12 years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, where they soon become the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle.
In the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shapeshifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town.
Director:
Andy Muschietti
Stars:
Bill Skarsgård,
Jaeden Lieberher,
Finn Wolfhard
Bodies are turning up around the city, each having met a uniquely gruesome demise. As the investigation proceeds, evidence points to one suspect: John Kramer, the man known as Jigsaw, who has been dead for over 10 years.
Directors:
Michael Spierig,
Peter Spierig
Stars:
Matt Passmore,
Tobin Bell,
Callum Keith Rennie
Parapsychologist Dr. Elise Rainier faces her most fearsome and personal haunting yet, as she is drawn back to her ghostly childhood home, where the terror began.
Five medical students, obsessed by what lies beyond the confines of life, embark on a daring experiment: by stopping their hearts for short periods, each triggers a near-death experience - giving them a firsthand account of the afterlife.
A father and son, both coroners, are pulled into a complex mystery while attempting to identify the body of a young woman, who was apparently harboring dark secrets.
A teenage girl, trying to enjoy her birthday, soon realizes that this is her final one. That is, if she can figure out who her killer is. She must relive that day, over and over again, dying in a different way each time. Can she solve her own murder?
When asked why a baby mask: Christopher Landon says he needed a combination of something that would pass for a mascot on a college campus, that was both scary and funny at the same time, plus he was expecting a son at that time, so he had "baby on the brain." See more »
Goofs
When Tree wakes up for the last time, you can see a camera lens and matte box pulling away from her in the bottom-left corner of the screen as she sits up in bed. See more »
Quotes
Tree Gelbman:
[to Tim]
Who takes their date to Subway? Besides, it's not like you have a footlong.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The opening Universal logo gets abruptly sucked into oblivion and then restarts, referencing the film's time loop element. This happens twice before the logo finally plays uninterrupted. See more »
Every negative review for this movie is going to point out that this movie is built around a concept that we've seen before. Our protagonist is forced to live through the same day again and again. Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow (both excellent movies) made this idea popular and for some people, they won't be able to get past the fact that this isn't brand new gimmick. I don't have a problem if movies borrow from other movies, they just need to do it effectively and put a fresh spin on it. Happy Death Day certainly accomplishes that. At the beginning, the journey hits the first couple of familiar notes but when Tree starts to realize what's happening, that's when the movie shifts gears. They aren't afraid to play with Tree's tragic end day after day and the movie functions for whole periods as a straight comedy. Luckily, this movie is really funny when it wants to be. The writers know enough to play with certain genre clichés and there's a surprising amount of tongue-in-cheek humour here. The marketing for this is a little misleading, it makes this movie look like a traditional slasher movie when it really ends up being a mishmash of comedy, mystery and horror
Other than the living the same day plot point, Happy Death Day centres around the mystery of who Tree's killer is. The movie throws a bunch of obvious red herrings at you right off the bat and I was glad they took it a less obvious direction. I don't think they overplay their hand either, there are a couple of hints here and there but I think you'd have to be pretty perceptive to guess the twists and turns that Day's plot takes. If I had one complaint, there was a point where they looked like they were heading towards a very sentimental resolution that could have been corny. Its a case of me wanting that for these characters. They bypass that though and keep going and while I understand the decision, I might have preferred that wrap-up instead.
Another turnoff for certain audience members might be Tree's personality as a character. She's a real b!#@% when we first meet her and I'm not exaggerating. The first time she meets her killer, I wasn't feeling sorry for her. But even when she's at her worst, she still has a certain charisma that you want to keep rooting for her. Writing characters that aren't perfect and are selfish that you want to follow is an art that so many horror movies get wrong. I liked how Tree grows (no pun intended) and by the end I really wanted her to find a happy ending somehow.
I don't often get to really discover actors and actresses. Most of the movies I watch are pretty mainstream and by the time someone becomes a lead, you've probably heard about them from somewhere. I wasn't familiar with Jessica Rothe at all but she anchored this movie as Tree. This is a stand up and take notice kind of performance, she's multi-faceted in handling both the drama and the comedy in this movie. I hope this movie is just a stepping stone to bigger things for her and I think the last time I walked away from a movie so impressed with an actress I didn't know was Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street. Israel Broussard is easy to like as Carter, he's easy going enough that his character's relationship with Tree builds up organically. Rachel Matthews is funny as Danielle Bouseman, she's playing a very stereotypical character (stuck up sorority rich girl) but she nails it. Ruby Modine is sweet as Lori and Charles Aitken is appropriately slimy as Gregory Butler,
I couldn't believe how charmed I was by this movie. I didn't plan on going to see this, it was a very spur of the moment thing and walking out of the theatre I was blown away. Happy Death Day isn't the best movie I've seen this year but its the biggest movie-going surprise of the year for me. It features a great turn from an up and coming actress, a good mystery, some well placed meta humour and a willingness to play within its central conceit. The marketing for this movie doesn't show how creative and fun it is and I would urge you to give this a shot. We've come off the summer blockbusters and we're still too early for the awards contenders so if you're looking for something to check out, Happy Death Day is an extremely fun hour and a half at the movies. Also, make sure to show up on time, there's a gag pulled with the opening credits that hints at what's to come.
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Every negative review for this movie is going to point out that this movie is built around a concept that we've seen before. Our protagonist is forced to live through the same day again and again. Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow (both excellent movies) made this idea popular and for some people, they won't be able to get past the fact that this isn't brand new gimmick. I don't have a problem if movies borrow from other movies, they just need to do it effectively and put a fresh spin on it. Happy Death Day certainly accomplishes that. At the beginning, the journey hits the first couple of familiar notes but when Tree starts to realize what's happening, that's when the movie shifts gears. They aren't afraid to play with Tree's tragic end day after day and the movie functions for whole periods as a straight comedy. Luckily, this movie is really funny when it wants to be. The writers know enough to play with certain genre clichés and there's a surprising amount of tongue-in-cheek humour here. The marketing for this is a little misleading, it makes this movie look like a traditional slasher movie when it really ends up being a mishmash of comedy, mystery and horror
Other than the living the same day plot point, Happy Death Day centres around the mystery of who Tree's killer is. The movie throws a bunch of obvious red herrings at you right off the bat and I was glad they took it a less obvious direction. I don't think they overplay their hand either, there are a couple of hints here and there but I think you'd have to be pretty perceptive to guess the twists and turns that Day's plot takes. If I had one complaint, there was a point where they looked like they were heading towards a very sentimental resolution that could have been corny. Its a case of me wanting that for these characters. They bypass that though and keep going and while I understand the decision, I might have preferred that wrap-up instead.
Another turnoff for certain audience members might be Tree's personality as a character. She's a real b!#@% when we first meet her and I'm not exaggerating. The first time she meets her killer, I wasn't feeling sorry for her. But even when she's at her worst, she still has a certain charisma that you want to keep rooting for her. Writing characters that aren't perfect and are selfish that you want to follow is an art that so many horror movies get wrong. I liked how Tree grows (no pun intended) and by the end I really wanted her to find a happy ending somehow.
I don't often get to really discover actors and actresses. Most of the movies I watch are pretty mainstream and by the time someone becomes a lead, you've probably heard about them from somewhere. I wasn't familiar with Jessica Rothe at all but she anchored this movie as Tree. This is a stand up and take notice kind of performance, she's multi-faceted in handling both the drama and the comedy in this movie. I hope this movie is just a stepping stone to bigger things for her and I think the last time I walked away from a movie so impressed with an actress I didn't know was Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street. Israel Broussard is easy to like as Carter, he's easy going enough that his character's relationship with Tree builds up organically. Rachel Matthews is funny as Danielle Bouseman, she's playing a very stereotypical character (stuck up sorority rich girl) but she nails it. Ruby Modine is sweet as Lori and Charles Aitken is appropriately slimy as Gregory Butler,
I couldn't believe how charmed I was by this movie. I didn't plan on going to see this, it was a very spur of the moment thing and walking out of the theatre I was blown away. Happy Death Day isn't the best movie I've seen this year but its the biggest movie-going surprise of the year for me. It features a great turn from an up and coming actress, a good mystery, some well placed meta humour and a willingness to play within its central conceit. The marketing for this movie doesn't show how creative and fun it is and I would urge you to give this a shot. We've come off the summer blockbusters and we're still too early for the awards contenders so if you're looking for something to check out, Happy Death Day is an extremely fun hour and a half at the movies. Also, make sure to show up on time, there's a gag pulled with the opening credits that hints at what's to come.