376: Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

SPEAKER_02 0:04

The worst possible situation, which was being pressed against the MRI and then having an item magnetized into your chest.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Mackie, you are so afraid of getting final destination. Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. I I phoned you closed for you. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with a perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of video we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your Philly neighborhood slash enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Okay, so now you're gonna call Han Solo a liar?

SPEAKER_00 0:55

And the classic horror connoisseur, Sean.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

It sucks the biggest mega balls in the history of shitty ball suckery.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

This week we're exploring the 2019 sequel of a film that gave us a horror spin on Groundhog's Day.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

And if you support the show, you'll also get to hear our B side at the end of this episode where we get into the zany idea of time travel, and oddly enough, some Groundhog Day shenanigans.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

In 2017, Blumhouse introduced audiences to Tree Gelpman, a college student stuck reliving the same deadly day over and over again. Two years later, her story picked up right where it left off. Only this time. The loop was just the beginning. This sequel, much like its predecessor, isn't shy about its influences. While the first film nodded to Groundhog Day, this one adopts a sci-fi bend and tips its hat to Back to the Future Part 2 as it explores the origin of Tree's time loop and the implications it has for her to mention. This week we're talking about Happy Death Day to you. Who's seen this one before?

SPEAKER_03 1:58

Oddly enough, despite having a pretty good time with the first one, from what I can remember, I had not seen this one before.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

I was so excited for this after we watched the first one that I held off and saved it, knowing that we were gonna cover it, and that was maybe just a lot of faith, but I knew we were gonna get there, and I was just setting it aside for that special moment. We made it.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

That is wild. I can't believe neither of you have seen this.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

Yeah, I know. Crazy.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

I saw this back when it came out, and ooh, I remember this being such a fun time. I hadn't yet fallen prey to, I think, a lot of the emotions that I have fallen prey to in my 30s, but this one was a really lovable, easy peasy time. I think about Happy Death Day in the first place. That one was just so fucking funny.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Right?

SPEAKER_00 2:48

And there was a lot of it that woven maybe some like deeper sentimental stuff, but it struck a really nice balance. So I remember going into this one thinking, okay, we're probably gonna get more of that, but probably a little bit more sci-fi.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

I had no expectations for anything having to do with the time travel. I just figured I don't care, and I'm just here for another loop. And the tone of the first film and the comedy that you mentioned, I just thought it was gonna be fun because the first one was so much fun.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

Yeah, I gotta be honest, I didn't remember much about the first one when I first went back into this film, so I kind of had to like recap a little bit in my head, and I probably should have watched the first one before going back into this one, and not for nothing, but I do think that is exactly what everyone should probably do before watching this one, because after watching this movie, I feel like it would be like the perfect back-to-back film. You'll probably know what I mean if you if you end up watching this movie. But either way, if you didn't happen to watch the first one or don't plan to before watching this one, or re-watching it before watching this one, you'll probably be thankful for the previously unhappy death day segment that we do get in this movie. So there is that.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

The previously unhappy death day was just so fucking good, and that's what you missed on Glee.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

Right? Exactly. It actually worked out. I was so like surprised about it. I was like, oh, what a nice surprise.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah, I forgot that moment was in the movie because I was thinking, just to your point, Sean, damn, I started this movie. Should I have put on Happy Death Day first? Because I really loved that one. And Tree Gelman is such a fun final girl. So to see more of her is a really great time. And I thought, okay, maybe I should have just made a whole day of this. But it's actually, I would say, unnecessary. You should have seen it at least once, but I don't think you have to do it back to back. Because let me tell you this watching this movie and having the space to experience it on its own, I just had so much joy. I had so much laughter, but holy shit, I also had so much uncontrollable sobbing. This movie got me twice. And I'm wondering now if that's why I have this nasty, persistent headache that will not go away.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

Oh no, not the emotional headache.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

Sobbing, sobbing will do that to you. I think they leaned, it feels like they leaned heavier into that this time than they did in the first movie. Or maybe it's just the way that they did it kind of struck more and was more effective, but it it definitely hit those points really strongly. I think they they had a lot of fun here. And so I'm watching it, I'm staying with it. We're talking about timey whimey kind of stuff. That's a Doctor Who reference for those of you into time travel. It's interesting watching the first one, watching this one, how how much later is it than the last time we covered it? It's not that you have to remember all the details, but I think the feeling of it sticks with you, of this type of movie where it's just it's not too somber, it's not too dark, it's kind of silly. They can do some pretty gnarly stuff on the screen, and in those moments you're not even worried about it because the rest of the film is so interesting. So I think they really had a good balance.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

Yeah, I think this movie definitely feels a little bit different than the first one. I feel like the first one, looking back on it, maybe felt like it was more just like not taking itself as serious, just having a good time, whereas this one really hit on some emotional levels as well and got a little bit more complex with the story. But between the both of them and definitely watching this one, one of the earliest feelings or thoughts I had was, and it came right back to me again from when I even watched the first film, is the fact that there are all these like super distinctive moments that happen throughout this otherwise random ass fucking day that keeps looping, right? Like obviously it's her birthday and things like that in the first one, but like man, I'm just thinking of my day-to-day, and nothing like this happens in my normal day-to-day. Like, I don't see these distinctive moments of people popping out at me or specific, but maybe you just don't notice them. Maybe you just don't notice them. But that's one of the first things that popped in my head. I'm watching these opening scenes.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Well, 100% you just don't notice them. Even in the first movie, she barely notices some of the stuff that even happens. And then you know, the more the movie cycles on, the more it starts becoming predictable. And oh my gosh, now I'm just thinking, if I were stuck in this loop, there are a couple people I can think of that I run into just about every day at work who have these catchphrases, and if I had to loop with those catchphrases, ooh, that'd be rough.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

Is one of them living the dream?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Yeah, yeah. Actually, you know what? One of them is. That's always that.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

That's always one of them. How are you doing today, man? Living the dream, bruh.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Okay, but looking back into this movie, a couple things really stood out to me. One, they went further than Happy Death Day. And when you have the balls to go as deep as you do on some of the logistics behind this loop, you play a very dangerous game. It can be overwhelming, it can go right over your head, it could be so poorly explained that your typical time paradox nerd would be like, oh, that's absolutely not right. So I think you have to walk a very fine line here. But I think they handled it well. I think they went just far enough into giving some jargon without making it feel like it was just running the whole movie. One thing that also did surprise me though, Dre is played by the same woman from the 2022 Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

SPEAKER_03 8:34

Holy shit.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

And I saw this movie before I saw that one. And man, what I didn't like her in that one. I didn't like her character. She played the character exactly as it was supposed to be played, but holy shit.

SPEAKER_03 8:46

Damn, I did not connect those dots. I gotta say though, I was not expecting this movie to play so heavily into those time loops. You know what I mean? Like, I was not expecting this movie to go that complex with the story, the way that it did, and how it tied directly into the first one as well as it did. I think that was one of the more surprising aspects. I was kind of sitting in just remembering this kind of silly fun time from watching the first one and thinking I was gonna get the exact same vibe from this movie. And in a lot of ways, I did get that vibe, but in a lot of ways, it it required a lot more attention to detail that I didn't feel like I needed in the first one. And I think that maybe the disappointing thing about that is that it took away from the horror aspect of the film and leaned further into the sci-fi theme. So just depending on, you know, what your vibe is at the time, what you're really in the mood for, what you're looking for, you know, just know that maybe some of those horror slasher feels got stripped away a little bit. That might be fair.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

The sci-fi stuff is fun. They did go further into it. I don't know that they needed to necessarily, and I'm the sci-fi kind of person here, but the thing that caught me off card was like they were able to expand the cast or at least who we focused on in the cast without it being jarring. And so we were able to like add new players here, go down these other stories with them, but we didn't take away from the main story and from our main character in any way. And so it made things really interesting. When we get to the spoiler zone, there's like one thing that I want to discuss that I thought was a plot hole, and maybe you all can correct me. But the rest of it, though, I think it made it fun to have these other people in play and to have these other characters also living miniature versions of the first movie, which was really interesting as well. Like the first couple minutes of this film, you're like, okay, we're gonna do this again, but we've got a different face. No, no, it's just a little taste, it's a little reminder of what we went through.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

For sure. And to your point, John, you talk about how maybe some of this strips away the horror and leans more into sci-fi. But the biggest thing that this movie has to do is just remain fun. So when you walk into Happy Death Day, I don't think there was really anything barring one moment in the original Happy Death Day film that had the creepy slasher atmosphere. I'm thinking about one scene where she's talked by the killer under the bridge. Anything else was more funny than anything.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

And when you look at this movie, it has enough of the slasher in it to still tick the box from me. It feels very horror comedy. And now when the added with the added element of horror sci-fi comedy, I think it does pretty well to just play into its own genre. But of course, this is something that's very safe for you to watch if you're among friends who can't really deal with horror movies.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

Yeah, that's absolutely true. It's not a scary film by any means, maybe for a teeny bopper or something like that, but definitely not for the average viewer. I think there is little here that will visually scare you. Definitely not enough jump scare tactics to really get you from that angle either. I think, in fact, man, I think the most frightening thing about this movie was the thought of having to do so much math.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

Totally agreed. Hate math. Right? Math is my probably one of my worst subjects. Took me out of computer science because I didn't realize how much math there was in there. But math is also not fun. And this movie was.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

When I think about how many different versions of myself I could have been had I not been so bad at math.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Could have been an astronaut.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

A lot of career changes before I even graduated high school. My dreams stop being dreams because of math.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Parents get your kids into math, ASAP.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

It's the whole, when am I ever gonna need this shit when you're in school? And then as it turns out, folks, you do need math sometimes. It helps.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

But you're right that it's not a scary movie, and I give it credit for that because it's in the horror genre. It is a slasher, but it doesn't hurt to watch. You know, I think we went through superhero movies being really gray and dull and boring and action-y and serious for a long time. And then they remembered, oh yeah, superheroes are comic book characters typically. We should probably have a little fun with this. They should have a little fun. And so I love that in this one here, the characters start having fun with the loops, and the story shows us, you know, some interesting emotional things, but in reality, that sense of fun never goes away. We have some horrible deaths that you're gonna talk about, too. They're really gnarly, but those some of those moments were actually the lightest of the film in a way. And so it's interesting how they were able to kind of go back and forth here. But yeah, you do take away from any kind of fear you might have for the characters, you know, or for yourself, of course, in that way.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Okay, and realistically here, think about what you just said, Mac. The deaths in this movie are gnarly, but they are some of the lightest moments in the movie.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

How the fuck do you manage that?

SPEAKER_03 13:49

It does.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

And listen, this movie is very much an echo of its predecessor. When you look at these two movies together, you're not gonna feel there's a lot of different, it's really just a good expansion. So, in terms of being a sequel, it's not like they reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but they continue the story in a really fun way. And this movie does you know owe a lot to its predecessors in terms of the movies of time travel and other dimensions that came before it. I mentioned up in the top half of the episode, Back to the Future 2, you get that movie as well. So this isn't gonna be the freshest, most original thing you're ever gonna see, but it is a fun application in the horror genre.

SPEAKER_03 14:29

Yeah, I I think that's it right there. I think that this movie does a pretty good job unraveling its story throughout its like murky and convoluted timeline. I think it it's definitely different, maybe in its approach to its own story. I think it definitely draws strength from those time loop ideas that we got from movies like Groundhog Day. And to your point, Chris, the time travel concepts that were popularized by movies like Back to the Future, whether it be one, two, or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Time travel stuff has been around for a while, whether it's in sci-fi, in horror, in dramas. You mentioned the fact that this relates to a lot of other properties, but I think what it does is treat them as established canon to build upon. And so I think anytime you're getting into time travel now, you just have to assume the viewer is probably familiar with at least some of the basics, and you can't just make it up all again. Sure, it's fun to come up with a mechanism for how it happens, but don't dwell on it too much because that people are gonna nitpick it, to be honest. And that's boring to sit down with somebody who tears apart the mechanics of time travel because none of it's real. So it's more interesting, I think, to just move on with the story, keep things going, do fun stuff with those mechanics. But yeah, it feels like the first one, it feels like a good expansion, not like that weird scrubs thing they try to do, bringing it back after the series ended. It just feels like no, they they made another season. It's good.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

I will say though, I think I had more fun getting to the end of this movie than I actually had with the ending of the movie itself. Not that the ending is bad, I think the ending was fine. It's pretty much what you would expect to happen, I would say. I think it everything kind of falls into place one way or another, not too surprising. I think that the film definitely leaves some loopholes open for a potential expansion in this universe, but we'll see if we ever get one.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Yeah, man, this movie just has a nice, clean, wholesome ending, and I'm not mad at it. It felt like a safe landing after the turbulent emotions that you feel throughout the whole experience. You're laughing one minute, sobbing the next. And again, I'm not saying that everyone's gonna sob watching this movie. I am saying that if you're a little tender and if you have had recent loss in your family, maybe this is one of those things that's gonna be cathartic for you and it's going to bring up some emotions that you want to process or reflect on some more. I thought the ending was safe. I thought it was fun. It is disappointing that when this movie released, it didn't make as much financially as they would have liked. So while Christopher Landon has had plans for a third film, it was on the books, then off the books again, and then it was recently confirmed in 2023 to be in the process of being pitched to studios. So we'll see if it ever comes to light. I personally would love to see more Tree Geldman.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Yeah, I think the ending here is good. It's weird though, because Sean, you mentioned it, the build-up is a lot of fun. Getting there is a lot of fun. When we make it to the actual ending, I felt kind of torn because I felt like this is cool, this is fun, this is good for our characters, but it also feels like the type of ending you see before you don't see any more. Like there's not gonna be a sequel. It feels like we needed a kind of wrap-up that leaves things open, but also we know there's a risk that no more is gonna come from this. And that to me was kind of a bummer because I guess it matches reality, which is unfortunate. So I I hope we do get more because the concept is fun, these characters are great, the writing is a lot of fun. You could really do a lot from here. But if they choose not to go any further, it's a little bittersweet.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Well, we'll see how all this commentary shapes up into some scores. But before we actually rate this movie, Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_03 18:11

Well, for a title like Happy Death Day, I'm sorry to disappoint all you gore lovers out there, but this one doesn't have much of any gore, despite all the deaths that we get in this movie. So it's actually pretty impressive the lack of gore when looking at how many deaths we have in this movie. So it's gotta earn something, but it's not earning anything higher than a very low gore score.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

It's the Blum How special. And what about the Animal Report?

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Look, it's all good in the hood.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Let's go ahead and get into our ratings. And happy death day to you from 2019. Was it a hack or a slosh?

SPEAKER_02 18:43

This one was just more fun, and I'm here for that. You know, I've mentioned in the past that I like this newer style of film that's got a lot of comedy, that feels really polished, that has, I don't know, just characters that you can not necessarily care about too much, but also not hate looking at for an hour and a half. And there's something to be said about Blumhouse doing all the work that they've been doing, making this kind of film. They've had some other stuff that, you know, doesn't hit for me. But there's other films I think about, you know, we've talked about in the past, like Freaky was a lot of fun. Obviously, the first installment of this franchise was a good time as well. There's other time travel movies recently that have come out on Netflix that have been interesting, but I don't know what it is about the 2020s, but we can make a good, well-written, polished horror comedy that doesn't take too long to get through and doesn't suck the joy out of everything. I'm impressed every time I meet one of these. You know, I think babysitters aren't the only ones that can have some good horror fun here, and I appreciate it for that. The characters here, we expanded on the cast in terms of who we're gonna be focusing on, and I found that enjoyable. And I think the emotions that we get into, they're worth it. It could be a lot for some, and but I think by the end of it, you feel like you've earned something. For all that, I'm gonna say it's a slash.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

I'm gonna go ahead and jump in here because I'm absolutely kicking myself. At the very beginning of this recording session, folks, we sat here and you know, connected during our B-side discussion about all this time travel property that we see out in media. We talked about video games, TV shows. Mac went on about Star Trek, talked about some movies, and I completely fucking forgot about the glory that was Totally Killer.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

I know, I was just thinking that as he was mentioning it.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Holy shit, how terrible. But listen, happy death day and happy death day to you walked so Totally Killer could run and have its day. This movie is fun, this movie is wholesome. This movie is the perfect amount of safe ground that you need to set to be able to bond with your friends who don't like horror movies, but they are willing to give a little something a shot. This is one of those really special movies where it's equal parts hilarious and equal parts cathartic, and you can dig as deep as you need to to find something more substantial there. This movie has the Blumhouse polish. Tree Geldman is a final girl for the decade, and it's nothing more than a slash.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

You know, I can definitely talk about some of the things that I didn't like about this movie. You know, I don't think most of the acting, despite one character, is super great in this movie. I think this movie in some ways lacked a certain severity that I would have liked to see. But I think that the good outweighed the bad in this one. I honestly do. It's a fun movie. We're we're all talking about it. I really enjoyed the way this movie picked up the torch from where the first movie left off and really just twisted us through a time bending tale of some good sci fi horror fun, honestly. It has that teenage slasher feel to it, it has this time traveling sci fi vibe as well. It's pretty lighthearted, but still finds a way to hook you into some, you know, into That same story, but bringing us like maybe deeper into that story and really proving that there was more to tell, right? Proving that there was a little bit more to tell here. And it's not just one of those sequels that's trying to ride the coattails of its predecessor, like we see in so many horror sequels. The sequel hops dimensions and really plays like a mad scientist with its own timeline. That's the best way I can really put it. It's just a fun movie with an interesting story. It gives nods to some of my childhood favorites we've been talking about, like Back to the Future. And I don't want to steer you wrong, right? Like we're really hyping this movie right now. It has flaws. This movie is not perfect, but it's definitely worth a watch. It's fun, it's lighthearted, especially if you liked the first one. So this one's a slash, no matter what alternate universe you might be in.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Well, with that, happy death day to you has earned a universal slash. But there's a lot more to talk about when we return from our break. So if you've already seen it before, please let us know what you would rate it by joining the conversation in our Discord server. You can find that link in our show notes. But if you haven't seen it yet, you can also follow the other link in our show notes to see where you can find it streaming right now. When we return from our break, we'll dive deeper into the spoilers on territory, unpack some of what those flaws were, and then try to figure out what this plot hole Matt was mentioning was.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

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SPEAKER_00 24:25

We have a lot to unpack here, but before we get into the specifics of our ratings, let's go through those kills.

SPEAKER_03 24:31

You know, you gotta have a good time with a kill count like this because it allows us to see some of these characters die more than once and in a variety of different ways. And this movie is interesting. We have an official 17 on-screen deaths in this one, but an unofficial 25 if we're counting some of the deaths or kills that are mentioned in the film, but we don't actually get to see on screen. And when you have a movie where our main character kills herself almost as many times as our antagonist's kill count is, you gotta have something to talk about. So I gotta ask, which one of these kills looped you in?

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Okay, I'm gonna pull the band-aid right off. Her in a bikini jumping from a plane just to flip off the camera in front of Carter and Danielle's makeout session on the bench. Iconic.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

So good.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Again, that's the petty suicide.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

It's so good. You know what? I think I read Jessica Roth actually, that's her favorite kill as well in the film. And apparently that kill wasn't even in the original plans for the film. It was just like added when they were doing some reshoots.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Yeah, it just seemed a like you could tell that shit wasn't intentional. I mean, first off, the even the look of that scene felt really fucking off and really out of nowhere, and honestly, a little above budget. However, she did look like she was having a hilarious time filming that.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

They were having a good time and we were having a good time, and that's good all around. I think my favorite kill goes to perhaps uh a concern of my own, and that is the MRI kill with the screwdriver, because I've had plenty of MRIs in my life, and every time I'm doing that, they're always like, Oh, you checked everything? Good, hop on in. And I'm like, what? But what what what if there's like a coin that I didn't notice that I because I never have coins, but what if I had one in my pocket and I forgot about it and it flies out and like hits me in the eyeball or something? And oh, I'm always thinking about that. I'm like, what about the grommet on like a pair of pants or something? Like, I don't know. In reality, like it's never been an issue, and I always thoroughly check all my stuff, but I love that this gave us the worst possible situation, which was being pressed against the MRI and then having an item magnetized into your chest. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Matt, you are so afraid of getting final destination.

SPEAKER_03 26:52

I mean, once you watch some of this shit, you gotta be a little paranoid.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

The sounds at these machines make anyone uneasy, okay? That's it's there. And you're sitting in there and you're imagining something feels weird, like something feels wrong. I don't know what it is, but it, you know, and it's really just nerves because you have your head in a in a machine for however long. So I love that they had a play on that here because it's not a real fear, it's not like I actually, you know, have a phobia and get really worried, but it it executed well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

I actually had a lot of fun with the tree drinking the drain cleaner in the aisle at the at the grocery store because it was so ridiculous. And the fact that there was the dude just walking past the aisle that happened to be looking as she was just like, oh, whatever, cheers and starts downing this stuff, and the the reaction that that dude had, man. You know, we just gotta get it done. Going down an aisle, grab some poison, drink it, chug it, you're good off yourself. But there was some to your point, Mac, when you were talking about like how some of the shit was pretty gnarly, but probably some of the most lighthearted parts of the movie, you're absolutely right because there was like a severity aspect that was lifted from most, if not all, of these suicide kills, especially that you just kinda had a good time with unexpectedly.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

And that's all credit to Jessica Roth because holy shit, anybody else could have really made this go sideways.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

This is very true. Yeah, it's hard to show something like this in media and not be worried about doing harm to the viewer. And I think they were able to do it here. Sure, like it's a little uncomfortable watching her make these decisions, but at the same time, they do it so fast and they make such a light time of it because they know that she's coming back. So they kind of power their way through it. So it seems kind of okay by by the end of that segment. And even when she's falling and then falls right into bed, I was like, okay, that was a clean transition. I I did really like that.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

For sure. And you know, all these deaths aside, I really want to pause and give some credit to a this entire team effort for the seamless continuity between these two films. But damn, what a task this script supervisor must have had trying to keep continuity between literally this entire fucking movie's worth of scenes, but then also in addition to its predecessor when we're reliving the time loops from the previous film.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

That was perfect. And the loop that we have at the beginning was a really nice nod to all of that as well. So I don't know who's responsible for making this kind of stuff happen. I know it's really challenging to make movies in general because if they yell cut, you have to remember what you were doing, which way you were looking, which way your arm was, all that kind of stuff to make sure you have that continuity. That's that's crazy. I would not be able to remember anything like that. So, like you said, Chris, hats off to them. But I just love that that first scene that we get with our new character, in reality not new, but formally a side character, stepping through his own bit of a time loop with the trash coming out of the car and all this kind of stuff. I just want to know, do you do you just do all the similar scenes at the same time? Like, do you film the one getting out of the car and going that way and getting out of the car and knowing what's going on? Do you just do them back to back to back to back so they're all seamless, or do you film them out of order? I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

All I know is that I'm almost certain most movies are filmed completely out of order, just doing certain scenes. And I gotta imagine making a movie, acting in a movie is a completely different experience than watching the movie. You know what I mean? Because it isn't, it is almost never like one straight shot. You know what I mean? It's always like, well, we're gonna get some of these ending shots done way up here, or this person's only scheduled till here, so we're gonna get this person in these scenes that are gonna go for the whole movie, get those out of the way so we can meet that deadline and then go on with the rest of the film, you know?

SPEAKER_02 30:48

It's wild to imagine how the sausage is made. And honestly, it doesn't ruin it. It just makes it more impressive, the fact that they're able to like achieve all of this. I think we've mentioned the polish that we get with this movie, though, and how it looks clean, and they did a good job with that. The whole time machine thing and the effects that we have with that, they're cool, totally unnecessary. I think it's totally over the top for this kind of genre here, but it works, it looks fun, it looks silly, it looks like a time machine, but it also doesn't look like it has any sort of crystal needed or any sort of trash needed for fuel. And I'll give it credit for having a time machine that just looks like a machine.

SPEAKER_03 31:24

Yeah, for sure. I I'll tell you a couple of things that I really enjoyed about this film. I loved the fact that they had to rebuild the sets from scratch for the parts that were inside the university hospital because they couldn't use the one they used last time. So kudos to them for the extra effort with the set design there. That just is good. They could have easily been like, well, let's redesign what we're doing here and not do the hospital scenes, you know what I mean, and just go in a different direction. But they took that shit as a challenge and they made it happen. So that's a kudos to the filmmakers here. But I loved some of the visuals that we get that were the subtle nods to Back to the Future in this movie, because just like how the first film plays heavily into Groundhog Day with the legend Bill Murray, the sequel plays heavily into Chris, you said it, Back to the Future 2. And we see that in the scene where we get the tree trimming stuff going on, and we see the logo Biff's Tree Removal, which is a nod, obviously, to Biff in Back to the Future. We also get a clock tower scene in one of the suicide attempts or suicide successes, rather, where she just falls off the clock tower building. And then we also get this moment when Tree drives into the power plant to cut off the power, and she's hitting the generator at exactly 88 miles per hour, which is another nod to Back to the Future. So you gotta love some of these nods that the movie gave us.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

A lot of blinking you'll miss at moments, right? And none that are very let me hit you right over the head with it. Biffs is a pretty out there the clock tower, you would think, feels super apparent when you're discussing it, but when you're watching the movie, it's just that could be absolutely lost on you.

SPEAKER_03 33:09

It's quick.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Like, I can't think of the last time that I saw Back to the Future 2, and I only noticed those things because I heard about them or read about them after I saw this movie for the first time.

SPEAKER_03 33:22

I could tell you exactly the last time I saw Back to the Future 2, and it was when I was getting the Bella Legosi tattoo on my arm because as I was sitting there for fucking 11 straight fucking hours, I watched all the fucking Back to the Futures one, two, and three.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

We're built different because I was watching the menu and then some other bullshit horror movies.

SPEAKER_03 33:45

Not my choice. This was my tattoo guy, it was his house. He was like, hey man, I'm gonna watch you you like back to the future, cool man, that's what's going on, and that's what I, you know, who am I? Be like, you know, let me pick.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

I love that that guy showed you the back to the future movies. Katie showed me a bunch of random movies. Again, like uh we watched ginger snaps, we've seen the menu, we watched a bunch of other shit. But then she also showed you the Greasy Strangler.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

Yeah, to be fair, when I got my tattoo with Katie, I did get introduced to the Greasy Strangler, and that is a gift that well, it's a gift. It's a gift, we'll put it that way.

SPEAKER_02 34:23

So much time travel goodness in the world. And I'm gonna go back once again to the the start of our film when we meet each other in the dorm, but this time everyone kind of knows what's going on. Well, minus one, but our two loopers figure out that the other ones know what's going on and then quickly get to work to try to figure out uh-oh, what do we need to do to stop this or reverse it or prevent it or whatever it is. I just love they whipped some really great one-liners back and forth, lots of stuff going on comedy-wise. And I think that's where this movie excels, is when it has its comedy moments and its one-liners, especially between these college-age kids. Usually the writing for college-age kids is bad. And so when you have a film that's able to make them funny and humorous to somebody who's basically 40, kudos. I love that.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

Yeah, there's a lot of really fun moments in this movie, and I'm just trying to like think back on some of these moments that I thought were really fun. I obviously love when we get the early scene when first it's just Ryan's apparent loop, and it's the moment where he's like kind of getting stalked, or thinks he's getting stalked, and he's going through through the rooms in the hallways, or whatever, he's in the lab or whatever it is at the time, and it's suspenseful, right? And you get the fake jump scare, and then finally he gets like killed and stabbed, right, by the babyface mass killer, or whatever. I think it was one of the slashiest of slashiest feelings that we get in this film, and I really loved that for what it was, but there's so many fun, silly moments. There's the moment where the scene where that follows the recap segment, right? The previously on Happy Death Day, where Ryan goes to Tree, and there's the moment where he feels like after he's told what's going on, where he just thinks he's still dreaming, and says it's like inception, a dream within a dream, and he lays down. It's just the way that that was delivered was kind of a laugh out loud moment. It was really fun.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

God, yeah, there are so many things in this movie that are fun. That opening scene in particular is just so fucking good. And I think about even Ryan as a character, he really shined in this movie, he really stepped it up from just being a background figure in the last film. But let me just suck the fun right out of this because my favorite scene is the first one that made me cry, and that was her showing up to her birthday and then realizing that her mom was alive and seeing her mom for the first time. Her mom that we only really get in like a photo or a memory in the previous film. Oh my gosh, what an emotional sucker punch! And it's the way that her relationship with her mom underscores this entire movie and just colors it completely differently. We think about the basketball game, she has this whole pause and reflection that the time loop was completely unrelated to her mom. And you think about her realization of it's just being Ryan and these kids' experiments. She felt so connected to her mom in the first film, only to feel disconnected and then to have the realization of what this means, and she has another opportunity to have that whole dynamic and then to realize that you're living someone else's life, and to have the chance to say goodbye to her mom, to have some borrowed memories. That whole dynamic is just terrible but beautiful at the same time. But when you first see that scene and you see that emotion in Jessica Roth's eyes, it just really took me for a ride.

SPEAKER_02 37:58

It's a tearjerker. It's a good one though, because it does play into the real things that real humans experience. I think anyone who's lost someone knows that you quite often dream about them and you dream that they're talking to you or visiting you or seeing you in your modern life. And so to have this kind of a moment in a movie, you can relate to it. I think almost all of us can. And it does hit, even though it's a horror comedy, even though it's just a silly movie or whatever, they treated it well and they paused and they let us have a moment to see that she was feeling and thinking just like we would do. And that I gotta appreciate them for that.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

For sure. I will highlight though, you know, we've talked a lot about in deaths, right? Tree committing suicide in different ways, and that whole it's like a whole montage segment of different things that are happening back to back to reset the day as we're just flash forwarding through the story to get to the climax. But I'll tell you one part of that that we haven't talked about, and I love that montage, that segment, that scene, whatever you want to call it, for the very end where we see Tree falling back into bed. And I think it's very clever because the song that's playing in the background is Paramore's Hard Times. And if you've ever seen that music video, it's the lead singer Haley Williams falling slowly back into bed from the roof, right? And so there's like almost like a tie or nod or callback to that song, obviously, because it's intentionally playing that song in the background. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, she's even wearing similar attire to what Tree wore in this movie. So kind of cool.

SPEAKER_02 39:32

Not gonna lie, I was not upset at hearing some paramour. I'm not like the world's biggest fan. I don't know the songs or anything like that, but I do enjoy it and I feel like it fits the the cat.

SPEAKER_03 39:41

Yeah, it's fun.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

Gonna be honest, the music was totally lost on me. Which I guess is not a bad thing. This movie the music disappeared into the movie and it maybe accentuated enough where I didn't it didn't stand out to me, but I do know the moment that you're talking about because wow, that looked so fucking cool.

SPEAKER_03 40:02

It feels like a music video moment, you know what I mean? Just like imagine like a three-minute music video of someone just like falling slowly back into bed.

SPEAKER_02 40:11

For some reason, it also feels a little bit evanescence, and that is probably aging.

SPEAKER_03 40:16

Falling from like the rooftop or whatever that music video was, right?

SPEAKER_02 40:19

Yes, that one.

SPEAKER_03 40:21

I'm with you, I'm tracking.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

Is now a good time to ask about the potential plot hole or maybe just my misunderstanding, because we have two Ryan's at the start of the film. We have one tied up in our main prime dimension. We go into this other dimension, we figure it out, we make our way back, but what happened to the other Ryan? Did fixing it simply make him go back to his other dimension? This was a question for me.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

Yeah, theoretically, I they don't really explain it, and I don't think they're really asking for us to look too far into it, but I do have to imagine that he would have been sent back to his original timeline, hopefully, or at least to some other timeline.

SPEAKER_02 41:00

It's just weird because he was the killer at the start of the film, and then okay, he's gone now, you fixed it, all done, no worries. It's it was kind of weird. I mean, it's not important, you know, it's really not important, but at the same time, it I hung on to it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

Well, listen, there's some multiverses, there's some multi-dimensions. Who fucking knows?

SPEAKER_03 41:19

I think what is interesting is the machine thing that they were building, right? It was called Sisyphus, but actually it could tie to some Greek mythology if we're really looking back on it, because I believe there is a story about a dude named Sisyphus who escaped death and as his punishment, when he gets to the afterlife, is forced to roll a boulder up a hill every day for eternity. Unfortunately for this dude, though, he was never able to get the to the top of the hill because something would always cause the boulder to roll back down. Where at least in this movie, we see Tree deal with a little bit of this, but ultimately finds a way to break the cycle at some point and kind of end this loop of eternity.

SPEAKER_00 42:11

Some deep shit.

SPEAKER_03 42:12

It's deep, man. We got into some history here. It was emotional, fun, time travel, sci-fi horror, man. It's like way more complex than you should be getting from a movie that's like that's as zany as this one, man.

SPEAKER_02 42:26

I'm curious where they're gonna take it if they do make a third installment, because I would love for them to have the realization that this isn't her universe or isn't her reality, and that she made it to one that was almost hers, but not quite. That would be like so many episodes of sci-fi shows forever, lots of Stargates, for instance. But yeah, that that could be a fun take on things because I I just love like seeing her reactions to things and seeing how easily she can handle stuff, but still has her moments of running and screaming.

SPEAKER_00 42:58

Yeah. You know, hey, this just stood out to me now. How does she know in that dimension she ended up in that that guy that she passed by is actually gay?

SPEAKER_03 43:07

True.

SPEAKER_00 43:07

This could be the dimension where he's straight.

SPEAKER_03 43:10

You never know. There are some differences. Could be. It could be. It's wild. Although I also think there's some and I know it's the point, but there are some dumb moments for some of these characters, and it did lead to some giggles, some laughs out loud, but there were some dumb moments. I'm thinking of like the I'm thinking of Danielle specifically, right? She had some really dumb moments. There was the whole Anne Frank Helen Keller mix-up, which was absolutely fucked up, but also kind of hilarious. I'm just gonna say it. And there was who said it? The the whole I think acting blind is harder than actually being blind.

SPEAKER_01 43:50

Again.

SPEAKER_03 43:50

It's Danielle again, man. Danielle for the win for dumbest character in a movie. Holy shit. Some glorious statements.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Was all her dumb bullshit, but also good for her for figuring out a way to get those keys to them and then back in time.

SPEAKER_03 44:06

It is true. She came in clutch when it mattered most. And so you gotta give her credit where credit's due. But holy shit, there were some lines in this movie that were just ridiculous and off the wall.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

It's great that they had a buffoon character, but I love that they made it somebody who wasn't the main character because that's like all of TV right now. The main character's a buffoon, or their best friend's a buffoon, and they're always doing stupid things that nobody would actually do. To have it be a side character that is like comedy relief in a way, great choice. You need that comic relief, but they also still make her functional. You know, she's not just so completely buffooned that she can't get anything done. That whole thing with the professor and the horrible accent and pretending to be both blind and French, that was weird. She said gracias at some point, man. I just I just love it how over the top it was.

SPEAKER_00 44:57

So good. Okay. Speaking of Danielle, oh my gosh, her fucked up relationship with Carter. It begs this question. Tree and Carter, big fans of them. Really love that they get together, love that they stay together, really enjoy them. I have zero complaints about them. But I do have the question. She has this conversation with her mom, and I do think that she made the right decision. She can't live in the past, she has to live for her future. But does she really think Carter's the one? I mean, listen, he's fucking great. Don't get me wrong, but also they're in college, and some people get together in college age and they last forever, and that's fantastic. But also, many people do not.

SPEAKER_03 45:42

This is true. It's a valid question, it's a valid point. We don't know. The odds are against them for sure, statistically. But man, the story that they have to tell their kids or whoever down the line of how did you guys fall in love? You know, I mean, how more how much more romantic is it that you were stuck in a time loop together and kept waking up in bed together until finally you fell in love?

SPEAKER_00 46:13

Until finally you grew on each other. That's what that sounds like, Sean. I think you could maybe describe it a little bit, a little bit more. I think happy death day to you.

SPEAKER_03 46:22

I didn't say it as good as she said it. She said it, and I was like, oh, that's cute. But like I said it, it sounds fucking weird.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Yeah. Happy Death Day to you, I think, gives a little bit more of a sense of agency, where I would believe the romanticism in like she actually made this choice.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:40

This she didn't just stumble into this. This isn't just a natural consequence of breaking or existing in this loop. She had the moment to have her mom back, and she chose the reality where she is the person that she's been made from her grief and from her pain. But also she chose the life where she could see what happens with Carter, which is great. Listen, I I love Carter. Carter's cute. Carter's like best boyfriend. But also, girl, I don't know. I just feel like maybe we could have spared the how do you know he was the one question.

SPEAKER_02 47:13

How however, that is pretty realistic to college-age kids who make these kind of decisions all the time, thinking that they know what's best for themselves for the future.

SPEAKER_00 47:21

For sure. I guess it's just it's just that it's irrelevant if he's the one or not. Because you're making the decision for the right reasons. You're choosing your future instead of living in your past. And I get that. It's just, you know, him may or may not be the one that's irrelevant.

SPEAKER_03 47:36

You just never know. You never know. She did try to choose the other life first, though. She just didn't just didn't work out. Yeah. And re and then realized through trial and tribulations that she did have to actually take the road and say goodbye to her mom, which is very, very tough.

SPEAKER_02 47:52

To lose someone twice. They did a good job here with the other characters though, too. Like the characters that aren't in it quite as much. I think Samar was pretty hilarious, the churros thing. I love a good churro. And so his his obsession with them throughout the film was just enough to make it funny without being too much to be just boring, honestly. And Dre, also a fantastic character, loved that as well. So I think we have a good mixture of personalities here. It's not quite as silly as like Big Bang Theory, but it's nice to have these people because we're gonna see them over and over and over again. So it's cool to have some people that aren't jocks, cheerleaders, main characters, whatever. It's fun to have the nerds in play.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

Yeah, it is fun to have them in play. Let me tell you what's not fun to have in play, though. And this is actually my worst part of the movie. I say this in I say this as if it's gonna really ruin the experience. It fucking doesn't. It's fine. But Dr. Butler and his wife and his wife being in on the fucking murders, it's like okay. Ridiculous. This is just the dimension where everything's more campy. I couldn't have done without that.

SPEAKER_02 48:56

Very soap opera.

SPEAKER_00 48:58

Yeah. Just okay, Dr. Butler, sure. Dr. Butler's wife being in on it and then getting got come on, guys.

SPEAKER_03 49:06

Tough. It's a tough sell. It really is. And you know, Mac, I think you actually said this earlier, but I do think that, and I don't know if you think it's the worst part, but I do think that the worst part of this movie is surprisingly the ambitious and complex storyline. I think we don't need to go through the crazy alternate universes. I don't think it was a hundred percent necessary. I think maybe we could still play into it, but not go so in depth that we have multiple different, like multiverses of shit that's going on here. Because I do think we departed, like I said earlier, from the fun slasher film that didn't take itself too seriously, and we dove headfirst into a much more complex and time-twisting story that's filled with those alternate universes. And I think because of that, this movie may get mixed reviews. And I think we already also mentioned that you know, Box Office Wise didn't do as well as anticipated, and we also know that we were supposed to get another film per the director, but maybe because of that we're not going to be able to. And so I don't know, guys. Maybe the complex story did a disservice to the film overall.

SPEAKER_02 50:21

I have to give it some negative marks for the end of the movie because that's where I think it jumped the shark. I think having the complex timey whimey stuff, I'm just so used to it with sci-fi that it's like, okay, that's a given almost. But when we make it to the end, and this creation, this machine is now being used by the government, and we want a test subject and we're gonna choose one of our friends. That I feel like was all right, this is the point where they're not gonna make any more of these. As soon as I saw this happen, I was like, all right, that's it leaves it open, but almost too wide open. Whereas before, like coming into this film, we weren't sure how could they go back for more. And then when we see it happen, we're like, okay, there's a way, and we're gonna use that way to come up with a storyline for the film. And it's actually kind of silly and fun and interesting, but the end of this bothers me because it feels like now we're too locked in. It's almost like when in one of these recent predator movies, they decided to have a human predator suit, and that is just a choice that you should never make, and now they can't undo it. They're just gonna have to imagine that that movie never happened, honestly, to move past it. And I think if you wanted a really good third part, you could probably find a way to make it work, but you have you have to work against the ending here. I think you have to almost undo it or ignore it in order to get a really compelling story, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 51:36

Okay. Actually, here's what I want. And I'm gonna watch this movie again. Let me just be clear. But now I want to re-watch this movie. Happy Death Day, Happy Death Day to you and Freaky. And I want part three to be Happy Freaky Day.

SPEAKER_01 51:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:51

I want a time loop with Catherine Newton and Jessica Roth getting into hijinks.

SPEAKER_03 51:57

Little crossover action.

SPEAKER_02 51:59

Actually, honestly, if both of the characters from Freaky knew that they were stuck in a time loop, that could be fun.

SPEAKER_03 52:06

That would be wild for sure.

SPEAKER_00 52:08

I just have a thing for blondes and jackets.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

It could be fun. I do think that this movie is definitely worth a rewatch. I want to watch Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day to You back to back. I think you know, you don't need to with the recap and what this movie gives you if you were just wanting to settle into this one and not have to re-watch another movie first. But I also do think that they pair really well together from a storyline aspect, and I do want to test that out.

SPEAKER_02 52:42

Yeah, this is one of those, kind of like you mentioned with Back to the Future, that back to back is probably a really fun experience and a good way to spend a couple hours and lets you really dive in. I think it would also feel seamless the way they were able to transition between the movies, and so it wouldn't be a jarring first movie to sequel feeling. It would be like um, okay, pause and hit play. That's effectively what we're getting between the movies. So yeah, it would be worth it to watch them.

SPEAKER_00 53:07

Yeah, I bet it would feel as good as watching Halloween 1978 and Halloween 2 1981 back to back. But that's neither here nor there. For now, there you have it, folks. Happy Death Day to you, has earned a universal slash. We've certainly had a robust discussion here, but the conversation about this movie doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_03 53:24

Come check out our alternate universe by supporting the show. Visit patreon.com slash hackerslash where you can enjoy even more of the show, including bonus content with early access, extended episodes with RB sides, movie nominations, and live shows.

SPEAKER_02 53:39

And if you're into timey whimey stuff like I am, particularly the episode of Stargate SG1 in which the crew go back to the 1970s, caught in somewhat of a time loop, but not exactly caught. Anyway, you know, just leave us a five star review wherever you get your podcast. This helps us continue to deliver great content for all you horror fiends out there.

SPEAKER_00 53:57

We'll see you next time, folks, and remember once a douchebag, always a douchebag.

SPEAKER_03 54:02

Dude, did you open spam porn again on the computer?