In terms of his horror trifecta of films—Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, and now Happy Death Day—I’m officially ready to start the Christopher Landon fan club. You couldn’t ask for three films to be more different from each other, and with every effort, Landon has proved himself to be a confident storyteller with a deep love of the genre in his work, and that affection has shone through with each of his cinematic endeavors.
With Happy Death Day, Landon serves up Groundhog Day (a connection the director hilariously addresses full-on in the film) with a slasher twist that may be intended for younger audiences, but this “old-timer” really enjoyed its unique approach to a modern murder mystery, and it’s easily the most “fun” studio horror movie set to hit theaters this October.
In Happy Death Day, we meet sorority girl Tree (full name Theresa, played by Jessica Rothe) who wakes up on her birthday after another night of binge drinking with a helluva hangover, and unsure of just where exactly she is (or how she ended up there in the first place). We find out that she crashed in the room of a fellow student by the name of Carter (Israel Broussard) who kept tabs on her, and as she makes a hasty retreat from his dorm room and takes her “Walk of Shame” back to her sorority house, everything feels like just another day. Except that it isn’t. Tree’s birthday is about to become the very last day she’ll spend alive on this Earth, unless she can figure out just who is trying to kill her and thwart their malicious plans. And how exactly does Tree do that? By living out her death, again and again—17 times, to be exact.
As a big fan of “whodunits,” Happy Death Day was a huge surprise for me because Landon takes all those tropes we expect from those stories, but punches them up with his unusual approach, providing a lot of clever surprises and keeping the film from ever feeling redundant, even though much of the movie is just Tree reliving the same day over and over again. Each of her deaths are different and have their own unique setups, and I have to say, the further along the story goes, that’s when it feels like Landon and Rothe are having an absolute blast just consistently messing with their formula.
I also appreciated the fact that Tree’s predicament comes with its own baggage, too; the more she dies, the more she begins to feel the physical and emotional ramifications of her scenario, grounding Landon’s fantasy-esque setup and providing Happy Death Day with some real stakes. It also provides Rothe the opportunity not only to let loose with her character (the nude walk around campus was such a great moment of empowerment), but she also has this wonderful character arc that isn’t your typical “final girl” storyline whatsoever.
I’ll be the first to admit that Happy Death Day maybe isn’t going to be for everyone, but as someone who has a deep appreciation and admiration for horror comedies and murder mysteries, I thought the latest from Christopher Landon was an absolute blast, and would make for a great triple feature with two other remarkably great genre films of a similar ilk: Better Watch Out and Tragedy Girls. I love serious horror just as much as anyone, but these days, I’m all for films that aren’t afraid to let their hair down and have a little fun, and Happy Death Day does just that and more.
Movie Score: 4/5
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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