When Happy Death Day landed on screens in 2017, it took a lot of people by surprise. See, when the first Happy Death Day trailer premiered, film journalists thought the film was Groundhog Day in the horror genre. Then, we saw it. The film was so much more than that and exponentially more intelligent, creative and above all else—original.
In a movie marketplace littered with remakes, reboots and sequels, the horror film from director Christopher Landon stood out and scored itself a massive audience. In typical Blumhouse Productions fashion, the $4.8 million budgeted film earned major bank to the tune of $55.7 million. What film studio, especially in the horror milieu, makes that kind of dough and doesn’t deliver a sequel? None, especially the house that Jason Blum built.
So now we have Happy Death Day 2U and Landon is not only is back in the director’s chair, but he also penned the script (Scott Lobdell wrote the first one). There must have been an avalanche of meetings between producers and Landon to find a way to not recycle what was already done in the first, to expand the horror, thrills, chills and didn’t-see-that-coming originality.
The sequel had to keep the first film’s humor, sharp awareness of the tropes of the genre—to simultaneously embrace and avoid—and push the players we learned to love in the first one in fresh directions. Sounds like one difficult task.
Happy Death Day 2U commences and has us thinking that this go-around is all about Ryan (Phi Vu). Before long, the focus returns to the supremely talented actress behind the subject of the first film—Jessica Rothe as Tree Gelbman. Truthfully, the film is still about Ryan. In fact, the sequel is a true ensemble effort. All the characters must firmly come together in a myriad of manners for the premise of this story to work. Back to the Future Part II is often mentioned and that could not have been more on purpose.
Witnessing Rothe whip herself into a frenzy that is so much more manic this time out because she is having to relive her birthday, aka the day of her death over and over … again! The key in the first film was she had to figure out who the killer was and makes wrong things right. She succeeded, after all. Therefore, when this new day begins and ends the same way as her recent birthday, one can see why she would be bat-droppings crazy. It is an absolute joy witnessing her lose it in that first act before coming to grips with her altered reality and focusing like a laser into cracking this fresh mystery.
First things first when it comes to Landon’s taking over the screenplay details. There will be no spoilers here, but let’s just say that cinematically this world takes a major right turn and travels into areas that are more science fiction than horror. There are fewer sharp scares this time around, pun intended. There is still a baby mask-sporting killer wielding a knife, but in Happy Death Day 2U the thrills are more cerebral than emotionally reactionary. Now, I like that. I like more horror-thriller movies to challenge my brain and not simply stimulate my fears with shock and awe. If the film can do both, all the better.
Rothe delivers yet another star-making turn. There is a tidal wave of emotional richness that is required of the actress. She triumphs in every single one. One minute, she can be fierce and frenzied, and then on a dime, Tree morphs into a weepy soul grappling with nostalgic regret. It takes a special actress to be able to pull of such a feat given to her by Landon. If 2017’s film put her on the map, it is my sincere hope that 2019’s second installment will make her one of the more in-demand thespians working today. She deserves it. What we witness in Happy Death Day 2U is a revelation. Oh, and lest we forget—her comic timing (an integral part of the first film’s self-awareness of where it sits in the horror world) has only gotten more nuanced.
Vu is given much more to do this time out and he embraces the challenge. There are a few moments, mostly near the film’s conclusion, that got a raised eyebrow from me due to its non-believability factor. There were also a few things that could have been corrected by some more thought devoted to the nitty-gritty details of the script. But, make no mistake, Vu is a key player to the puzzle that the film creates. Also, charming and deeper than he was able to portray in the first film is Israel Broussard. As is the case with the rest of the cast, his Carter is asked to take Tree’s word for what she’s experiencing as fact. There are little things that Broussard does with his performance that reflects the increased depth added to this universe.
Now, there are a few characters (and how they relate, act and are portrayed within the spectrum of the overall story arc) that will produce an eyeroll or ten. Most notably, Steve Zissis as Dean Roger Bronson. He comes off more as a hapless university administrator from an 80s fraternity movie than a Blumhouse thriller. There is one scene with him and Tree’s sorority sister/friend/enemy Danielle Bouseman (Rachel Matthews) that is just supremely ridiculous.
Those complaints are mild versus basking in the wickedly creative glow of this second film in the series that seems driven to embrace genre stereotypes while still blowing them to pieces with tropes that are highly original.
What may be the greatest compliment Happy Death Day 2U can receive is that it immediately made me want to return to the first film and see how my mind would embrace what happens in the original versus what we now know from the sequel.
Grade: B