Directed by: Christopher Landon
Written by: Scott Lobdell
Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine
IMDb Link
Sometimes the concept of a movie is so stupid that it loops right back around to being inspired. Happy Death Day is silly, yes, but it uses its schlocky strengths and seems to understand its limitations. Ultimately, your enjoyment of the movie will probably depend on how you take the movie's gimmick, which the film leans in to pretty hard, right from the very beginning. Personally, I got a kick out of it.
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
The movie is Groundhog Day via a fairly standard mystery slasher. Tree Gelbman (Rothe) is a college student who gets killed on her birthday and keeps re-living the day over and over. It's simple, and doesn't pretend to be anything else, at least for the most part: while there isn't any attempt to explain the source of the phenomenon, it does throw a bit of consequence to it all, suggesting that Tree keeps remnants of her deaths each time as a way to put a time limiting tension on the whole thing, but the film didn't really need it. The film is so lacking in self-seriousness that the idea that there should be any real tension in the movie is a little pointless, especially when the film seems to knowingly avoid all of the easy solutions so that it can pad its running time with more spectacle and humour. Frankly, these are also the movie's best attributes, so any attempt to focus on just satirising sorority society, playing around with its premise or show a new death in an over the top manner is fine by me. The first half of the movie makes such an excellently exaggerated effort to make Tree an insufferably terrible person that it's simply entertaining seeing how many ways they can come up with, so much so that the film gets weaker when it has to complicate the plot with actual stakes and feelings, because they're so obvious that it's not really compelling, save for one surprisingly heartfelt scene between Tree and her father (which unfortunately wasn't about him apologising for naming her Tree). It's moments where the movie tries to apply any sort of logic or reason or emotion beyond a knowing smirk that it could all have fallen apart, were it not for the surprisingly strong lead.
Rothe plays her role as Awful Scream Queen as cheesily as possible; every insult is dripping with venom, every expression of exasperation emanates her "done with this crap" attitude, she's enthusiastically bitchy and she keeps the film from ever getting dull, even when it gets repetitive.
The Verdict: This film is ridiculous in the most entertaining way. When the film isn't taking itself seriously, it's enjoyable schlock held up by strong use of its gimmick and a well-rounded lead performance. If the idea of Groundhog Day as a B-Horror entertains you, this is worth a watch.
Rating: 6.5/10
Published October 14th, 2017
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