THE BIRTHDAY - Fully restored 20th Anniversary
Directed by Eugenio Mira | 100 min | Spain | 2004
14+ (violence)
Starring: Corey Feldman, Erica Prior, Jack Taylor
Not everything is as it seems at the old Royal Fulton Hotel. Norman Forrester, played brilliantly in a career-defining performance by the iconic Corey Feldman, is finally going to meet his girlfriend’s family at her father’s lavish birthday party. But what was supposed to be an important step forward in their relationship doesn’t exactly go as planned; he’s not on the guest list, his girlfriend is ignoring him, and her father doesn’t like him at all. Rejected and heartbroken, Norman wanders away from the party, only to find something far more sinister than his girlfriend’s family lurking deep within the churning bowels of the ailing hotel: an ancient evil that threatens to bring about the end of the world.
Twenty years after he appeared in F13: The Final Chapter, Corey Feldman nabbed the role of a lifetime in this truly one-of-a-kind comedic thriller that premiered at Austin's revered Fantastic Fest film festival, as well as the prestigious Sitges film festival in Spain… and then promptly disappeared, presumably forever. Hailed a “cinematic marvel” by master of comedy and terror Jordan Peele, THE BIRTHDAY is the mischievously thrilling, darkly hilarious, and cult-celebrated first feature from visionary filmmaker Eugenio Mira (GRAND PIANO).
And now, Drafthouse Films has lovingly restored this wonderful curiosity, which can only be described as the best Jerry Lewis movie David Lynch never made. See it once. Remember it forever!
FESTIVALS: 2024 Fantastic Fest
Preceded by the short film:
The Mad Doctor of the Intercontinental Hotel
Directed by: Michael Shane Bowles | 3 min | USA | 2024
While on a self-guided ghost tour, a haunted house enthusiast attempts to separate fact from fiction by summoning The Mad Doctor of The Intercontinental Hotel.