Happy Birthdead

Jessica Rothe shines through in this tongue in cheek horror. It's a film that doesn't take itself too seriously, the characters, means of death, and outlandish humour move it into the horror comedy genre.

I loved the reference to Groundhog Day at the end of the film, I would imagine there was some sort of in joke there, and of course any film that involves the loop storyline will have reference to the great Bill Murray film.

There were some great twists and turns, the best one coming at the end. This was very enjoyable. 7/10

Jessica Rothe is amusingly pithy and savvy playing a selfish college beauty, a spoiled sorority sister who rules the school until she is stabbed and killed on her way to a surprise birthday party by a masked lunatic. But fate plays this campus cutie an unusual hand once she discovers she's living her birthday over and over again, each time attempting to cheat death but always running into her attacker. Screenwriter Scott Lobdell isn't trying to sneak a slasher variant of "Groundhog Day" passed us--he's upfront about the similarities, even exalts in them, while toying with all the possibilities such a scenario can offer. It takes Rothe three tries to fully comprehend what's happening to her; once she formulates a plan (creating a suspect list), Lobdell mixes things up, so that the movie rarely feels repetitive. Our heroine, snarky to start, follows Bill Murray's example and becomes a better person on her twisted journey (reestablishing contact with her father, apologizing to her roommate, even causing her own demise on one occasion to prevent the cute nerd from the boys' dorm from losing his life). Director Christopher B. Landon deserves credit for delivering a modern-day thriller with lots of action but no gore and no nudity. If it isn't quite a family-friendly slasher flick, it certainly is a squirrelly, sassy one, with some big laughs counterbalancing the suspense. Good show! *** from ****

Saw 'Happy Death Day' as somebody who was fascinated by the concept, found the advertising interesting and good enough to warrant a view and who appreciates horror when done well. Seeing it just before Halloween as part of my Halloween celebrations, will admit to not being as bowled over by the film as would have liked but enjoying it a good deal.

As surprisingly interesting as the advertising was (and there has been some dreadful advertising this year, a notable recent example being the completely mis-marketed 'Geostorm'), it is also misleading. One would expect a truly frightening film judging from the trailers, but actually 'Happy Death Day' happened to be much more than what was indicated and wasn't what one would call terrifying or sleep-with-the-light-on-for-a-week. The good news is that 'Happy Death Day' actually makes the most of its concept, refreshing having seen films recently that had concepts that they didn't do anywhere near enough with. The not so good news is that as enjoyable as it was it did feel like something was missing.

It is easy to see why lots of people will like, and have liked 'Happy Death Day'. It is just as easy to see why it will be, and has been, a let-down for others. My opinion has shades of both, leaning towards the former. 'Happy Death Day' may be somewhat standard (while the concept is a pretty unique one, some of the story elements aren't), superficial (other than the lead character, the characters are developed very flimsily) and some parts don't make as much sense as they could and feel unfinished.

Was expecting more from the killer twist reveal, which is not as clever and surprising as one would like and the whole ending felt rather silly and rushed to me (the killer's motive also came over as really trivial for an elaborate set-up). A little slow to begin with too, it's once the concept kicks in when 'Happy Death Day' properly comes to life and maintains that energy for the rest of the film.

For all those faults though, 'Happy Death Day' is also refreshingly self-aware, almost very much aware of its standard-ness and superficiality and acknowledges it, and manages to be lots of fun, creepy-suspenseful and surprisingly thought-provoking. Gruesomely funny sums it up very well.

'Happy Death Day' is a long way from amateurish visually, the photography is stylish rather than slapdash, the editing has suitably unnerving moments and the lighting is atmospheric. Christopher Landon never lets it get too heavy while not diluting the fun or scares, and the at times haunting and at others times funky soundtrack adds a lot.

When it comes to the script, 'Happy Death Day' is full of knowing humour and never removes its tongue from its cheek, instead keeping it firmly intact throughout which proved to come off really well. It also really makes one think. The story execution is not perfect, but it's never dull and has some neat twists and turns that stops it from being predictable and repetitive.

Jessica Rothe should become a bigger star after her excellent lead turn here, she has been acting a few years before this but this is the first time where she really held my attention and allowed me to take proper notice of her. Israel Broussard is also very believable and the two have great chemistry together. The acting on the whole is solid but essentially it's all about Rothe and she is one of the main reasons why 'Happy Death Day' is worth a viewing.

Overall, a long way from perfect but quite enjoyable. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I had low expectations and I have to say they were totally exceeded .

This is an enjoyable Romantic Horror with more than a passing reference to GROUNDHOG DAY - and the occasional reminiscing of the 15 year old Shaun of the dead . Plus a bit of Scream , scary movie and a number of other slasher movies .

Jessica Roshe was brilliant in the starring role , you believe in her character , her charm was endearing and despite the 10 years between her character and actual age she played the combination of innocent romantic with a touch a modern feisty independent female in control of her own destiny .

The only poor point was how the inevitable twist was handled - that could have been slightly better but definitely worth seeing .

Pad.A 7/10

I've been looking forward to this ever since I saw the teaser trailer, sadly it's taken me this long to get around to it.

So did it live up to expectations? Not entirely, but I walked away happy regardless.

For those unaware it's Groundhog Day (1993) with murder as we see a girl repeatedly being killed off only to start to day anew. Personally I loved this idea and was curious with where they were going to go with it.

The traditional slasher tropes are all present, some great dark humor is in the script and the cast are all on point. Notable especially is our leading lady Jessica Rothe who was excellent though I spent half the movie baffled by just how much she looks like Melissa Benoist.

I'm not sure the finale was up to the same quality as the rest of the film and that is perhaps why it's receiving a 7 not an 8. Something about it just felt inferior and saw the movie go out with a bit of a fizzle.

Regardless I can see why the film was so successful, congratulations to everyone involved because though I didn't find it as mind blowing as I'd hoped I can't deny that this is a very inventive fun little film.

The Good:

Jessica Rothe

Cast are all great

Fantastic concept

Some great ideas

The Bad:

Weak soundtrack for a movie of this ilk

Finale was underwhelming

Hearing the same dialogue repeatedly can get frustrating