Screen Junkies’ Honest Trailer for 2017’s comedic slasher Happy Death Day manages to get itself stuck in an amusing time loop of its own. While the go-to example for most is director Harold Ramis’ brilliant 1993 film Groundhog Day - starring Bill Murray as arrogant weatherman Phil Connors - time loop plots are by no means rare in entertainment. When done well though, the setup can lead to a satisfyingly creative final product, which is exactly what happened with Blumhouse’s Happy Death Day.

Earning positive reviews from critics for both its clever writing and magnetic lead performance from Jessica Rothe - and raking in over $125 million worldwide on a budget of less than $5 million - Happy Death Day surprised many with just how good it ended up being, despite a premise that wasn’t exactly original. Interestingly, Netflix recently premiered the series Russian Doll, which sees the lead character trigger a time loop by repeatedly dying in much the same way as Happy Death Day, and is also drawing good reviews. As always, Hollywood believes in recycling.

No doubt timed to coincide with next week’s release of sequel Happy Death Day 2U, Screen Junkies has now unleashed its Honest Trailer for Happy Death Day. Once again proving that success is often less about having an original idea and more about how one executes said idea, Screen Junkies went the fairly predictable route of mimicking the film by trapping its famous narrator in a time loop of their own, but managed to produce one of the funniest Honest Trailers ever in the process. Check it out below.

Much like Happy Death Day’s lead character Tree Gelbman (Rothe), the Honest Trailers narrator finds himself repeatedly attempting to get his review of the film right, only to be frustrated by being forced to start back at the beginning. Along the way, he admits that he actually does enjoy Blumhouse’s not-so-serious slasher, a reaction many horror fans ended up begrudgingly admitting to as well. When the marketing for Happy Death Day began, lots of observers were convinced that it would be a one-note joke and quickly grow tiresome. Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case.

One legit - if fairly minor - complaint brought up in the Honest Trailer is the limitations put on Happy Death Day by its PG-13 rating. Most Blumhouse horror efforts are rated-R, and a slasher - even one with a comedic bent - seems like an odd choice for a PG-13. While some horror devotees do indeed wish Tree’s various deaths contained more gore, Rothe’s likeable performance actually alleviates that issue, as most find themselves rooting for her and unable to have the same fun with her various demises as is allowed by the bland stock characters found in most slashers.

More: Jason Blum Wants Every Happy Death Day Sequel to Have a Different Genre

Source: Screen Junkies

  • Happy Death Day 2U Release Date: 2019-02-14