Happy Death Day
Short description
Tree Gelbman, a college student, wakes up on her birthday after a heavy night of partying and ends up in the dorm room of a classmate, Carter Davis. What follows is an ordinary day that ends with her murder by a masked stranger. Instead of dying once, Tree finds herself thrown back to the morning of the same day, forced to live it over and over, each repetition ending in her death. She comes to understand that the only way out of the cycle is to work out who is killing her and why.
Christopher Landon directed the film, his third feature after Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. He wrote the screenplay with Scott Lobdell, and Jason Blum produced. Jessica Rothe plays Tree, with Israel Broussard as Carter, Charles Aitken as Gregory Butler, Ruby Modine as Lori Spengler, Blaine Kern III as Nick Sims and Rachel Matthews as Danielle Bouseman among a credited cast of 24.
Made for 5 million dollars and released in October 2017, the film took about 125 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 6.6 out of 10 from roughly 185,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from around 6,700 votes. A critics' rating of 6 out of 10 from 157 reviews places it close to the audience scores. Landon continued the story with Happy Death Day 2U in 2019.
What's left behind the scenes
- When asked why the killer in the film hides behind a baby mask, director Christopher Landon replied that, firstly, he needed something that could pass for a mascot – a sports team figure – that would be both scary and funny; and secondly, he was expecting a baby boy at the time and “couldn’t think about anything but babies.”
- The killer's costume in the film was designed by Tony Gardner, the creator of the iconic Ghostface mask from the “Scream” franchise.
- The film doesn't explain how Trish got caught in a time loop. Director Christopher Landon promised to provide an explanation in the sequel.
- The t-shirt Tri is wearing says Dumpstaphunk. That's the name of a funk band from New Orleans, Louisiana.
- The scene where the main character, played by Jessica Roth, walks naked across campus had to be filmed quickly, as filming took place on the grounds of a real campus, and there was a risk that students would see the scene being filmed or start taking pictures. The filmmakers had to go to great lengths to avoid this. As a result, the scene was filmed in 2-3 takes.
- According to the director's original vision, the film would end with the protagonist dying again and re-entering the time loop. This ending didn't appeal to audiences during a preview screening, so it had to be changed.
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