Happy Death Day

Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Charles Aitken, Rachel Matthews, Ramsey Anderson
Directed by: Christopher Landon
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A college student (Jessica Rothe) continues to live the same day over and over, where she is murdered. She begins a hunt for her killer, hoping that will break her curse.

Review:

Tim: It's a little gimmicky, to be fair- Happy Death Day is a horror Groundhog Day. That feels a little troubling to me, but it's also a really good idea. The very concept of having to relieve the day of your death again and again and again is a worthwhile one. Now, of course, you can't think too deeply about this- it would actually be pretty easy to avoid getting murdered if you had an infinite number of chances to escape death. But, if you're willing to go along with the story, you'll find it fairly entertaining. This is certainly not good enough to be considered a great horror movie, but it's a compelling, worthwhile one.

The story is entertaining- you really do want to find out who is murdering our protagonist. As the day happens again and again, you continue to look for clues, you're invested in what happens. Some of the film is pretty boring because we do see the same things repeatedly. That repetition hurts the film slightly, but it was obviously necessary for the story. Still, despite her being stuck in a time warp, the film does maintain a sense of forward momentum that I appreciated.

I have to give great credit to Jessica Rothe. While "Tree" is a ridiculous nickname for a girl, her performance was remarkable. When the movie started, I absolutely despised her character. That was intentional, but Rothe was so good at making you dislike her. As the movie went on, she does go through a transformation. It's subtle, though. You don't end up loving her as a character. However, you do end up understanding her and caring about her enough to feel emotionally invested. Rothe was called upon and delivered far more than the average horror movie heroine- mostly that requires running, screaming, maybe a love scene. Rothe's performance was much more nuanced, more challenging, and she delivers a home run. She was probably my favorite part of the film, which is amazing because I hated her character in the first minutes. The supporting cast is decent- Israel Broussard gives a good performance as well. But really, Rothe just shines in this film.

We get quite a few horror movies every year and while the quality does seem to be improving across the board, it's still a very hit-or-miss genre. Still, while we might not be getting a ton of classics, there's been quite a few strong horror movies in recent years. I'd certainly include Happy Death Day in that list. It has its flaws, but it feels like a fresh, unique take on horror. I had fun watching it and it entertained me throughout. This is definitely a film worth checking out.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer