On the surface, Happy Death Day has all the trappings of a horror-comedy film. It has a masked killer, jump scares aplenty, and a series of brutal murders (all bloodless, of course. You wouldn’t want an R-rating, right? Those movies never make money). But the film also has a goofy premise, pop song montages, and a general lightheartedness that turns most of its death scenes into punch-lines. It wants laughs and gasps in equal measure. There’s just one chink in the armour: Happy Death Day is a horror-comedy without horror and comedy.
The film struggles to craft any moments of genuine terror, severely limited by its PG-13 rating. Violent deaths are rendered gutless (no pun intended) by a lack of commitment. The jokey tone doesn’t help. Most scenes feel too weightless and light to get the pulse racing. And the comedy doesn’t justify the paucity of horror, since Death Day barely manages to crack a joke that rises above “smirk worthy.” It’s not laugh-out-loud, nor is it blood-curdling. Imagine a less annoying Scream crossed with a less obnoxious Juno and you have a good picture of Happy Death Day.
But oddly enough, it’s hard to hate Happy Death Day. For all its faults, it never tips into unwatchable territory. It’s more defined by what it doesn’t do right than by what it gets wrong, if that makes sense. It coasts by thanks to its premise and its likable lead character. It’s competent, if unremarkable, entertainment.
Remember Groundhog Day? Or Edge of Tomorrow? Well, what if those movies were about a slasher? (And not nearly as clever as they are). Boom, you’ve got Happy Death Day. Newcomer Jessica Rothe plays Tree, a catty sorority girl at a nondescript university. We follow her as she abuses everyone in her life over one day. On her way to a party, she gets ambushed and killed by a masked assailant. Then she wakes up in the same day she just lived through. After a few more deaths, she realizes she’s caught in a time loop. She must kill her killer to bust loose.
Happy Death Day is blessed with an outstanding lead performance from Rothe. She’s a bundle of nervous energy and watching her bounce off other characters is a real delight. She has a magnetism and star-power that’s usually lacking from slasher fims. She also nails her character’s development, morphing from vindictive sociopath to functioning human being with every death. She might be the breakout star of the year.
I just wish the movie had given her more to do. After the first few deaths, the film strings together an awful montage set to some forgettable pop song, and only sinks lower from there. While the mystery is initially intriguing, the culprit is fairly obvious by the halfway mark if you’ve been paying attention. That creates a long, dull stretch where Tree has to catch up with the audience while we soldier through one unimaginative chase scene after another.
For such an outrageous, fun premise, Death Day is pretty tame. The killings, apart from being bloodless, are painfully bland. Nothing but stabbings and smashings. You’d think having a main character who can’t really be killed would be a great opportunity to put together solid slasher scenes, but I guess not.
The writing and direction are serviceable, if safe. The script is well put-together, with loads of clues and Easter eggs. The writing is occasionally amusing, but it’s mostly perfunctory. Director Christopher Landon does a good job of making the same scenes feel different, using new camera lens and lighting cues, but he doesn’t give the overall film much of a unique style. It just looks like every other contemporary horror film. And the score is too generic for words.
Happy Death Day shouldn’t be as appealing as it is. It’s riddled with too many mistakes to be wholly satisfying. Jessica Rothe’s charisma carries the film through its roughest patches, sustaining audience engagement. It has an easygoing charm, one that’s hard to describe. When you see it on the SyFy channel in two years, you’ll probably enjoy it. Then you’ll change the channel and forget you ever saw it.
