The Birthday (2004) Arrow Streaming Review

4 star quirky and funny supernatural thriller film.

Originally shown on the festival circuit in 2004, The Birthday is a Spanish production (although all in English), written and directed by Eugenio Mira (Grand Piano, Agnosia). It has struggled to find a home but now thanks to Arrow it is available for fans to enjoy in glorious 4K from 21st May 2025.

“Oh, for crying out loud it was a scam. The dolphins only did what they were trained to do. A shock if wrong, a fish if right, that’s how it worked. “

Norman Forrester (Corey Feldman – The Lost Boys, The Goonies) is an awkward young man who has been invited to a Birthday party by his girlfriend Alison (Erica Prior – Second Name). They have only been together for a year and he is nervous to finally meet her parents. Things get off to a bad start, as she hates his shirt and he doesn’t get chance to give her the gift he bought.

The party is for her father Ron (Jack Taylor – The Ninth Gate, Conan the Barbarian), who also owns the hotel in which it is being held. On the same night, Norman finds out that his old friend Vincent (Dale Douma) is attending a wild party on another floor with the pharmaceutical company he works for.

Back at the family party, he meets Alison’s uncle Casper (Rick Merrill) and eventually her mother Anjelica (Ana Lucía Billate – The Good Voice) but they don’t seem very impressed and the family are extremely strange. The staff are also acting weirdly, running about all over the place and lurking in corners. He bumps into Theodore (Richard Felix – The Bookshop), who tells him that something is afoot and everyone is in grave danger. What on earth is going on at this party and can Norman save the day?

“It’s hard to believe, but this building is thirty seven years old today. You didn’t know that did you? Next week it’s going to be torn down. It will no longer exist.”

The Birthday is a really good film, very enjoyable and it’s great to actually be able to finally watch it. Corey Feldman is brilliant as Norman, awkward and down trodden and nothing like the characters we are used to see him play.

There are some excellent laugh-out-loud moments (my favourite was the bouncing glass) and lots of slapstick humour. It’s quite dark comedy and occasionally goes to places that you really wouldn’t expect, which is great and keeps you on your toes.

It’s creepy and atmospheric and very surreal, but equally wacky and whimsical. A great watch and well worth a stream.

“I know it sounds like a bunch of b******t, but the weirdos who believe this c**p are killing innocent people. We’ve been sent to stop them.”