taylor). This black comedy has a lot going for it except the laughs. I really found most of the humor to be too dry to really work and in the end I can't help but be disappointed in this film even though we get Davis eating as much scenery as anytime in her career. Whether she's wearing her red or black eye-patch, she gives it her all in creating a woman you can't help but hate not only because of how mean she is but because of how cocky, arrogant and just downright vicious she is. Davis chews up one scene after another and really controls and punishes the rest of the actors in her way. The only one of the supporting cast that really stands a chance is Taylor who is quite easy on the eyes and comes off pretty good. Her character is the one who fights back at Davis and the young actress makes you believe her toughness. The screenplay is fairly straight in terms of it trying to get humor. There's really no slapstick or any physical laughs but instead it's mostly dialogue driven. The dialogue itself isn't the greatest and a lot of it focuses on meanness rather than anything else. One of the sons enjoys dressing in women's clothing, which is another easy gag that never really provides any laughs.

MartinHafer 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!