1/5 Total Humilation For a Great Actress
  by Cornelius G. Kelly (Albuquerque)
When I first saw The Anniversary on Amazon I thought I had found the lost treasure of all Bette Davis' career. WRONG! This film is the most humilating piece of movie trash anyone has ever starred in never mind our most precious Bette. The eye patch is horrendous. The outfits are horrific. The plot? Is there one that holds up to anything that a clown couldn't play. I can't even sit through it again. I had to force myself to watch it the first time. What could have been a quite intriguing plot is instead a thrown together script to embarass our legendary Bette: yellow teeth and all. I felt like crying I was so upset for Bette. There are no great lines to recite. There are no shocking moments. This certainly is no treat for a Bette Davis fan and I am one who counts myself as an adoring fan.
If the releasing company would be so kind to burn all the inventory and put it out of circulation and out of it's misery that would be the kindest act. But they'll keep suckers like me thinking I've come across a gem for the money honey. Bette certainly was used and made to think the film had some importance. Alas, even my TV cried having to carry the picture through.
Please don't waste your money when there are so many of her fabulous films available on DVD. I gave it one star for our star Bette. May she rest in peace and this film rest in pieces of a recycle bin. It is a crime that some greedy folks put it out. Shame on them.

5/5 I remember Mommie
  by tmp (Solar System, MA USA)
Bette Davis inhabits cruel matriarch Mrs. Taggart, a lady so mean she doesn't have a first name. She gathers her children (whom she refers to as her chicks) once a year to celebrate her Anniversary, whether of her marriage or widowhood is left to the imagination. Bette wiggles her way through this one, spewing honeyed venom at the cast and changing her eyepatch to suit her outfits. She also makes up for the lack of one eye by allowing the other one to upstage the rest of her- it widens in such mascara-laden shock so often one is afraid it will pop out and shoot across the room. All of this is played in lurid, living color, the better to appreciate Miss Davis' bright blue eye and slightly yellowed teeth: teeth she gleefully cuts on the rest of the cast. Buy this right now.

5/5 Great Family Farce Movie Starring Bette Davis
  by dr. m~d (USA)
A farce is a comedy involving a series of ridiculously unlikely turns of events. With Miss Bette Davis playing the lead actor, the story is about what she and her family do on an anniversary of her husband's death. The farcical aspects begin from the start when Bette Davis makes her appearance at the top of her home's staircase dressed in all red, including purse and eye patch, as if she were the belle of some major ball. Instead, she is just coming out of her bedroom to the top of the stairs where her family can see her. It's totally ridiculous and hysterically funny. Davis' comical timing is like the rest of her dramatic performances: done to perfection.

Everything about Davis' character as the head of the family during this 'festive' family gathering is just about as unlikely as it gets. When the rest of her family's actions and lines are added, the quality of the farce is intensified, complicated, truly twisted, and yet, somehow true to real life families in quite a few ways that we might like wanting to admit.

I can't imagine "The Anniversary" carrying out the farce to high comedy without Bette Davis playing the lead character who is way seriously into this dramatic death ritual. It's because Davis' is such the ultimate actor that her character has to be taken seriously and laughed at, simultaneously.

3/5 Bette Davis in an eye patch
  by Mad Movie Monk (Lafayette, CA USA)
You might think an eye patch would be over the top, well not for Bette Davis. This tale of family in-fighting and treachery is led by the legend on a romp through a family function gone terribly wrong. Although Hammer made this film and their reputation was in horror the film itself is more of a drama, although it does have a very dark side. A good script and a sufficient supporting cast round out the production making it worth the watch.

3/5 June Cleever with a cleaver
  by Joseph P. Menta, Jr. (Philadelphia, PA USA)
"The Anniversary" is certainly engaging, but it's also somewhat depressing. The vitriol and narcissism fly from all directions, not just from Bette Davis' "Mother from Hell" character (though she does get the top award in the "reprehensible" category here). But if you can take all the hate, the movie delivers good banter, some funny moments, and a nice sheen of sophistication. You could certainly do worse things for ninety-five minutes or so than watch this movie.

A quick word about Ms. Davis' performance in "The Anniversary". Some here have called it hammy and over-the-top, but I didn't find it so. I think that Ms. Davis wisely saw that the material was often outrageous, over-the-top, etc., so she didn't need to be. She just calmly delivered her lines with just the right emphasis and underscoring and let the material basically speak for itself. I found it to be a nicely modulated performance.

The commentary track, featuring director Roy Ward Baker; an executive from Anchor Bay Entertainment (the DVD company); and one of the film's producers, is also a lot of fun, mainly due to the fact that it's so candid. The word "battleaxe" is actually used to describe Ms. Davis' personality on the set. But the producer and director also say nice things about her, which come off as credible because they didn't hold back on the bad stuff.

The film print employed here is sharp and clear, and the colors are vibrant. Kudos to Anchor Bay for producing such a nice DVD... even though it inexplicably included a number of low-rent horror trailers at the start of the program. Hey, I know that "The Anniversary" was a Hammer Film, but it wasn't THAT kind of Hammer film.

I think Bette Davis fans will enjoy this lesser known effort from the late 60's. But, like I said at the outset, don't look for a warm and fuzzy take on humanity here.