Little to Celebrate Except Mediocrity
The anticipated slasher film Happy Death Day is what I would call this year’s horror sell-out. What I mean is, it’s essentially a movie that almost recognises it’s a lacklustre parody of the horror genre, but doesn’t take that anywhere – it keeps falling flat but continues to get up and do it again. Some people have made comparisons to Scream, but that’s a really unfair stab at Wes Craven. At least Scream was original!
The film follows an American college girl on her birthday when she is murdered – but she keeps waking up and reliving the day, and tries to discover who her killer is. I know what you’re thinking: it sounds like Groundhog Day! That’s because it is – with a very dull blade edging on horror with minimal gore, unsatisfying scares, and way too many jokes that are more of an embarrassment than just basic comic relief.
There are certain aspects of the narrative that are admirable; the basic premise of following a protagonist as they attempt to solve their own murder is definitely a storyline that carries a lot of interesting pathways that I don’t think have been done to death by contemporary film and television. But like all films, originality is so, so important. That really can’t be stressed enough. Last year I reviewed Blair Witch and right from the exposition of that movie, I felt the confronting lack of originality, the absence of any real depth beyond a cheap (but effective) money-making gimmick and I share that depressing feeling with Happy Death Day. It just doesn’t offer enough of a pay-off to keep me engaged, to keep me on the edge of my seat.
Overall, I honestly was very excited for this film when I first saw the trailers, so I was certainly disappointed by the time the credits rolled at the end. What this movie needed was a drastically different approach that didn’t rely on the success of better, original films. But don’t be disappointed, there have been some great horror films this year – Get Out, Hounds of Love – go watch them!