Happy Death Day (2017)
Directed by Christopher B. Landon
This is a special review, special because I rarely go to the movies. Why, because it is too expensive and I hate people. Really, it cost me $18 for my wife and I to see this on a Saturday at noon. It doesn’t sound like too much but cmon I could buy it on DVD in a few months for the same price haha. Luckily the few people in the theater were respectful and watched the movie, laughed during the right times and didn’t scream and holler at every jump scare.
I saw the trailer for this movie a few weeks back and I initially laughed at the title. Happy Death Day has an 80s B movie ring to it and the knife stabbing into the cake and splattering with blood only adds to it. When I saw the basic plot I was instantly intrigued. I then thought, “oh, it is a horror version of Groundhog Day?” Yeah it has a similar presence that’s for sure.
The movie is about a girl named Tree, who wakes up in a guy’s dorm room after a night of drinking. She leaves and that night she is murdered by a guy in a baby mask. It just happens to be her birthday as well, Monday the 18th. After she dies she wakes up again in the same dorm. The day keeps repeating over, and over and she has to figure out who is killing her, in order for her life to continue in a normal way. As the movie continues, Tree learns a little about herself and begins to cope with the loss of her mother and she also begins to realize that she isn’t the best person either. Tree slowly begins to change her outlook on life and her feelings towards Carter, the dorm guy she spent the night with. Each death brings a lesson to Tree, she becomes a better person and a stronger person.
The acting is pretty good. Jessica Rothe plays Tree and she is great. I really didn’t like her early on in the movie because I went to college and met a lot of girls like her. If they don’t see you as worthy of talking to, they ignore your complete existence. At first I thought “this bitch deserves to die” then as the movie goes on, I started to like her. Towards the end I actually started to think she was pretty cute. Her personality drastically changes and she becomes a fun loving goofy person that you just want to be friends with. She is pretty good at showing all emotions during the film and actually has a few comedic scenes. Carter is a good guy, he’s played by Israel Broussard. You like him right off the bat and root for him. He has a sarcastic sense of humor that is difficult to hate. The other side characters are decent as well, including the bitchy Danielle played by Rachel Matthews. Man I hated this girl, she was so full of herself that I wanted her to die numerous times and not Tree.
The special effects are solid. There is not really much in the way of gore, but it isn’t needed here. Happy Death Day relies more on the story and character development, which is always nice to see, especially in a newer film. This is much more than your typical horror or slasher movie. I would say it is closer to a thriller/mystery/comedy film with horror elements. The tongue and cheek nature of the comedy accompanies the plot and suspense quite well and never feels forced. There is a line at the end of the movie where Carter talks to Tree about “Groundhog Day” being similar to what is happening to her. Tree has no idea what “Groundhog Day” is and doesn’t know who Bill Murray is either. That made me lol during the movie. Because everyone has written this off to a horror version of Groundhog Day, and you know what? Happy Death Day knows that, and it doesn’t care and that my friends…is brilliant.
I had a good time watching this, aside from the expensive tickets. I was greatly entertained and enjoyed this movie. The acting was solid, the writing was decent and the small comedic parts of the movie were good for some laughs. I really hope they leave this as a standalone film and don’t make a million sequels. I love when a movie is good, they keep it as one movie and move on. I would suggest you check it out, wait for it on DVD or go see it, either way you should like it. I would give this a B+. I had a good time watching it, there are a few parts that could be better but as a whole it’s a fun movie.
31 Horror Movies 