Tag: Scott Lobdell

Happy Death Day 2U

Rated: MHappy Death Day 2U

Directed and Written by: Christopher Landon

Based on Characters by: Scott Lobdell

Produced by: Jason Blum

Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Suraj Sharma, Steve Zissis, Rachel Matthews, Charles Aitken, Phi Vu, Sarah Yarkin.

The baby-faced masked killer is back, along with characters from the original, Happy Death Day (2017), including ‘crazy-white-girl’ Tree (Jessica Rothe) who manages to get sucked into The Death Cycle at the end of every day until she figures out who the killer is… again…

What made the original so successful was the character Tree and her self-deprecating, fatalistic dark humour.  We get the same tone here along with the suspense of waiting for the baby-masked killer to strike and the mystery of who’s behind the mask this time.

Christopher Landon has returned as director and writer (based on character by Scott Lobdell, writer of the original), throwing something extra into the storyline because there has to be a reason for the cycle to start all over again.

The clever re-cap gives a backstory for those who missed the first – but I recommend going back to watch Happy Death Day because it makes those moments of Tree reliving the hellish nightmare funnier.  And here, it’s fun to see familiar characters also get sucked into the cycle with a few new nerdy scientists added to explain the new dimension added to the story.

I have to say the ‘dohicky’ knitting Dean Bornson (Steve Zissis) is hilarious.

And here we get Ryan (Phi Vu) meeting his replica with an added touch of sci-fi lifting the sequel into a different space – so it’s the same concept, but the obstacles have changed.  Which was needed to make this a worthy follow-up rather than just more of the same – yeah, excuse the constant puns but can’t seem to help myself after leaving the cinema with a wry grin.

I had a lot of fun watching Happy Death Day 2 U, even getting into the teary dramatic moments of Tree struggling with the death of her mother and the choices she needs to make going forward in her life.

Although, I have to say the push at the end of the film felt tack-on and a too little much.

But there’s twists and turns, romance, suspense (not as much horror as the first though), and good humour making this sequel worth a watch.

Happy Death Day

Happy Death DayRated: M

Directed by: Christopher Landon

Produced by: Jason Blum p.g.a. Blumhouse

Written by: Scott Lobdell

Director of Photography: Toby Oliver

Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews and Charles Aitken.

‘Today is the first day of the rest of your life’.

Reminiscent of Groundhog Day (released in 1993 where Bill Murray lives the same day, over and over), Happy Death Day has Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe (La La Land)) living the same day, but at the end of her day, she gets killed by a baby-masked psychopath.

Set on the Loyola University campus in New Orleans, there’s that sorority vibe – think: Tree waking up in a dormitory to face Carter (Israel Broussard (The Bling Ring)) the morning after an obviously heavy night on the booze, to the walk-of-shame back to her sorority house to face her fellow sisters.

Thankfully, not too much is made of the college life because jeez, we’ve all seen that too many times before…  It just lends a fun element to an otherwise slasher movie.  If you can call a slasher movie fun.

The story-line of the film is a Happy Death Dayhideous nightmare, where Tree gets killed over and over.  And the killer’s baby mask is freaky.

So, yes, it’s a scary movie.

But the tension is broken with these comic moments of Tree the bitchy, stuck-up character, able to make fun of herself.

Hats off to Jessica Rothe – if you didn’t like her character than the film would have just fallen over.  But there’s a down-to-earthness to her, making the other characters like the snobby house president, Danielle (newcomer Rachel Matthews) all the more ridiculous and funny.

You’d think the same scenario of waking up to the same day would lead to a boring story, but the script (written by Scott Lobdell) plays around with the concept, the changes made by Tree as she becomes aware of her fate, waking up over and over, is offset by the sameness of the day, shown in different ways, the wit making the waking nightmare, fun.Happy Death Day

And I’m happy to say, director, Christopher Landon (Paranormal Activity 2, 3 and 4, he then wrote and directed the spinoff Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, 2014) has pulled all the elements together, collaborating with: Aussie director of photography, Toby Oliver (upcoming Insidious: The Last Key), production designer, Cecele M. De Stefano (TV’s Empire), editor, Gregory Plotkin (Paranormal Activity series), costume designer, Meagan Mclaughlin Luster (10 Cloverfield Lane) and composer Bear McCreary (10 Cloverfield Lane).

And it just feels like the team had fun making this movie.

Particularly showing the range of Jessica Rothe, shining through all the moments from, bitchy to scared to brazen to vulnerable.

Jason Blum has produced yet another cool film.  I always keep an eye out for Blumhouse because I know I’m in for a scary treat.

I’m not saying Happy Death Day is a mind bender that throws you for days like Get Out or Whiplash.  But it’s a great entertainer with a clever story-line.

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