Review of Happy Death Day (2017) by Tom R — 14 Nov 2017

A "my first horror film" type of flick, as if a teeny bopper obsessed with Groundhog Day and Scream Queens had a eureka moment, grabbed a pen and began writing his first film that blended the two together, creating Happy Death Day.

Fresh faced Jessica Rothe is both assuredly capable at playing a leading scream queen and yet also unfortunately unremarkable and forgettable as an actress. Her performance definitely keeps the film going and her pluckiness and sharp wit are reminiscent of some classic teen films before it such as Heathers and Easy A.

Whilst the plot is dark, the film itself is devoid of any scares whatsoever, besides a lingering feeling of claustrophobia that we've already felt before with Groundhog Day. The laughs are frequent more than the scares for sure and it doesn't help that the film lacks any type of gore whatsoever.

It's definitely a film for teenagers or people new and maybe a bit sensitive to the horror genre. Too many of the characters are stereotypical, for example the sweet, sensitive and average looking man who ends up stealing the heart of the bitchy, self-obsessed final girl who goes down a redemptive path becoming a decent human being, the "best friend" who is a complete narcissist and gets her just desserts.

The film even has a dorky Asian girl who makes a cameo every now and then. Oh, and don't forget the good looking jock who is secretly gay. Nevertheless the film was entertaining enough to keep my eyes on the screen and a director/writer who actually has slightly original ideas is something that the horror genre needs above any other type of genre.