Happy Death Day 2U is the sequel to the 2017 time-loop slasher comedy produced by Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions company. Director Christopher Landon, this time handling scripting duties, reunites with the bulk of his cast including leading lady Jessica Rothe as Tree Gelbman, Israel Broussard as the nonplussed love interest Carter, Rachel Matthews as the catty sorority girl Danielle and Phi Vu as Carter’s genius roommate Ryan. Suraj Sharma and Sarah Yarkin also join the cast as Ryan’s lab partners.
The film starts off with a twist, as Ryan finds himself caught in a time loop with the sinister baby-faced killer stalking him instead. Caught in the same déjà vu as Tree was, she offers her help only to find the stakes have been changed with all her friends now at risk, and perhaps staying dead for good. Landon continues to embrace the zany comic book leanings of the original (indeed, the writer of the first Happy Death Day, Scott Lobdell, is a renowned comic book writer) and spins the sequel to crazy sci-fi heights, placing 2U in a slightly different subgenre as a result.
Horror sequels are notoriously difficult to pull off, having to recreate the surprise factor or explain how a slain villain returns from the dead or contrive why a different killer adopts the same modus operandi of the first. And even though Happy Death Day 2U resorts to a handful of contrivances, the cast still manages to have fun with the macabre situation their characters find themselves in while leaving room for heart and genuine emotion, especially from Jessica Rothe. The best horror films work when we the audience root for the heroes instead of the villain, and somehow this sequel makes us root for the students even more the second time around, by giving them more to lose.
As the first film borrowed its conceit from Groundhog Day, Happy Death Day 2U borrows from time travel movies, namely Back to the Future Part II (at the very least, it earns a namedrop). It plays with parallel universes and alternate timelines, setting the stage for an anything-goes pandemonium. For the first time in years, I was not sure what to expect from a sequel and it felt delightful. Regrettably, the feeling doesn’t last as this one settles into familiar territory, reusing the same sets, the same scares and the same screams. It’s difficult to keep horror franchises fresh, but for at least the first half, 2U pulls it off and that’s commendable.
A special mention should go to composer Bear McCreary (10 Cloverfield Lane) and his score for 2U, marking his first time returning to a franchise. The music carries a classic vibe from slasher films past, evoking Jerry Goldsmith and Basil Poledouris. Happy Death Day 2U felt like the type of film I would’ve seen back in high school or college and the atmospheric, mischievous score helped that mood in a big way.
Impresario Jason Blum and his Blumhouse team proves once again you don’t always have to throw money at the screen if you have a tight script, a compelling cast and a director with a good head on their shoulders. If the Universal Monsters torch has been passed onto them, it’s a welcomed development, and eagle-eyed viewers may spot that Christopher Landon might be calling dibs on a particular Creature. Time will tell, and crowds should enjoy this offering from Blumhouse more so than their previous entry Glass last month. To be fair, Happy Death Day 2U is a more satisfying sequel than most.
Rating: 4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ABOUT HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U
Jessica Rothe leads the returning cast of HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U, the follow-up to Blumhouse’s (Split, Get Out, The Purge series) surprise 2017 smash hit of riveting, repeating twists and comic turns. This time, our hero Tree Gelbman (Rothe) discovers that dying over and over was surprisingly easier than the dangers that lie ahead.
Jason Blum once again produces and Christopher Landon returns to write and direct this next chapter, while Happy Death Day executive producers Angela Mancuso and John Baldecchi are newly joined by EP Samson Mucke (Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse).
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