Okay the premise sounds silly and a cheap mash-up of movies that have been done, but this silly movie actually has a fun factor that makes you enjoy watching this romp.
Jessica Rothe plays college student Theresa 'Tree' Gelbman, a self-centered young woman who mistreats her roommate (Ruby Modine), sleeps around with her professor and any boy on campus and ignores her loving father when she is murdered on her birthday by a masked assailant. When she discovers that she is stuck in a time loop till her murderer is unmasked, Tree must enlist help from a fellow student, Carter, and find out who would do her ill.
The cast of characters are a unique bunch of players. Rothe's Tree starts as a bratty, slutty and obnoxious lead whose death you kind of cheer for at the start. As the film progresses, Tree's sins soon force her to confront her past and unburden her loathsome behavior towards others. With each new chance to solve her death, Tree's persona slowly starts to change into a nicer human being than the girl we met at the start. Rothe even has great chemistry with her costars particularly Israel Broussard as Carter and Ruby Modine as Tree's roommate Lori. Israel Broussard as Carter is not the typical horror/teen movie love interest as Tree and Carter aren't even an item or getting along at the film's start. The chemistry between Carter and Tree builds as the film progresses since Carter is the sole person that Tree can trust within the narrative as she tries to solve her murder. The pair do eventually get together at the end, but the relationship is constructed pretty well. Then there's Ruby Modine as Lori, the studious and quiet roommate who Tree mistreats and mocks when she gets the chance. Tree even tosses a cupcake Lori makes for her and secretly ridiculing her lack of a boyfriend with the other sorority sisters. While Lori has limited screen-time, Modine makes the most of what time she does have as Lori tries to help Tree relax despite her unbelievable predicament. But even Lori may not be able to be trusted in the endless time loops.
'Happy Death Day' has been predictably called "Scream Meets Groundhog Day" which is true, but there is a uniqueness to the concept. The movie has some traditional slasher elements with its masked killer and then the 'Groundhog Day' concept with the time loops. Yet the onscreen violence is not explicit like most slasher flicks as we never actually see Tree get killed (except for two sequences which are still fairly bloodless). The filmmakers even use good editing techniques to cut down some of the repetitive moments leading to Tree's eventual deaths.
The film gets quite predictable plenty of the time because of the endless time loops, but there is always a new little twist thrown into the mix. When Tree makes her suspect list, the story gets a chance to explore the minor characters who could be Tree's killer and also why she doesn't get along with them. Each loop also gives Tree a chance to get her act together and improve her behavior which actually does happen when Tree begins to see her feelings for Carter, apologizes to Lori and makes peace with her estranged father. Even the killer's true identity is a surprise as it is the person who would seem obvious when you think about it, but just watch to see how our heroine could've missed the clue.
Jessica Rothe plays college student Theresa 'Tree' Gelbman, a self-centered young woman who mistreats her roommate (Ruby Modine), sleeps around with her professor and any boy on campus and ignores her loving father when she is murdered on her birthday by a masked assailant. When she discovers that she is stuck in a time loop till her murderer is unmasked, Tree must enlist help from a fellow student, Carter, and find out who would do her ill.
The cast of characters are a unique bunch of players. Rothe's Tree starts as a bratty, slutty and obnoxious lead whose death you kind of cheer for at the start. As the film progresses, Tree's sins soon force her to confront her past and unburden her loathsome behavior towards others. With each new chance to solve her death, Tree's persona slowly starts to change into a nicer human being than the girl we met at the start. Rothe even has great chemistry with her costars particularly Israel Broussard as Carter and Ruby Modine as Tree's roommate Lori. Israel Broussard as Carter is not the typical horror/teen movie love interest as Tree and Carter aren't even an item or getting along at the film's start. The chemistry between Carter and Tree builds as the film progresses since Carter is the sole person that Tree can trust within the narrative as she tries to solve her murder. The pair do eventually get together at the end, but the relationship is constructed pretty well. Then there's Ruby Modine as Lori, the studious and quiet roommate who Tree mistreats and mocks when she gets the chance. Tree even tosses a cupcake Lori makes for her and secretly ridiculing her lack of a boyfriend with the other sorority sisters. While Lori has limited screen-time, Modine makes the most of what time she does have as Lori tries to help Tree relax despite her unbelievable predicament. But even Lori may not be able to be trusted in the endless time loops.
'Happy Death Day' has been predictably called "Scream Meets Groundhog Day" which is true, but there is a uniqueness to the concept. The movie has some traditional slasher elements with its masked killer and then the 'Groundhog Day' concept with the time loops. Yet the onscreen violence is not explicit like most slasher flicks as we never actually see Tree get killed (except for two sequences which are still fairly bloodless). The filmmakers even use good editing techniques to cut down some of the repetitive moments leading to Tree's eventual deaths.
The film gets quite predictable plenty of the time because of the endless time loops, but there is always a new little twist thrown into the mix. When Tree makes her suspect list, the story gets a chance to explore the minor characters who could be Tree's killer and also why she doesn't get along with them. Each loop also gives Tree a chance to get her act together and improve her behavior which actually does happen when Tree begins to see her feelings for Carter, apologizes to Lori and makes peace with her estranged father. Even the killer's true identity is a surprise as it is the person who would seem obvious when you think about it, but just watch to see how our heroine could've missed the clue.
