Tree is a bitchy sorority girl who wakes up in a dorm room after a heavy night out. But on her birthday she is killed...only to wake up in the same dorm room, reliving the same day over and over...
Let's get this out of the way early on. Yes, this film has a similar plot to the likes of Groundhog Day or Edge Of Tomorrow (or Life, Die, Repeat) with someone reliving the day over and over. I suppose it was only a matter of time that someone thought of a horror twist. Happy Death Day, doesn't add anything new. Having said that, what is here is done very well indeed.
Part of the reason for this is that writer Scott Lobdell understands the horror. particularly the slasher genre very well indeed. Tree is the type of character who in a normal slasher film would be among the first to be killed off. However, as the story progresses and Tree begins reliving the same day over and over, as a character she changes, in effect becoming the 'good girl' character, the one who would normally be the final girl in a story like this.
For the character to work, you need a terrific lead performance and Jessica Rothe is more than up to the task. She's able to convey all aspects of the character, the bitchy side and the good side as well as when called into fight for her life on numerous occasions. The film rests on her shoulders and she carries the film, as well as the audience along with her. I was not familiar with her as an actress before this (she does have a small role in La La Land), but this is a potentially star making turn from Rothe here.
The supporting cast are pretty good too. Israel Broussard plays Carter the guy from the dorm room who becomes Tree's confidant as she talks about what is happening to her. The likes of Ruby Modine, Laura Clifton, Charles Aitken and Rachel Matthews play students and other who are possible suspects one Tree's list of who is trying to kill her.
The director, Christopher Landon, who has written horror films, including three of the Paranormal Activity films knows the genre and plays on it well. The repeated death scenes are well done, never repeating the same one over and over. But what Landon (as well as Lobdell's script) do very well is play on the fun aspect. At times there are some good moments of humour there that work very well.
For me, there were only two issues with the film. The first is a plot development brought in late on in the film, the idea that each time Tree comes back after her 'death' she is weaker than she was as the accumulated deaths are taking a toll on her body. In truth though, nothing is really done with this.
The second issue with the film, depends really on how well you know the horror/slasher genre. The film tries to make it a mystery as to who the killer might be, but in truth if you know the genre and even if you don't the killer was very easy to figure out, as I did. But you know what? That doesn't spoil the film at all.
I really liked Happy Death Day. Yes, it's not particularly scary, though it does have a couple of good 'jump' moments. It's probably more thriller than horror, but it does plays around with the slasher genre, much like the recent film Ruin Me and does it with a great sense of fun running through it.
Blumhouse have become in recent years one of my favourite production companies. I've enjoyed far more of their productions than ones I didn't. They know what works and usually deliver well and Happy Death Day is another of their films that is worth watching.
Well worth checking out if you can.
Rating - 4/5
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