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Happy Death Day Review/OT Thread

Penguin

Member
I doubt there's enough interest to maintain more than a review thread, but reviews are dropping and the movie seems... okay?

http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/happy-death-day-review-1202586912/

”Groundhog Day," a fun if somewhat overvalued movie, was spun out of a celebration of its own cleverness. ”Happy Death Day" is ”Groundhog Day" dipped in blood, and if the movie isn't all that clever, it's just clever enough to get by. It's the latest horror film from Blumhouse Productions, the company that gave us the magnificent ”Get Out," as well as ”Split," ”Paranormal Activity," and ”The Purge," and this one, like those last three, should find an audience that wants a few teasing ”ideas" mixed in with its visceral jolts. I wish I could say that ”Happy Death Day" was scary, but its murderous climaxes arrive with such mechanical precision that there isn't much suspense to them. Yet the movie is a horror-thriller time maze that's just structurally varied enough to get lost in. It's a slasher film with one victim elevated to a next-level video game.

http://www.indiewire.com/2017/10/happy-death-day-review-groundhog-day-horror-remake-1201885844/

Even the most basic of building blocks are in place, from an initially unlikable protagonist to a generous serving of montages and even an overarching message about the power of being a good person (at one point, a character screams, ”love is love!" and it's both totally endearing and hilariously out of place). But while such a formula has been memorably applied to other genres with strong results — earlier this year, it even worked for the dramatic YA offering ”Before I Fall" — ”Happy Death Day" may actually be too beholden to its forebears, if only because this horror film is at its very best when it's being funny.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/11...-review-halloween-jessica-rothe-groundhog-day

Well, honestly not much. This is a fun, weird movie in which you hear the recurring punchline ”Nice one, dickhead," no less than eight times. There's maybe, maybe something to be said about how often the young women in this movie play into the hammy misogyny of their college environment by calling each other sluts, whores, and dumb bitches, but I'd rather take it at face value, as a fun movie with a few overly cynical jokes and a buoyant breakout performance from a compelling lead.

http://www.businessinsider.com/happy-death-day-review-2017-10

If you're not a big fan of scary movies, "Happy Death Day" is not going to give you nightmares. It has a few jump scares, but it's more of a mystery thriller balanced with humor. You may walk out of the theater disappointed by the ultimate reveal, but the journey to getting there is pretty fun.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainmen...y/news-story/e095c6cbbaeb5c1e99f94e145b31fafb

No, this is actually a tight, well-packaged effort: capable of raising tension levels into the dread zone when needs be, and just as capable of cracking a gag or three about how ridiculous the whole exercise is becoming.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottm...reat-for-the-slumber-party-demo/#1e3b2318756b

Happy Death Day is the cinematic equivalent of a perfectly portioned ice cream sundae. It's sugary, a little tart and mostly lacking in nutritional content. But is contains well-made with quality ingredients and the whole concoction goes down easy. It's exactly what it promises to be, nothing more and nothing less. And unlike too many desserts, it will leave you feeling full without feeling like you overate. And while it uses familiar ingredients, it is its own original thing aimed at today's kids rather than nostalgic adults. Thus, it is all-but-destined to be a teen sleepover favorite. That's because, most importantly, it's bloody delicious.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/happy-death-day-1047642

Reuniting a variety of veterans of the Paranormal Activity and Insidious series, Happy Death Day offers a comedic take on the usual stalker-slasher fare, which may sound more promising than it actually proves to be. Lightweight and accessible enough to appeal to its short attention span PG-13 target audience, this is largely disposable entertainment that doesn't suggest obvious franchisability or significant staying power.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/11/happy-death-day-review-jessica-rothe

It's Groundhog Day meets Scream, although lacking the first film's novelty and the latter's postmodern smarts. There's a slick, brightly lit peppiness that makes it a mostly easy watch, and the heightened performances (sassy bitch, dumb jock, geeky nerd) clue us into the fact that this is targeted at a younger teen audience. It feels aimed at a sleepover crowd, the scares never truly landing and, despite the many, many deaths, the gore almost entirely absent.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I think this might end up being a breakout hit. Especially on a Blumhouse budget. Sounds like it's just snappy enough for you to let the stupidity slide.

“Groundhog Day,” a fun if somewhat overvalued movie...

I'm #TRIGGERED by this though
 

Laieon

Member
Pretty excited for this. Going to have to wait until it's out on video to catch it though, no way is it coming to theaters here in Korea.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The trailers seem genuinely interesting, me and the wife will probably catch this over the weekend.
 

shaneo632

Member
Glad to see it's reviewing well. Not going to read any of the reviews though because I don't even want a hint of how it goes.
 

Rvaan

Banned
Glad this seems to be being received well. I thought this movie was interesting ever since I saw the trailer for it. Going to see it this weekend.
 

blackflag

Member
I wanted to see this since I first saw the trailer. it will either be decent or so bad it's good and I'm in for either. Premise is ridiculous in a good way.
 

Gnomepowered

Neo Member
Pretty excited for this. Going to have to wait until it's out on video to catch it though, no way is it coming to theaters here in Korea.

Shouldn't be too long over there if you are willing to shop at the slightly less legal markets- I was able to buy a not totally legal copy of Midnight Meat Train from a dude in the subway, and that has to be as niche or nicher than this one.

In preemptive defense of my piratic ways, this was pre-streaming video, or at least pre-me being aware of it, and I was desperate for English language movies that would play on my second hand Korean DVD player. Plus, do people even get upset at media piracy? It's not like I would download a car.
 
I hate Groundhog Day and its story gimmick and I'm disappointed by the apparent lack of scares, but I can't wait to see this on opening night. This year has been a great year for horror movies!
 

ZeroX03

Banned
Is it as good as the original?

154334-Shadow_of_Memories_(Europe)_(En,Fr,De,Es,It)-1455649628.jpg
888359-front.jpg
 

C.Mongler

Member
Neat. My Moviepass is allegedly coming sometime this week and my SO really wants to see this for whatever reason, so I guess I'll take the plunge.
 

Penguin

Member
Some negative reviews added

The line between em is super thin. All similar complaints and praise so it depends on how much it sways in one direction.
 
I'm at a free screening right now waiting for it to start. The line was ridiculous. So many teenagers here. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that.

I'll report back after the screening.
 
That was a super fun movie. It's not really scary, and its very self-aware and plays up the humor. It isn't trying to be anything but a fun horror/thriller with comedy, and it succeeds at doing just that. It's very obviously aimed at a younger audience, as the packed screening I was in definitely skewed towards high school and college students, but they definitely had fun with it based on the reactions.
 
It won't be as good or have an ending that packs as much of a punch as one of the earlier Groundhog Day meets slasher movies: Salvage from 2006, but the trailers make this look like a lot of fun
 

Parallax

best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
im hoping its at least as entertaining as the mystery spot episode of supernatural
 

Replicant

Member
I just saw it. I'm surprised that it's actually pretty tense and not as shock-jumpy as I thought it'd be. They coreograph every situation carefully and in decent amount of length that it makes you feel dread instead of jumpy.

And I don't understand the complaint about the revelation. I think it's great. I hate when the film seems to point at one particular thing then just veer off on unrelated tangent just for the surprise sake of it. In this case, I'm glad the revelation ended up being that. It makes sense.
 

DrStiles

Member
Saw a screening of this earlier this week. It’s a fun B-movie horror comedy. If you liked the vibes of the trailer you’ll enjoy it. Nothing groundbreaking but it knows what it’s going for and moves at a good pace so you can have fun with it.

Also don’t over think it. Like at all haha.
 
I just got back from seeing it

I enjoyed it for the most part it wasn’t the most amazing movie ever but I definitely think it’s worth checking out
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
I wonder how much they actually use "In The Club" in the movie.

It's not used in the movie at all. She's woken up by yelling neighbors instead.
I liked the movie, but definitely wouldn't have given it a chance in theaters without MoviePass. Score another one for MoviePass.
 
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