Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

Director: Christopher Landon
Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Suraj Sharma, Sarah Yarkin, Rachel Matthews, Ruby Modine, Steve Zissis, Charles Aitken, Laura Clifton, Missy Yager, Jason Bayle, Rob Mello
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Released in 2017, Christopher Landon's Happy Death Day was enthusiastically received by both critics and audiences for re-energizing Groundhog Day's familiar premise as a modern black comedy slasher. After catching up with it far later than expected, what jumped out most was that you could literally sit anyone in front of it with complete confidence they'd enjoy themselves. Being universally recommendable isn't a small compliment, as this proved the rare instance where that dreaded 'PG-13' rating actually served the material, foregoing a reliance on kills and gore to instead exploit the premise's sharp humor for all it's worth.

Now, after waiting even longer to finally see its sequel, 2019's Happy Death Day 2U, confirmation arrives that it's just as crazy as everyone says. While it may lack its predecessor's sense of discovery and a flawed protagonist's exciting transformation, Landon does something really interesting here that you don't frequently see from most sequels, horror or otherwise. He dares to make a totally different movie, expanding his pre-existing universe while making viewers call upon all their knowledge of the previous film. You can't just sit anyone in front of this one if they haven't seen the first, and that's what makes it so strangely appealing.

Abandoning many of its horror elements to go full sci-fi and draw from 80's teen comedies like Weird Science and Real Genius, the sequel's essentially a love letter to Back to the Future Part II, complete with alternate timelines and parallel universes. The script even acknowledges it outright, while making no apologies for wanting to do more than repeat the original. But more impressively, it accomplishes this by still doing exactly that.  

Waking up in his car on Tuesday, September 19, Bayfield University student Ryan (Phi Vu) returns to his dorm room to find roommate Carter (Israel Broussard) with girlfriend Tree (Jessica Rothe). After going back to work on his experimental quantum reactor with friends Samar (Suraj Sharma) and Dre (Sarah Yarkin), Ryan's killed by someone in a Babyface mask before waking up again on the same day. Upon hearing Ryan's story, Tree realizes he's now stuck in a time loop eerily similar to the one she experienced on Monday the 18th. The group's effort to close the loop instead results in a lab disaster with the machine, sending Tree back to relive that original day, but in an alternate timeline. 

With people she knows now suddenly occupying different roles and functions in this new reality, Tree must deal with the fallout and find help to get back, assuming that's what she wants. Complicating matters is that the Babyface killer is on the loose, with their identity and motives suddenly again a mystery in this alternate dimension. Faced with a nearly impossible choice, Tree's desire to escape this loop isn't so cut and dry, as this reality offers her a second chance at something she never thought she'd experience again. 

In attempting to give a complete explanation for what happened in the preceding entry, it tries more than most sequels, leaning so far into the sci-fi component that you question whether it's actually more information than necessary. While everything involving the reactor machine is silly and probably makes even less sense than most time travel plots, that's kind of the point, transforming what was previously a dark slasher comedy into an ambitious, entertaining farce that enables Landon to use every creative tool at his disposal to construct a viable follow-up. 

The idea of an alternate timeline seems very much inspired by BTTF Part II, and at first glance seems to be an odd fit with the Groundhog Day meets Scream approach of the original. But it all works to the film's advantage, as Landon's script finds fresh ways to repurpose nearly all the supporting players in new roles that depart heavily from how they were previously portrayed. The result is a story that's able to return to the settings, places and people of Tree's seemingly endless Monday the 18th, but with the added twist of everything being just a little off and her having to navigate through it again. 

Familiar enough, but containing just enough surprises, the script manages to substantially build on everything that happened before, giving supporting players like Tree's sorority sisters Danielle (Rachel Matthews) and Lori (Ruby Modine), Dr. Butler (Charles Aitken) and escaped serial killer Tombs (Rob Mello) a fresh coat of paint. It also again puts the masked Babyface killer's identity in doubt, even if that sometimes takes a backseat to some of the comedic shenanigans involving Ryan's science buddies and the school's hapless Dean (a scene-stealing Steve Zissis). There's a goofy sequence where he's distracted by a "foreign exchange student" that has no right being as funny as it is and yet it completely works. It's also tough to recall a sequel that has this much of its original cast return, right down to even the smallest of cameos, making the plot's machinations sturdier.  

Falsely teasing roommate Ryan as the main character was a good idea since it not only reels us in, but creates worry as to whether Tree will be sidelined, only to change course and enable viewers to make the discovery along with her again. If Tree's relationship with kind, nerdy Carter proved to be the glue that held the first film together, it's now as if that never happened, at least for this version of him, who has a life that definitely doesn't include her. This means she'll have some work to do, all while facing a reality in which her late mom (Missy Yager) is still alive, after that tragic loss already shaped what she's become. 

After transcending the confines of the genre to portray a completely different type of scream queen in the first film, Jessica Rothe's versatile performance as reformed sorority mean girl Tree Gelbman is somehow even better this time around. In one particularly dramatic scene, she believably registers a whole spectrum of emotions you just can't imagine getting from another actress in any similar role. She does this and alternately displays unmatched comedic chops in a memorably hilarious suicide montage wherein Tree continuously and creatively offs herself to get to the next day. How Rothe isn't in demand for every project out there boggles the mind, as we're once again given front row seats to what should be the breakout of a major new screen star. On one hand, you want to see her continue along this route because she's so good at it, but it's impossible not to wonder how much untapped potential still exists should she decide to tackle entirely different roles. 

The screenplay sets up a choice at the end that's handled really well, while also having something smart to say about the comfort of looking back versus embracing what lies ahead. Despite a post-credit scene setting up another sequel, this one's somewhat lackluster box office haul temporarily put those plans to bed. Luckily, Landon's subsequent success with 2020's body swap horror comedy Freaky did resuscitate that conversation, along with rumors about some kind of crossover between the two. Given how each  subverted their genres so similarly, it would probably work as a single outing. Whatever disappointment horror fans feel about Happy Death Day 2U rarely qualifying as a full-blown slasher are offset by everything else it does to differentiate itself as a sequel. So while it may be easier to prefer the ride we're taken on in the original, it's tough to blame anyone who far prefers the risks this takes instead.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham, Moe Dunford, Nell Hudson, Olwen Fouéré, Jessica Allain, Jacob Latimore, Alice Krige
Running Time: 81 min.
Rating: R

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

It's gotten to the point where you have to wonder when they'll get one of these right again. Taking a page or two from David Gordon Green's recent Halloween reboot, Netflix's reimagining or quasi-sequel to 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre isn't the worst effort we've seen in the franchise. There are more than a handful of entries deserving of that label, but the decision to essentially ignore those in favor of a fresh sequel to Tobe Hooper's horror classic seems awfully familiar. The theory that what worked for Michael Myers must be good enough for Leatherface is seriously tested by director David Blue Garcia and screenwriter Chris Thomas Devlin in this latest incarnation. Leatherface isn't The Shape, so that this take on him becomes indistinguishable from just about any other slasher villain is probably the film's biggest fault. 

TCM isn't nearly as bound to its own tangled mythology as Halloween and can probably afford to slack off a little more, but that doesn't necessarily mean it should. Taken as just another horror installment, major parts of it work, like some performances, the gore, its overall look and an appropriately unsettling score from Hereditary's Colin Stetson. Clocking in at a manageable 81 minutes, it feels about that, and isn't so much terrible as derivative, likely bolstering the argument Netflix has comfortably settled into its role as a soullessly automated content generator. That's not entirely fair, as Fear Street: 1978 has already proven that the streamer's capable of successfully producing a throwback slasher with vision. But this just doesn't quite meet that standard. 

Over forty years after the events of the original film (with John Larroquette again providing his iconic opening narration), Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her emotionally fragile sister Lila (Eighth Grade's Elsie Fisher) their friend Dante (Jacob Latimore) and his girlfriend Ruth (Nell Hudson) all arrive in Harlow, Texas to renovate the small, abandoned town. With a busload of Gen Z influencers on their way to check out the area, they run into an elderly homeowner (Alice Krige) who refuses to leave her home, which also just so happens to be the residence of a certain chainsaw wielding maniac named Leatherface (Mark Burnham). But when she's carried out by police after a medical emergency, he snaps, wrecking havoc and chopping up victims along the way. Aside from grizzled local mechanic Richter (Moe Dunford), the best candidate to stop him is the sole survivor of Leatherface's '74 massacre, Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré), now a seasoned Texas Ranger who's been waiting decades to extract her revenge. Now she may finally get the chance, if he doesn't kill everyone in town first.     

The ninth installment in the franchise is an improvement over a recent few of them and starts off promisingly enough, aside from introducing main characters who initially come off as a spoiled, crass and unlikable in their opening scenes. That's basically a horror trope now so it comes as a relief that the script sort of backpedals on it, with one of them displaying something that actually resembles human empathy and a conscience. Using the impending gentrification of this small town as a narrative hook isn't the worst idea, and in terms of setting, there's a novelty in seeing nearly all of the film's action take place on a single studio backlot. That's typically not something worthy of praise, but it works in this instance, recreating the desolate atmosphere associated with an abandoned town forgotten by time. 

There's an odd subplot involving the past trauma of a school shooting that probably seemed like a decent idea on paper until you actually see it uncomfortably play out through flashbacks. To her credit, Elsie Fisher does her best with that as the outwardly fragile little sister to the more assertive, spunky Melody, who's really well played by relative newcomer Sarah Yarkin. A stunningly charismatic presence, she brings a different, welcome energy, and if a slasher's only as good as its Final Girl (which I won't reveal whether she is), than at least this box could be checked in its favor. Both actresses deserve better, but their believable sisterly bond is probably the film's highlight, even as Devlin's script seems to have this odd preoccupation with guns. Suggesting that's due to any political underpinnings would probably be giving this more credit than it deserves, as it's hard to believe the filmmakers were deeply interested in exploring any kind of serious social commentary, which is probably a relief. 

The look of Leatherface is a nothing short of a disaster, more closely resembling a cross between Sloth from The Goonies and Wrinkles The Clown than the imposing maniac that's been depicted in even the franchise's lowliest entries. Worse yet, they strip the character of whatever mystique remained by re-introducing him unmasked, putting further emphasis on the fact that an accurate timeline would have Leatherface pushing nearly 80. for some reason they also seem to go out of their way to present him sympathetically, emphasizing his fragile state to the point where he's depicted with almost a sense of childlike wonder, causing us to question who the movie's really rooting for. 

It's unfair to pin any of this on actor Mark Burnham, who's just following the creative direction laid out for Leatherface, and while we could argue all day whether the film shows too much gore (a debate that's long followed this franchise), his kill scenes are well filmed and Garcia creates a mood reminiscent of 2014's far superior, similarly Texas-set The Town That Dreaded Sundown meta sequel. Technically, that's a smart approach, but the narrative's emptier, especially as it relates to the return of TCM original, Sally Hardesty, in a capacity so clearly patterned off Jamie Lee Curtis' recent turn, she may as well be wearing a name badge that reads,"L. Strode."

Olwen Fouéré is suitable in this underwritten Sally role, even resembling how an older version of her would look, but this hardened interpretation just screams Halloween 2018, but more sloppily executed and shoehorned in. Besides the character of Sally hardly being the equivalent of Laurie in importance or long-standing franchise prominence, nearly every hardcore TCM fan (and probably some casual ones) already know the original actress who played her, Marilyn Burns, sadly passed away eight years ago. Obviously, that's no one's fault, but the recasting does dilute the exact kind of continuity this screenplay was going for, drawing even more attention to its misplaced aspirations to emulate modern slasher requels like Halloween and Scream. 

Had this instead stuck to the more promising elements within the newer storyline and limited its canonical references to the passing, but effective early acknowledgments of the '74 massacre, this could have been a much less messy effort. Sally's presence is almost more of a complication than its worth, again raising questions about ages and inaccurate timelines. While the producers have commented that nothing here negates any of the original's sequels (so we should assume the '03 Jessica Biel-starring remake never happened?), but that just makes this more confusing, muddying the waters of what should be a simple concept. 

There's a big centerpiece sequence involving a van slaughter we all know is coming, but nonetheless remains visually arresting and suspenseful, as the vehicle fills up with victims' blood while Stetson's score and Ricardo Diaz's cinematography become as much a character as anyone involved. If not for being nearly undone by a lame social media gag beforehand, it provides a great template for how the entire picture should have gone. Instead it's more one step forward, two steps back much of the way through, but still a far cry from the completely irredeemable garbage pile you heard it is. The closing scenes aren't great, as it settles into a more rote, predictable slasher formula, disappointing us with what the filmmakers had in mind all along. 

The best news to come out of this might be that the aforementioned social media references are fairly scarce and fall short of our worst expectations. Other than a couple of cringy moments of dialogue, it thankfully takes a backseat much of the way through. Unfortunately, the usual lack of suspense and restraint that's been evident in nearly every installment remains, despite being a slickly made piece of entertainment that actually holds up pretty well against the series' most embarrassing outings. The latest TCM tries to squeeze a lot into a limited time, managing to both frustrate and briefly impress before succumbing to the franchise's more problematic instincts.