Hey there, friends, and welcome back to more Month of Spooks content. So what do we have on our plate today? A slasher of sorts? Neat.
Hey there, friends, and welcome back to more Month of Spoo- wait… deja vu… Um, Ladies, gents, and non-binaries… “Happy Death Day”.
College student Tree (Jessica Rothe) has managed to find herself in a bit of a predicament. Not only has she woken up hung over in a strange dorm room, but later that same night she also finds herself murdered… only to wake back up in the strange dorm room. She must now figure out what the hell is going on and she can end it. TIME LOOP! Of course, time loop stories have existed in film many times before time. But “Happy Death Day” is a little different in that it takes the time loop idea and mixes it with a slasher, while also being “Groundhog Day” inspired comedy. And the mix of the three styles works surprisingly well, leading to a narrative that is fun, fast paced, and fucking hilarious, all without sacrificing the suspense of the mystery and horror. It’s a highly enjoyable narrative that had me glued from start to end.
The characters in this are all colorful, unique, fun, flawed, and entertaining. Let’s talk about our protagonist Teresa “Tree” Gelbman. What I like about her as a character is that she has quite a substantial and enjoyable arc. Because when we meet her she’s kind of a manipulative, selfish, bratty mean girl. But as we see her get taken out and go through the loop, she develops quite a bit, making for one hell of an enjoyable arc. And Jessica Rothe is absolutely fantastic in the role, as she sells the drama, the horror, and the comedy masterfully. We also get supporting work from people like Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Charles Aitken, Rachel Matthews, and more, all doing really well in their respective roles.
Hey there, friends, and welcome back to more Mont- Damn it, AGAIN!? Anyhow, the score for this movie was composed by Bear McCreary, and I think he did a great job with it. Heavy brass hits, fun strings, some electronics, it’s McCreary playing around to create a highly energetic score that just fits movie really well. There’s also a few licensed songs used throughout, and they fit really well with their respective scenes.
“Happy Death Day” was directed by Christopher Landon, and he really killed it here. His direction has so much energy and snappiness to it, leading to a frenetic and fun vibe that keeps everything engaging. He also plays around a lot with the camera, especially during montages and chases, which made those stick out even more, making them insanely entertaining. Yeah, this shit’s well crafted.
This movie’s gotten some mixed reception. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 72% positive rating. On Metacritic it has a score of 58/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 6.6/10.
“Happy Death Day” is a hella entertaining horror-comedy that I could see myself watching over and over (Sorry, Tree). It has a great plot, really good characters, great performances, great music, great direction, and very funny comedy. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for “Happy Death Day” is a 9.78. Which means that it does get the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.
My review of “Happy Death Day” is now completed.
Hey there, friends, and welcome back to more Month of Spook- SON OF A BITCH, GET ME OUT OF THIS LOOOOOOOOP.
TheMarckoguy 