Happy Death Day (2017) review

30. Happy Death Day (2017)

Directed by: Christopher Landon

Produced by: Jason Blum

Screenplay by: Scott Lobdell

Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews

I think yesterday had a little too much cannibalism, so let’s go with something more fun; how about taking “Groundhog Day,” one of the best comedies of all-time, and turning it into a slasher film? Let’s face it; after “Scream,” many modern slashers have gone the self-aware route, mixing comedic elements with excessive bloodshed. Directed by Christopher Landon—fast becoming one of the more renowned names of horror—“Happy Death Day” is one of the more successful of those movies; it’s about a college student who is murdered on her way to a party by a person wearing a mask, only to wake up and discover she’s reliving the day over and over. Not the most original concept—in fact, “Before I Fall” came out the same year—but it’s still clever, energetic and full of tension.

Theresa (Jessica Rothe), or Tree, as she goes by, wakes up in classmate Carter’s (Israel Broussard) dorm after a drunk night out. It’s her birthday, but she’s in no mood to celebrate, rejecting a cupcake gift from her sorority roommate Lori (Ruby Modine) and opting to meet with her married professor Gregory (Charles Aitken), with whom she’s having an affair. That night, Tree is killed by a figure wearing a mask of the school mascot; but she wakes up back in Carter’s bed, and the day’s cycle continues no matter what course of action she takes. With Carter’s assistance, Tree resolves to discover the identity of her killer so she can finally break the loop, and just may become a better person in the process.

What’s one of the most common tropes of slasher films? The “final girl,” obviously: the one who survives to the end, the pure wallflower, the virgin, you get the idea. Laurie Strode, Nancy Thompson, Sidney Prescott, they’re all easily identifiable in terms of their personality. But in this movie, Tree starts out more as the one who’s usually the first to die—which, technically, she is, but you know what I mean; she’s kind of a bitch: selfish, shallow, ill-tempered, impatient, etc. I think the only reason they include sorority president Danielle (Rachel Matthews) as a character was to indicate that there’s someone even worse than her. But anyway, much like Bill Murray, Tree ends up using her time in the loop to confront her own personal baggage; it’s honestly fascinating commentary on how people’s efforts to avoid life just end up trapping them, whether psychologically or literally, in this case. As the movie goes on, Tree becomes an awesome protagonist, played with great zest and liveliness by Jessica Rothe. She’s honestly head and shoulders above the rest of the cast, who aren’t bad, but aren’t particularly memorable either.

Like I said, this movie doesn’t go for pure horror; it sort of has the mindset of combining teen slasher, coming-of-age drama and romantic comedy, with Tree and Carter at the forefront. Their chemistry is reasonably sweet, but I kind of wish it had been developed further, while the humor is honestly pretty spot on with the timings and punch lines. There are some crappy clichés here and there, but the way the story unfolds is not as predictable as you might think. The movie knows how to build an atmosphere, specifically a sense of disorientation, which really comes through in some of the transitions and cinematography, which was done by Toby Oliver, who also worked on “Get Out”; the moment Tree fully realizes what’s happening perfectly portrays a heavy sense of anxiety. As for the image of a murderer wearing a Babyface mask, I’ll give them credit for originality and aesthetics, but what self-respecting college would name their sports teams the Babies? Imagine a major network televising a football game between the LSU Tigers and the Bayfield Babies…yeah, me neither.

The movie has some well-shot and exciting chase sequences, although I feel it wimps out with a PG-13 rating, so the kills themselves are cut too quickly. You might say it’s because they had more of a teen audience in mind, but Landon’s next original film, “Freaky,” which featured high school kids getting killed, was rated R, and it was loaded with over-the-top blood and gore. How the hell is the college movie PG-13, but the high school movie R? But excusing that as a personal nitpick, some of the overall logic doesn’t really add up, like how Tree rules out possible suspects, and especially how she might justify some of her actions in the climax. Oh, and if the whole point of going through these deaths is to realize who the killer is, why couldn’t she have just ripped the mask off on any of her lives? Also, while I like the idea that each of her respective deaths takes a toll on her body over time, it never really amounts to anything interesting, so we get various plot points that seem pretty rushed. However, I suppose you’re not meant to take the whole thing too seriously; I like how when we discover who the killer is, they acknowledge the motivation as something really stupid and petty.

You could probably find better time loop movies out there, but it is a plot device that certainly lends itself to interpretation from multiple genres, because we’ve all had moments in our lives when we think to ourselves, “If only I could just live this day over again.” I think “Happy Death Day” could’ve used a bit more clarity in the story and motivations, but the strength of its lead and overall mood make it just a really enjoyable film. Two years later, there was a sequel called “Happy Death Day 2U,” which took more of a science fiction route, and it’s a fun movie in its own right; supposedly, there’s a third one in the works, but nothing’s confirmed yet. This easily could’ve come across as your average hack-‘em-up bullshit, but it’s much smarter and more emotionally driven than that.

My rating: 8/10