Happy Death Day
Directed by Christopher Landon
Released 2017
Genre of Horror, Mystery
Themes of family, friendship, survival, self discovery, relationships.
The trailer is what caught my interest. It seemed like a good prospect. I assumed it was a horror spin on the classic, 'Groundhog Day'. At the end, they actually mention the movie and it's similarities by name so perhaps it's more of a love letter to the film. Regardless, I was intrigued, but I was sure the execution would be poorly handled, since a teenage college girl on campus isn't exactly the most original horror setting ever. But then I also saw it was produced by Blumhouse Productions, which produced 'Get Out', one of the best horror films I've ever seen. So some of my hope was restored. And after finally seeing the film, I can confidently say...it was a pleasant surprise but the writing could be improved tenfold. The premise of the film is a girl is murdered over and over and over again, resetting the day each time she dies. She must survive the day, but is thwarted by her killer at every turn, and resolves to find out the identity of the murderer. The story wasn't as predictable as it let on towards the beginning, but a lot of the writing is very convenient. For example, each time she wakes up for a new day, everybody reacts the exact same way, no matter what she does. Some things are excusable, like sprinklers that are out of her control. Yet no matter how she acts, everybody reacts in the exact same way every time. It somewhat breaks the illusion of it being a film, as it's easy to sense the planned out scenarios. However, it has a good moral, the concept didn't disappoint, it didn't leave any loose ends and the performance from the lead was actually very good considering she was made to play a simple, stuck up, teenage 'mean girl' who slowly opens up more and more as she accepts each day doesn't really matter.
Released 2017
Genre of Horror, Mystery
Themes of family, friendship, survival, self discovery, relationships.
The trailer is what caught my interest. It seemed like a good prospect. I assumed it was a horror spin on the classic, 'Groundhog Day'. At the end, they actually mention the movie and it's similarities by name so perhaps it's more of a love letter to the film. Regardless, I was intrigued, but I was sure the execution would be poorly handled, since a teenage college girl on campus isn't exactly the most original horror setting ever. But then I also saw it was produced by Blumhouse Productions, which produced 'Get Out', one of the best horror films I've ever seen. So some of my hope was restored. And after finally seeing the film, I can confidently say...it was a pleasant surprise but the writing could be improved tenfold. The premise of the film is a girl is murdered over and over and over again, resetting the day each time she dies. She must survive the day, but is thwarted by her killer at every turn, and resolves to find out the identity of the murderer. The story wasn't as predictable as it let on towards the beginning, but a lot of the writing is very convenient. For example, each time she wakes up for a new day, everybody reacts the exact same way, no matter what she does. Some things are excusable, like sprinklers that are out of her control. Yet no matter how she acts, everybody reacts in the exact same way every time. It somewhat breaks the illusion of it being a film, as it's easy to sense the planned out scenarios. However, it has a good moral, the concept didn't disappoint, it didn't leave any loose ends and the performance from the lead was actually very good considering she was made to play a simple, stuck up, teenage 'mean girl' who slowly opens up more and more as she accepts each day doesn't really matter.
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