Horror anthology series episode: paranoia, murder, birthday cake

I saw this episode of a horror anthology show a few years ago, but I can't remember which series it was on -- does anyone recognize this:


(Warning: I pretty much only remember the surprise ending, so spoilers ahead!)


A man thinks someone or something is out to get him for some reason, which I believe was most of the story. I don't remember any specific events until he winds up at a cabin (I think) and he looks in a room and sees what appears to be a monster facing him, so he shoots or axes it. It turns around, and in that mind-warping moment we see that it's not a monster but in fact his wife, who for some reason was wearing a mask on the back of her head, making it look like she was towards him but really she had her back to him. As she turns, we also see that she was holding a big birthday cake with a ton of candles on it, and there are other people there. They were having a surprise birthday party for him.


I saw this on regular network tv in the US, I think sometime in the 2000, I'd guess around 2010. I think the show it was on only ran for a short time, not even a whole season maybe. When I search for potential shows, the most likely series seems to be Fear Itself, which I remember seeing a few episodes of, but none of the episode descriptions seem like they could lead to this conclusion. So I'm not totally sure about the year. But I do remember that wtf moment when you don't understand what you're seeing right away. I think that blotted out the rest of the plot for me.


Thanks!

I thought this was from a Tales from the Crypt episode. But I looked through the episodes and it does not seem to be there.

The details I remember are not quite the same. He opens a double door and beheads his wife. Just as they turn on the lights and yell surprise. It was a surprise birthday party. I do not remember if she had her back to him or was holding a cake.


Try looking at Tales from The Darkside, Monsters or The Hitchhiker. They had episodes like that.

Is this a movie or a tv show?

Moviechas, I keep thinking of that Tales from the Crypt episode too! And I think this story definitely sounds like a typical Crypt episode. This is why I'm not sure the action takes place at a cabin -- I thought I might be borrowing details from that Crypt episode. But I'm pretty sure it's much more recent that either than show or the others you suggested. But I will look at that Crypt episode just to try to eliminate any plot elements I might be mxing up.


Mesmerized, this is an episode of a tv anthology series.


Thank you both for replying!!

Here is the episode of Tales from the Crypt where a husband kills his wife only to find out she was planning a surprise party.



It doesn't quite match your description, but some things do fit, like the cabin setting, the surprise party, etc.

Takoma, that is the episode of Tales from the Crypt that I was thinking about. I just watched the episode, and this is definitely not this other show that I'm remembering -- although I may have mixed up some elements in my mind. There's no birthday cake in this Crypt episode, and no birthday either, and no mask. He kills her elsewhere and drags her body back to the cabin where the party awaits him. But he uses a crossbow to kill his friend, which is something I didn't mention but vaguely remembered and thought it somehow might be involved in this other unknown episode. So the action might not happen at a cabin -- I think the other episode reminded me of this one, and some details got mixed together.


Because of that, I'm not totally sure now if he actually attacks his wife in the episode I'm searching for -- maybe he was about to kill her but then stopped. I'm saying this because it kind of doesn't make sense that he could shoot/axe/whatever her, yet she still be able to spin around holding this big cake. I'm wondering if I thought he killed her because of the Crypt episode.


Also, I've tried to recall what he thought was going on, but I really don't remember. I can only guess that either he was overly paranoid/suspicious for some reason, seeing glimpses of things and thinking they were something else, or maybe they were playing a practical joke for some reason. I just remember that he's creeping around, already suspicious, and he looks into another room and sees what appears to be a scary person/creature facing him, but when the figure turns we see that we were seeing the back of her head and it's actually his wife holding a big birthday cake with a lot of candles. And in those moments, I remember thinking, wtf?! Does this person/creature have two faces?!? Then you realize what's happening. I remember the other face as being a mask, but I can't think why she had a mask on the back of her head, or why she had a mask on at all. It's possible that I didn't see the entire episode.


I absolutely think it sounds like it should have been a Tales from the Crypt episode, but I really believe that I caught this on broadcast tv at night somewhere in the 2000s, most likely between 2006 and 2016. I always thought it was this short-lived show that was on for a while that had a surprisingly gruesome (for tv) episode or two, but that show turned out to be Fear Itself. I just watched the two likeliest episodes last night and scanned a third, and none of them were it. The descriptions of the other episodes don't sound like they fit.


If someone else had seen this show and told me about it, I'd say that it absolutely sounds like a typically Tales from the Crypt episode. But the timeframe of the show seems off to me, plus unless they reran than show on regular TV at some point, it's highly unlikely to be the one, since I only had over-the-air tv at the time and used to go over to my boyfriend's house to watch Crypt during it's initial run. Also, I read through all the plot descriptions for every episode last night, and none of them stood out to me as a possibility.


I also read through the episode descriptions for Night Visions and the 2002 Twilight Zone with the same result.


I guess it could have been a segment in a movie, but I always thought it was an episode of a series that I came across while flipping channels.


MovieChas, in the Tales from the Crypt episode Takoma posted a link to, the husband doesn't behead his wife. I'm not sure if you were thinking of a different episode.


Thanks!

Another possibility, still not a perfect match I'm afraid.

From the Two Twisted episode "Finding Frank"

I found the Two Twisted episode online and watched it. It sounded promising, but unfortunately it's not the one. Thank you, though!

Aw, nuts.

So just to refine what we're looking for:

1) The part you are most sure about is the woman/wife turning around with a birthday cake and there are lit candles. (Do you definitely remember that there were other people at the party?)

2) You think that he attacks her, but maybe not?

3) He saw the woman/wife as some sort of scary monster/person before she is revealed to be his wife.

4) You're pretty sure that this was a TV show, but maybe it was part of a movie.

5) You said that you watched this on network TV--so are we talking major networks (NBC, CBS, FOX, etc)?

1) The part I'm most sure about is the person looking like they're facing forward when really they were turned away, and then they turn around with the cake in hand, with many candles on it. I'm fairly certain there were other people there.


2) I thought he attacked her, but I'm second guessing that part now.


3) Definitely!


4) Yes.


5) Yes, if it was in fact a tv series, it would have to have been a channel like that.


Thank you! I really appreciate your help.

Got it.

One last question: Do you feel like you watched the episode/thing to the end?

I ask because I'm wondering if there's a chance it could have been an episode of a show like Haven or The X-Files that has a "monster of the week" type plot. I've been only looking at anthology-type TV shows, but is there a chance that you only saw the middle of something and it could have been a serialized TV show?

It guess could have been a non-anthology series, but the feeling I have was that it was a self-contained story just about these specific characters. But I can't say with total certainty. I'm pretty certain I saw it to the end, but I think there's a good chance I missed the beginning, though.

I found out what this was on another site. It was the anthology movie After Midnight (1989). After reading the plot synopsis, I recognized the story that followed this one and remembered catching it on TV a few years back (probably around the same time as Fear Itself was on). I watched the clip in question, and I must have tuned in just before the wife turns around, because what you see before that moment clues you in to what's really going on.

Thank you so much for your suggestions and all your help!!!

Here's a link the the scene in case anyone wants to see it:

MovieChas, this fits your description too! This must be what you saw as well.

This came up during some of my googling, but I ignored it because it was from the 80s and not a TV show.



Ah well. At least now we all know of like five different shows/movies where men kill their wives at or around a surprise birthday party!

Glad you found your answer!

Yes this is it. Thanks for posting the clip. It was bugging me too that I could not find it after your question.

Positively gruesome. Nothing to lose your head over.

I'm sorry about that, I really thought it was a TV show and so thought it was from the same time as when I saw it.

No, it was silly on my part. People often slightly misremember things (like they'll be sure something is from the 70s, but it's actually from the 80s or 90s, or they really remember a blonde woman but it turns out the lead has brown hair), so if something is close, it's worth checking out. I was just being lazy.