10 Movies Weirdly Changed (Nobody Knows Why)
4. Replacing The Original Score - Happy Birthday To Me
Cult classic horror film Happy Birthday to Me's distinctive musical score for the film's theatrical release was provided by Bo Harwood and Lance Rubin, but when Sony released it on DVD in 2004, their work was peculiarly absent.
More to the point, Harwood and Rubin's score was replaced with a notably different musical score that wasn't attributed to any single composer in the movie's credits.
The "new" score was reportedly taken from an old workprint of the film, which had a temp score attached during the production process.
Quite why the theatrical music was removed has never been clarified, because while rights issues sometimes prevent pop music from being included in home releases of movies, it's basically unheard of for original scores created exclusively for a film to get caught in similar legal red tape.
It may simply be that Sony didn't like the original score, but given that original director J. Lee Thompson passed away in 2002, the change was evidently made without his creative input.
Thankfully when Anchor Bay re-released Happy Birthday to Me on DVD in 2009, they restored Harwood and Rubin's original score, and it's remained intact for every subsequent home release.