Here’s the premise: A teenage girl, trying to enjoy her birthday, soon realizes that this is her final one. That is, if she can figure out whom her killer is. She must relive that day, over and over again, dying in a different way each time.
Years ago we had GROUNDHOG DAY, the Grand-daddy of the “live the same say over and over” theme; and the measurement of movies with this same theme. While HAPPY DEATH DAY is not as funny or good as GROUNDHOG DAY, it is still a pretty solid film and does the theme proud.
Jessica Rothe does a great job as the snobby, bitchy sorority girl who pushes everyone’s buttons, the movie does a great job on deconstructing her story and her life to figure out who killed her and why she is the way she is. While most of the cast is stereotypical college students, right down to the head sorority, stuck up, self-righteous preppy; you can overlook this for the base of the story and the fun way they slowly unravel the mystery.
This is a good movie for Friday the 13th, although not scary, but a pretty good retooling of the slasher genre for sure.
Sheryl Bradshaw
