Ever wonder what would happen if Bill Murray spent every day of Groundhog Day getting murdered? Well, Happy Death Day is probably the next best thing.
After unexpectedly waking up in a strange dorm room on her birthday, Tree Gelbman celebrates by going out to another party that night, only to end up murdered by a stranger in a creepy mask. She wakes up back in the dorm room on her birthday, perfectly fine. Well, physically anyway. After going through this a few times I doubt anyone would be okay.
Tree tries desperately to figure out who wants her dead and why as she relives her birthday over and over. Regardless of how Happy Death Day turns out, I love the concept. It’s like the Futurama finale and Groundhog Day had a baby. Considering just how many different deaths we see in the trailer alone, I imagine the killer has a serious reason for wanting Tree dead. The mystery makes for interesting viewing alongside the concept.
Though I can’t help but watch this trailer and wonder why, after three times max, she wouldn’t recreate a previous showdown and have a few people with guns waiting. But hey, horror movies often need suspension of belief to work at all so I’ll let it slide. This also brings us one step closer to that Groundhog Day re-imagining where Phil doesn’t learn a lesson but snaps and starts murdering people every day.
Happy Death Day releases on October 13. It stars Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews, and Charles Aitken. It is directed by Christopher B. Landon, best known for writing Disturbia and three of the Paranormal Activity movies.
