HAPPY DEATH DAY (2017)

Studio:       Universal Pictures
Director:    Christopher Landon
Writer:       Scott Lobdell
Producer:  Jason Blum
Stars:     Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews, Charles Aitken, Rob Mello

Review Score:

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Summary:

A college student is inexplicably cursed to relive the day of her death until she solves the mystery of her murder.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Self-centered Bayfield University student Theresa ‘Tree’ Gelbman wakes in Carter Davis’ dorm room with no recollection of who he is or what happened at a drunken party the night before. Tree observes various events while walking across campus and briefly runs into Tim Bauer, with whom she went on one unsuccessful date. Tree also encounters her disliked sorority leader Danielle Bouseman upon returning to her sorority house.

Tree’s roommate Lori Spengler acknowledges that it is Tree’s birthday by presenting her with a cupcake. Not wishing to commemorate the day, Tree throws the cupcake in the trash.

Tree later runs into Lori at the university hospital, where Lori works, while on her way to romantically rendezvous with one of her instructors, Dr. Gregory Butler. Tree and Gregory are interrupted by the sudden arrival of Gregory’s wife Stephanie.

Danielle reminds Tree about a frat house party later that evening. During their conversation, the power briefly goes out.

Tree callously ignores a voicemail from her father, who is upset that she didn’t show up for her birthday lunch with him. While walking to the frat house party alone, a hooded attacker masked to look like the school’s baby mascot stabs Tree to death.

Tree wakes to find herself back in Carter’s room, reliving the events of Monday the 18th once again. Initially confused about what is happening, Tree ultimately avoids the tunnel where she was previously murdered to take another route to the frat house. Tree discovers that the celebration is a surprise party being thrown for her birthday.

Tree angers Danielle, who has a crush on Nick Sims, by going into Nick’s room alone with him at the party. The masked murderer emerges from the closet to kill both Nick and Tree.

Tree wakes to go through the same day a third time. She tries explaining the strange situation to her roommate, but Lori doesn’t believe her. Tree decides to barricade herself in her room for the evening. Tree briefly finds an ominous birthday card and hears a news report about a murderer named John Tombs before the masked attacker breaks in and kills her.

On her fourth time through the day, Tree explains the loop to Carter, who entertains Tree’s wild claim. Carter connects that the cycle is related to Tree’s birthday and suggests using her seemingly unlimited lives to narrow down a suspect list and solve her own murder.

Tree eliminates Tim Bauer, Gregory’s wife Stephanie, and Danielle as suspects, yet still ends up murdered each time. As the trial and error process continues, Tree wakes one morning and collapses in Carter’s dorm room from an unknown pain.

Tree recovers in the university hospital. Carter briefly visits Tree, during which the power flickers.

Gregory explains that Tree’s x-rays impossibly show that she has scar tissue from major traumas that should have killed her. The masked attacker kills Gregory. Tree flees to the parking garage and manages to escape in a stolen car.

A Louisiana state trooper pulls over Tree and places her under arrest. The killer suddenly runs over the trooper. The killer then blows up the patrol car while Tree is in its backseat.

On the next cycle, Tree explains her situation to Carter once again. Tree starts realizing she isn’t a kind person after explaining how she shares a birthday with her deceased mother and has been cold toward her father David since her mom died.

Tree sees a TV news report about John Tombs, the man wanted in connection with killing multiple young women who is being treated at the university hospital for a gunshot wound. Believing him to be her attacker, Tree races to the hospital to warn everyone that Tombs is about to escape. Tombs gets loose, kills an officer and a nurse, and confronts Tree at gunpoint. Carter tries rescuing Tree, but Tombs breaks Carter’s neck.

Tombs chases Tree. Tree gets the drop on Tombs, but doesn’t go through with killing him because if Tombs’ death stops the cycle, Carter will remain dead. Tree instead ties a noose around her neck and commits suicide in the hospital stairwell.

The day resets again. Recognizing Carter’s care for her due to his previous behavior, Tree begins seeing Carter in a romantic light. Tree goes through the day making amends with everyone she had been rude to, including her father. Tree also ends her affair with Gregory, embarrasses Danielle in front of the sorority, and sets up a date with Carter for later that evening.

That night, Tree goes to the hospital to kill Tombs. She and Tombs end up in an intense physical fight. However, Tree times events to turn the tables on Tombs during the blackout. When the lights return, Tree guns down Tombs. Tree later celebrates her birthday with Carter by finally eating Lori’s cupcake.

Tree panics when she wakes to find it is still Monday the 18th. After Lori presents her with the cupcake once more, Tree realizes that the cupcake was poisoned. Tree puts together that when Lori was unable to kill her with the cupcake, Lori murdered Tree directly. Lori then used her hospital access to free Tombs and frame him for Tree’s death. Lori confesses that she was also having an affair with Gregory and became jealous of the favoritism he showed toward Tree.

Tree and Lori fight. Lori ultimately dies when Tree kicks her out of their top floor window and she falls onto the pavement outside. Tree goes through the rest of the day with Carter and finally wakes up on Tuesday the 19th.

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Review:

I reference “Ouija” (review here), “Unfriended” (review here), and “The Gallows” (review here) when discussing Blumhouse’s teen-targeted thrillers almost as often as “From the Producers of…” appears on their posters.  Yet I have to mention such movies once more because they are relevant in identifying how “Happy Death Day” marks a maturity point for the company’s previously shortsighted takes on PG-13 horror.

What we see with “Happy Death Day” is Blumhouse graduating its usual character group from high school to college, adding enough complication to a straightforward setup to be creatively clever, and maintaining respect for the resulting material.  In so doing, Blumhouse at last bridges the gap between a disposable DTV rental only the slumber party set finds original and a crafty slasher capable of attracting seasoned genre fans who’d like a shot of whiskey with their mainstream milkshakes.

That sums up “Happy Death Day.”  It fits the mold for earning undiscerning millennial money formerly fine with simpler fare such as “Unfriended,” etc.  Yet it also has self-aware flair growing evergreen legs, making the movie one worth remembering.  I could run off a list of Blumhouse productions you’ve seen but couldn’t recall specifics about, much less want to see future iterations of.  “Happy Death Day” has a story you won’t soon forget, and a hook many fans would be eager to experience again.

There’s no need to repeat the common reference of “Happy Death Day” being a horror movie re-imagining of Bill Murray’s “Groundhog Day,” even though it is.  There’s also little point in lengthily recapping the plot.  Basically, self-centered university student Theresa, who goes by Tree for short, cannot stop reliving a Monday that always ends in her murder.  She eventually reasons that solving the mystery might sever the loop, kicking off a trial-and-error investigation to cross off suspects while her death keeps repeating along the way.

“Happy Death Day” is not a comedy, although it very much has a slick sense of humor.  It’s no accident that the school’s sports team is the Bayfield Babies, a name no university would actually brand on athletic uniforms.  This is a two birds with one stone inclusion to clad the killer in a uniquely offbeat mask while screaming out loud that the film wants to spike fright with fun.

This tongue-in-cheek tone works well to let the audience in on the joke that director Christopher Landon and writer Scott Lobdell acknowledge inherent absurdity in their impossible premise.  “Happy Death Day” fails all logic tests should anyone dare to ask a question such as, how is Tree allowed to go about her life without extensive police interference following several spectacularly suspicious murders?  Breathlessly racing from one cycle to the next, as well as burning a light of levity in the grimness, reminds the audience to continue looking straight ahead, never pausing to view the film so rigidly that escapist entertainment intentions are entirely forgotten.

Bear McCreary’s wildly over-the-top score hammers this notion home.  If it weren’t McCreary’s name on the music, I would have guessed the composer went way off the rails with ridiculousness.  Considering McCreary’s pedigree, it stands to reason he was instead specifically instructed to go for broke with high-pitched horns and energetic tempos overly emphasizing onscreen action.  Again, the creators want viewers tuned into a specific mix of madcap madness and macabre murder, and McCreary’s music reflects those fluctuations.

The movie only treats itself as seriously as Tree takes her situation.  One more reason why a darkly comic bite fits so snugly has to do with how the movie’s attitude mirrors Tree’s progression from nerve-wracked fear to “this again?” frustration.  Tree hits a point of exhaustion with her predicament that gradually moves her from frantically huffing after each murder to rolling her eyes at the thought of doing it all over again.  Her quirky personality evolution freshens the film’s flow so momentum doesn’t stay stagnant in overlong moments or moods, which is an on-point approach for telling a tale whose nature requires repeatedly recycling certain setups.

The climax comes with a fairly dippy misdirect followed by a reveal along the lines of “someone would really go through this much trouble?” silliness.  No matter how disappointing the outcome can be perceived, the suspense spark following that wick through to its explosion burns with no less intense heat.  “Happy Death Day” doesn’t turn any tropes or stereotypes on their ears.  It simply employs them knowingly for pure enjoyment purposes.  While believability bumps are inevitable, the collective personality of its cast and its style makes the movie a surprisingly pleasing PG-13 slasher.

Review Score:  75

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