It only took 20 years for Corey Feldman‘s critically acclaimed performance in indie horror film “The Birthday” to be seen by audiences — and the former child star turned musician is reveling in his long overdue praise.
The story of the long road to the big screen for “The Birthday” is almost stranger than fiction: While iconic filmmakers such as Guillermo del Toro and Quentin Tarantino watched (and supposedly loved) director Eugenio Mira‘s filmmaking debut back in 2004, the horror-comedy never was released in theaters. “The Birthday” was born at the Sitges International Film Festival in 2004, and later had its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2005. And then it subsequently died. As bootleg copies circulated via DVD and later, YouTube, the lore surrounding “The Birthday” only propelled the film into cult status.
Feldman plays Norman, a man who just might be having the worst trip to a hotel ever as he meets his girlfriend’s family at her father’s lavish birthday party. Yet the party turns out to be a secret cult sacrifice, and Norman is fighting for both his life and his sanity in the feature shot in real time.
In addition to Feldman, Erica Prior and Jack Taylor also star. Director Mira co-wrote the script with Mikel Alvariño.
But what happened to the best movie never seen?
There seemed to be a greater force at play to get “The Birthday” distributed: While co-writer/director Mira was busy self-funding a 4K restoration of the feature across two decades, it was “divine intervention,” according to Mira, that Jordan Peele programmed “The Birthday” for his curated Film Society of Lincoln Center festival in 2023. “The Birthday,” it seems, was reborn.
Now, with a one-night-only theatrical event in over 20 Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas nationwide on October 1, plus a theatrical premiere in select cities starting October 11 in partnership with Drafthouse Films, the film has found new life.
Below, lead actor Feldman and director Mira recall their journey to reviving “The Birthday” and finally bringing it to theaters for the first time.
The interview has been edited for clarity and was conducted during Fantastic Fest 2024.
IndieWire:Congratulations on returning to the festival, 19 years later. How recently have you both watched “The Birthday” on a big screen?
Corey Feldman: Well, it was at the Lincoln Center [in 2023], but it was the original print, which was very outdated and a bit scratchy, with some edit marks and black outfits and things like that. That happens when you have an original print of the film that hasn’t been looked at in many years. But the luck and the forces of nature and the determination and will of this man [Eugencio Mira] right here, and of course, with the forethought and foresight of Jordan Peele, we now have a pristine 4K transfer of the film that has never been seen by anybody.
Eugenio Mira: I’ve been working for a year on the restoration myself. The Fantastic Fest 2024 screening is the first time that I’ll see it with an audience. I’m very, very happy.
Feldman: And I think that it looks gorgeous.
Did you have the distribution deal with Drafthouse Films prior to starting the restoration?
Mira: No, no.
Feldman: It was a bit of the horse-before-the-cart sort of situation, because the truth of the matter was that the root of the concept came from the idea that Jordan Peele had. He came to my house and watched the screening of the film in a private setting and said, “This film is magnificent. It’s a cinematic masterpiece. And all of your fans deserve to see this. The whole world needs to see this work. It’s a very important work.” And I said, “Well, from your lips to God’s ears [but] I don’t think there’s a way for me to make that happen since it’s been sitting in cold storage for 18 years.” And he said, “Well, I have some ideas but I believe that this is going to be your year and I believe that this film needs to be seen and if there’s any way that I can be a part of that, then I’d be glad to.” A few months later, he called me to say he was setting up a film series at the Lincoln Center in New York. He wanted the original print, which I didn’t even know if it still existed, but that’s what we ended up showing on the big screen there. It sold out two screenings got a standing ovation. The reception was really warm.
And because of that, we got distribution interest. And based on that interest, Eugenio took it upon himself to invest his own finances and his own time to actually bring it up to par and to refurbish the film. So that was on his own idea, with the hope that this might play out this way.
Mira: For many years, the film was more of a liability than an asset for the production company who financed it originally. Over the yeaars, we had interest in distribution from different sides of the world. But the production company had to offer a master that was actually something to sell. It was just a poor quality mini DVD tape where we had a film aside of the print. I had this feeling around 2022, that with the 20th anniversary of the film coming, it will be great to have a [distribution] offer. We could have something to show for it, and that wasn’t going to come from the original production company. So that’s when I jumped, in and I started cooking it.
I have to say that it’s a very strange case of divine intervention because I just had this feeling of, “I should have this ready in case that somebody shows interest.” And as that started to get in motion, then all these things happened like Jordan Peele inviting [Corey] to the premiere in L.A. of “Nope.”
Feldman: And it was a very mysterious invitation.
Mira: But I was already working on the remastering when he told me. It was perfect timing.
Feldman: Well, it’s this synergy, right? I think the bigger sentiment and the bigger statement on this is that when you start working toward a goal, whatever that common goal may be, just putting that energy into the atmosphere will get it done. Just to say, “I’ve got the intention to give this new life” will make it work. Eugenio took it upon himself to do it.
And the remastering was really based on a conversation we had 20 years ago where I said, “I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I can promise you that within 20 years, somebody will get the idea to bring this film back and breathe new life into it. Somehow, some way, it will be released in theaters within the next 20 years. I promise you that.” And he thought I was crazy at the time, but maybe it subliminally, subconsciously planted a seed with him, and that seed grew to Eugenio actually taking the initiative to start the transfer. And so kind of everything worked out the way it was meant to.
At what point during those 20 years did you realize “The Birthday” was a cult classic?
Feldman: I think only just now, when we announced that it was coming out finally. That’s when we both realized that people were going to start calling it a cult classic because before that, it was the lore of “the movie that never was.” It had this beautiful lore: “Have you heard of Corey’s film, ‘The Birthday’? We’ve all heard of this film. He says it’s his best work. He says it’s great.” Some people have seen it on YouTube. Some people caught it in the early screenings when we put it in some festivals when it first was finished. But since it never got any type of distribution in America at all, it was never in theaters. It was never on cable. It was never on pay-per-view. It never had a Blu-ray or DVD release. Nothing. So, as far as America and Canada are concerned, the movie doesn’t exist.
Mira: It’s unbelievable now. It seems to be growing. In 2024, when we’re having all these debates about the theatrical experience and what happened to cinema, with people being addicted to TikTok and doom-scrolling and unable to engage, it’s amazing it’s in theaters.
Feldman: I’ve got a lot of people like Ke Huy Quan and Sean Astin and people like that hitting me up like, “Hey man, congrats, I hear your film is coming.”
But I think the more interesting story is about the people who at the time [in 2004] were also championing the film. We were all so frustrated. Like, what do you mean this great movie isn’t getting its shot? What do you mean it’s not coming to light? What do you mean it’s not getting a release? So through that frustration, Eugenio had the bright idea of sending it out to directors. He said, “At least I want to know that my peers are able to see this work that I’ve created.” So he actually took it upon himself to start sending out reels and actual DVDs of the film to all of his favorite directors, to all the people that he was inspired by and said, “I see you as my predecessor, and I want to show you this work that I’ve done in your likeness.” He sent it to a bunch of people like Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, Richard Donner, people that he always respected and looked up to, and the response to that was overwhelming.
I have to tell you, I received a phone call 20 years ago from Guillermo del Toro himself who told me, “Listen, this is a brilliant film. You are an incredible actor, and your work in this is flawless. I’m so proud of you, and I’m so excited for you, and I just wanted to share with you my profound feelings of what great work this is and how brilliant Eugenio is in his work.” He just kind of gushed. It was really, really nice. So the point being, yes, other powerful, great artistic minds have seen this film years ago and have been waiting just as we have for the moment for it to shine its light. There’s been this quality of kind of a hype club.
Mira: We always have had this kind of behind-the-scenes validation by people who blew our minds. And we always felt like it wasn’t the time to talk about that. But now in retrospect, we can say how it. It was so surreal to get that feedback in contrast with the movie not being out there. As a director, being 26 years old at the time, it was really hard to cope with. It felt almost biblical in a way.
Feldman: Like dangling a carrot right in front of our nose.
Mira: By the way, I want to take this opportunity to thank Corey publicly for his support. Thank you very much for all your support to our baby. And then now it’s going to be delivered to the world once again.
Would you ever work on a sequel?
Feldman: You never know. We’ve always remained friends, and we look forward to our next project together, whenever that may be.
Mira: I’ve never stopped fantasizing about returning to this project. Separately, I’m cooking stuff but at the same time, I’m very aware of how complicated it is to find financing for movies. We are in a situation [where] there is a war between films and “content,” that horrible word. I’m very happy to be working on movies that at least are trying to be different, even if those are harder to put together with financing.
My upcoming thing is actually not a film. I’m very excited because it’s my debut as a comic book writer in the U.S. It’s going to be a long graphic novel in the science-fiction horror space. And I couldn’t be more excited. I think it’s a very healthy way to cope with how hard it is to finance certain kind of bolder, bigger projects. And I hope that I keep doing this in part from this point on.
Feldman: I’ve got about four films that are in the pipeline that I’ve already finished: “Sour Party,” “24 Pull Down,” and “Going Viral,” which already has talks of a sequel. I think I’ve done about three or four little independent films, but I like to choose very cautiously these days. I don’t do work just to do it anymore. I luckily I have been in a place, thanks to my music career, where I could kind of take a soft retirement from the acting world. Now I only do a project if the character speaks to me or the script speaks to me and it’s something I really want to do. Hence “The Birthday” being the first of those where I really said, “I’m only doing it for art anymore. I’m not doing it for finances.”
I’m not going to ever be reliant on film work for my stability because that’s the mistake that actors make. They start relying on the next paycheck, the next job. And I think that’s a big mistake because then you’re dictated by and governed by something other than the artistic choice of creativity: “What’s the best move for your career?” And I think that as a real artist, if you want to be taken seriously, you can’t be making mistakes, like doing schlocky B-movies, which I did in the early nineties. I had a little period of that because I was young and I was a kid and I didn’t know any better, and nobody advised me properly. But if I had been given that advice at that age to maybe hold off, don’t worry about paying people back and worry about your career as a whole with the continuity of your integrity as an artist, then I would have made different choices. But I had to learn the hard way, and I’ve made those changes, and ever since that time, I’ve never gone back on that. I don’t intend to now. I’d rather go and do another music tour, put out another album, or go do some autograph signings or whatever. But I would never want to be reliant on what choices I make as an actor or as an artist based on financial need.
“The Birthday” 4K restoration premieres October 1 with a one-night-only theatrical event in over 20 Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas nationwide. The film will open in select cities starting October 11.
