Happy Death Day
HAPPY DEATH DAY (15)
D: Christopher Landon
Universal/Blumhouse (Jason Blum)
US 2017
96 mins
Horror/Mystery/Thriller
W: Scott Lobdell
DP: Toby Oliver
Ed: Gregory Plotkin
Mus: Bear McCreary
Jessica Rothe (Tree Gelbman), Israel Broussard (Carter Davis), Ruby Modine (Lori Spengler), Rachel Matthews (Danielle Bouseman), Charles Aitken (Gregory Butler), Rob Mello (John Tombs)
The premise of Groundhog Day is reimagined for a teen slasher genre, starring Jessica Rothe as Tree, an ignorant and bitchy sorority girl who is murdered on her birthday and has a chance to relive the day over and over again until she discovers her own murderer.
The horror film is not without its faults, of which there are plenty, the biggest being that it's very difficult to care about such an unpleasant lead character, even when her character does arc, it appears disingenuously false.
Another problem is that is simply isn't scary, with only a handful of jump scares that you can predict a mile off. The true identity of the killer won't be much of a surprise either.
The premise could have worked with a little more work, but this is aimed solely at a teenage audience, who probably won't care too much for more than a dumb, colour-by-numbers horror flick.
4/10
HAPPY DEATH DAY 2 U (15)
D: Christopher Landon
Universal/Blumhouse (Jason Blum)
US 🇺🇸 2019
100 mins
Thriller/Science Fiction
W: Christopher Landon [based on characters created by Scott Lobdell]
DP: Toby Oliver
Ed: Ben Baudhuin
Mus: Bear McCreary
Jessica Rothe (Tree Gelbman), Israel Broussard (Carter Davis), Phi Vu (Ryan Phan), Steve Zissis (Dean Bronson), Rudy Modine (Lori Spengler)
I actually declined an invite to be part of a test screening for this film, which should speak volumes about how much I care about a sequel to a movie which I thought was mediocre at best.
Since the first Happy Death Day made quite a bit of dosh, producer Jason Blum retrospectively decided that the first film was set in a world where quantum science and multiverses exist, and that's all the explanation you're going to get for this cash-grab.
The plot follows the same motions to the point that we may as well be living in a Groundhog Day, all so a Hollywood big shot can buy another fancy car.
To say I disliked this film would be an understatement; I honestly despise its very existence.
1/10
