I don't think there's such a thing as bad horror. Oh, there are bad horror movies, certainly, but I'm averse to the popular idea that one sub-genre of horror is better than another. A slasher can be just as good and well-made as an artsy horror film. The only difference is what kind of scares they offer. Slashers are usually seen as the inferior kind of horror because the terror they provide is more visceral than subtle. Whereas a film like "Hereditary" delivers its scares through tense buildup, oppressive atmosphere and dark themes, a film like "Halloween" has a guy chasing somebody with a knife. Obviously one of these took a lot more brain power and packs more punch, but to say that one film is fundamentally inferior to the other just because it deals with the more immediate terror of bodily harm is stupid. In fact, because their scares come less from existential dread, slashers have a lot more room to have fun. Case in point: "Happy Death Day 2U," a sequel to the 2017 horror comedy.
The setup is basically "Halloween" meets "Groundhog Day." College student Theresa "Tree" Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) finds herself stuck in a time loop and hunted by a killer in a baby mask. Every time she dies, she's forced to live the whole day over again until she finds her murderer.
In the sequel, Tree once again finds herself in that loop, much to her own frustration. However, she quickly finds that she's been dropped into an alternate dimension. Her relationships with everybody she knows are all different, the killer isn't who it was last time and a loved one she thought was dead has come back into her life. Now, she must work to find a way to close the loop and decide whether or not she even wants to go back to her old life.
The jump from horror to sci-fi comedy sounds really jarring on paper. How do you make the transition from a genre that terrifies to a genre that's usually more adventurous? Well, it helps that they didn't make the jump entirely. It's not like they threw out the entire premise to replace it with something completely different. Instead, they naturally integrate the science fiction by showing that the cause of the first film's time loop was a thesis project by a student at Tree's college. After the machine is broken, the whole film is not only finding out who the killer is, but figuring out a way to fix the machine to close the loop and send Tree back to her own universe.
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The horror scenes themselves are a bit of a mixed bag. They're not fantastic and they lack a sense of atmosphere, but like I said: slasher films aren't about the crushing atmosphere. They're about a guy in a baby mask chasing you with a knife. And while the scares can be predictable, I can't deny that I jumped out of my seat a few times.
What surprised me about the film is how good Jessica Rothe is in the lead roll. Usually, horror films of this caliber don't have great acting. They usually get the cheapest talent they can find. Rothe, however, is a genuinely fantastic actress. She's an energetic comic performer, remarkably compelling in dramatic scenes and slips comfortably into the role of our likable, everygirl protagonist.
The major negative that stands out is the score. It sounds like it's mostly place-holding music, neither adding nor subtracting from the scene it's a part of. This is mostly a problem with modern Hollywood in general. A lot of scores in movies just feel like they're there to add background music so the audience doesn't get bored. That's unfortunate because a score can add a lot of emotion to a film that can't be evoked through visuals. The score can either improve the scene or lift a moment to greatness all on its own. Unfortunately, melody-driven scores seem to be a dying breed in today's film industry.
The rest of the film is not that impressive on a technical level. The cinematography is standard, the lighting is just kind of there and the set/costume design doesn't look like there was much thought put into it.
If you're hesitant to go because you haven't seen the first one yet, you honestly don't need to. In a way, not seeing the first film helps with the experience. The "Bill & Ted" vibe is much easier to get into when you don't know that's it's coming from a mostly straight-faced slasher film.
Despite what it lacks in technical skill and the obnoxiously predictable score, "Happy Death Day 2U" is a pleasant surprise. It has an entertaining premise, a fun mix of horror, science fiction and comedy and a likable lead portrayed by a charming actress. It's a nice little treat in the midst of this crowded weekend.
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