Happy Death Day 2U (5 Stars)

This is my tenth horror film in November 2019. I'm doing better than I expected. Ten horror films in twelve days is a good speed. The problem I have is that I keep making plans what films I want to watch, and then I make other plans and have to postpone my original plans. I started a marathon of Dean McKendrick's films and somehow forgot about it after only seven films, four months ago. I'll have to resume the marathon next month. And then there's my music. I wanted to listen to all of Klaus Schulze's albums in order this year, but because of a three month delay I'm only up to the 40th out of 102 albums. Silly me. And what about my Marvel Years posts? Originally I wanted to spend 2018 reading (and reviewing) all of Marvel's comics from 1961 to 1972. I underestimated the volume of material and only got up to 1966 by the end of the year. Theoretically, I could have said I'd read the other six years and complete my task in 2019, but I've now decided to extend my reading to 1991. It would be good if I achieved my goal within the next four years. Let's see how I get on.

After those random thoughts, let's talk about "Happy Death Day 2U", the sequel to the 2017 film "Happy Death Day". In an interview on the Blu-ray the director/screenwriter Christopher Landon says that a sequel wasn't originally planned. That surprises me, because the original contains subtle hints about the plot direction of the sequel. They're so subtle that you can only spot them after watching the original film again, but they're there.

The original film was a pure horror film. The sequel is more of a science fiction film. We find out the reason for the repeated day. Carter's room mate Ryan, who was only a minor character in the first film, has built a quantum reactor as a science project. His intention is to use it to slow down time, but he's accidentally created a time loop. Why Tree (Theresa Gelbman) was caught in the loop instead of himself isn't clear, but the second film returns to that topic. Ryan wakes up in his car on Tuesday, September 19th, the morning after Tree's birthday. Later in the day he's killed by someone wearing a Babyface mask, and he wakes up again on the same day. Tree believes him immediately when he tells her what's happened, because she says she already died 11 times the previous day.

Note: she actually only died 10 times, which I listed in this review. That's not a film mistake, it's a perfectly understandable mistake made by Tree. Sitting in the comfort of my own home I counted how many times she was killed, but be honest, if you kept dying, would you be counting your own deaths?

Tree and Carter accompany Ryan to the place he was murdered. They stop the murderer and unmask him, revealing that it's Ryan beneath the mask. He says that he's returned from the future to kill his younger self before he operated the quantum machine, so he begs Tree and Carter to kill Ryan 1. They refuse, because they think that Ryan 2 is responsible for the time loop. Ryan 1 tries to start his quantum reactor, but Ryan 2 interferes and the reactor explodes, killing everyone.

The end?

Not quite.

Everything that went before was the film's introduction. This is the beginning.

The explosion knocks Tree back into the time loop of the previous day, September 18th. She has to relive the events of the first film once more. At least, that's how it seems. There are three subtle differences:

1. Tree's room mate Lori is having an affair with Dr. Butler.

2. Carter is the boyfriend of Tree's house mate Danielle.

3. Tree's mother is still alive.

Ryan explains that she's been knocked into another time loop in a parallel universe. Together they try to end the loop. Rather than be killed every day, Tree chooses to kill herself in the most imaginative ways. We see her dying eight times, twice by being murdered and six times by suicide. It's possible that not all the suicides are shown, because they're skipped through fast.

It's difficult for me to say which of the two films is better. They're both brilliant, in their own way. The second film is more complex than the first, which might put some viewers off, but not me. I love complex films. There's also more emotional drama in the second film, caused by Tree losing Carter and being reunited with her mother.

The unknown actors in the film all put on excellent performances, but Jessica Rothe stands out as Tree. I'm impressed by the way she can portray an angry, unpleasant character but still win the hearts of the audience. I'd like to see her other films. She has a big future ahead of her.

The film ends with a hook for a third film in the mid-credits sequence. Supposedly the third film won't be made because of bad box office performance? Really? Maybe it was less successful than the first film, but a success rate of +5.2 is nothing to be ashamed of. Most films don't do that well.

Success Rate:  + 5.2

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