HAPPY DEATH DAY – WIN COPIES ON BLU RAY
Kernel Emma reviewed this surprise horror movie back in October. I labelled it back then “The Cliched Horror Movie we Need Right Now.” And this continues as HAPPY DEATH DAY released this weeks on DVD, Blu Ray and Digital from the fine folks at The Viewing Lounge. To celebrate the release the folks at The Viewing Lounge and Hidden Characters sent us some fun things to get freaky with – and thanks to them we have 5x Copies to giveaway on Blu Ray. Check out how to win after Kernel Emma’s review. All the best……………..Salty.
BY EMMA BISHOP
If you are a slasher genre guru, fourteen years old, and love when history repeats itself, HAPPY DEATH DAY is the film for you. This is an entertaining, easy watch and is unlikely to offend any of its likely audience, although fans of gore will be left disappointed. With a masked villain, scream queen, and characters who live up to all the clichés, the film follows slasher genre conventions in all the right ways. The trashy premise of HAPPY DEATH DAY works to its advantage, and the result is equal parts frightening and fun. HAPPY DEATH DAY will provide any viewer with an entertaining experience, and it includes just enough cheap laughs for a good dose of escapism!

HAPPY DEATH DAY
When college student Tree Gelbman wakes up in a random male’s dorm on her birthday, she has no idea that this is a morning she will experience again. Tree’s birthday is a relatively ordinary college day; she bumps into old dates and arrives at her lecture hungover. It isn’t until evening kicks in that things take a wild turn for the worst. As Tree leaves her sorority house for a party, she encounters a masked villain in a secluded tunnel. Turning slasher tropes on their head, within half an hour of the film starting the “final girl” is dead.
Waking up mid-scream, Tree finds herself back in the dorm. A phone call from her father reminds her that it is, one again, her birthday. Quickly realising all of her experiences are not new, Tree begins to panic. From the conversations shared to the order of events, history repeats itself. This time, however, Tree makes it to the party, where she is stabbed in a hilarious disco death scene.
Starting her day for the third time, Tree realises the only way to stop her reoccurring death is to uncover the identity of her killer. Taking hold of the situation and applying some high school sass, she creates a list and day after day gets closer to finding her killer. While a typical slasher would see Tree’s group of friends eliminated one after another, leaving the final girl to remain, HAPPY DEATH DAY kills its final girl over and over again – with exceptionally comedic results.

LAUGH OUT LOUD. SCREAM OUT LOUD.
Right from the film’s opening scene, HAPPY DEATH DAY is filled with opportunities to laugh. Casting all the roles typically seen in a teen high school film, the characters fit all the classic clichés. We have dumb sorority girls, football heads, and a professor who sleeps with his students – all of whom are trashy enough not to disappoint. With daily death imminent, Tree takes the opportunity to teach her fellow classmates a lesson. From tipping chocolate milk on her sorority sister to showing her seedy professor who’s boss, the cliché humour just keeps on coming. Watching the increasingly annoying, yet somehow likeable, final girl get murdered and continue to save herself is both satisfying and entertaining.

HORROR IN REPETITION, OR NOT.
Initially in doubt about the repetitive structure, HAPPY DEATH DAY’s plot device works perfectly when it comes to providing opportunities for laughs and occasional frights. As history repeats itself the audience becomes more and more relaxed, while the story becomes more and more crazy. Creating twists and turns where it feels the killer’s identity will never be revealed, the audience is taken on a big guessing game – and no one is out of the question. With a noticeable gap in blood and guts, HAPPY DEATH DAY is instead a cat and mouse chase, using comedy as opposed to horror to drive the plot. Those who are looking for plenty of frights will definitely be left disappointed by this film.

IN CONCLUSION:
HAPPY DEATH DAY is an entertaining film that provides exactly what it promises – trashy fun. I found myself enjoying the experience much more than anticipated and certainly had a good laugh. The film could have done with an injection of horror to take it from good to great. Opening to significant success at the box office, I have no doubt that HAPPY DEATH DAY will enjoy plenty of strong weeks in the cinema.
HOW TO WIN A BLU RAY OF HAPPY DEATH DAY:
With special thanks to THE VIEWING LOUNGE and HIDDEN CHARACTERS to win one of the 5 COPIES OF HAPPY DEATH DAY you need to either like and share/ retweet this post on Facebook/Twitter/ Google+/ Pinterest/ LinkedIn/ Flipboard or Instagram (all the links to follow us are on the homepage). Further to this you then need to leave a comment below stating the answer/s to the following questions:
What is your favourite TRASHY HORROR and why? TV or Movies will be accepted.
If you do not have social media then you can still enter, leave your entry below in the comments and then email me at jking@saltypopcorn.com.au telling me you don’t have social media (you still need to enter on the website).
This is a game of skill and selected purely on the thoughts of the judges.
The prizes will be drawn on or before Thursday January 25th. Good luck! Oh, and minor housekeeping – huge apologies for overseas readers, this competition is only available to Australian residents.
YOUR REVIEWER:
Kernel Emma is documentary mad and also loves foreign and arthouse films ! She is Salty’s honorary NooooZealanderrrr writer, but she hides out in Sydney saying sex, fush and chups to everyone’s amusement.
** Images used are courtesy of various sources on Google or direct from the distributor or publisher Credit has been given to photographers where known – images will be removed on request.
You simply cannot beat The Creature From The Black Lagoon!, the glorious build-up with the creature swimming, watching and waiting its chance to snatch Kay, to its eventual shooting and is he, isn’t he dead ending!!! Still waiting for the creature to surface again one day!
It has to be Tucker & Dale Vs Evil, such a horror comedy of errors, I loved it. There was gore but overall the movie made you laugh…
‘The Wicker Man’ starring Nicholas Cage! The fact that he is in this film should set alarm bells off really! The acting is terrible, and it ruins the original story in a multitude of ways!
When i was growing up in the vhs days .I watched and loved The TOxic Avenger. A story about a geek who by accident falls into toxic waste.He transforms into an ugly looking angry super hero.He takes on the thugs and corrupt people in the town and gets the sexy girls.It is a true gross out 80s schlock movie,,.I loved it.
Dead Alive brings me back to being the in video store as a child (my dads friend used to own one) and seeing this movie being played on the tv. It was the dinner scene and from then on I was hooked! This movie had it all!
Does Scream count? Whilst it was almost a spoof taking the piss out of all the other Horror movies I still loved it! I think I’m overdue for a re-watch actually. 🙂
You’re Next. Gruesome, funny and very trashy. It’s like Scream had a baby with Home Alone and it was born with an animal mask.
For all my arthouse pretensions, I love trashy horrror cause it brings back memories of being allowed pick a horror vhs at the weekend when my family went to the video store in the 80s and then watching it late on a Saturday night with my Mum, that was probably before things got ridiculously gory in the late 90s and 2000s though. I reckon we’d have enjoyed Happy Death Day for fitting the selection criteria.
I’m creating a new genre of arthouse trash horror and sticking Cube in it – it’s claustrophobic, nail-bitingly suspensful and with stomach churning special effects, it’s the perfect example of a simple concept expertly executed, and quite terrifying. For all its artiness though, it’s still trashy as you’re basically waiting to see how people will die next and the unnecessary sequels were even moreso.
Gosh I love teen America movies and tv shows, it just goes to show how the world’s culture has been influenced by the US that we can all identify with schools filled with cheerleaders and american football jocks despite being on the other side of the world and I love them all the more when you get to guess which order they’re going to be gruesomely killed in. My favourite trash horror is Peter Jackson’s early movie Dead Alive, it’s gleefully over the top and you’ll be laughing yourself sick while trying not to gag at some of the gruesome craziness going on. It makes you wonder what Peter Jackson would have gotten up to if he hadn’t gone off to Middle Earth
Absolutely anything and everything from Troma Studios, the kings of high-end trash! I think Tromeo and Juliet is my favourite because Lemmy but The Toxic Crusader will always be an incredibly close second. Long live (Googles to check he’s still alive…phew!) Lloyd Kaufman!!
Surely there is only one answer – Brain Dead the splatstick comedy horror from Peter Jackson. A fantastic cult Kiwi film! It’s basically a love story full of zombies, humour, and stomach-churning gore. Best to watch the original as in many countries it is banned and they got shorter cuts with a lot less gore. It also had a big influence on ‘Shaun of the Dead’. Yes there is some poor directing, atrocious acting and the script at times is beyond terrible, but it’s fun fun fun, and such a laugh.
My fave is scream the movie as its both trashy and so scary. As a teen it made me squeam and even a little wary!
Zombie Flesh Eaters for me. Bad but convincing acting, great gore and a wonderful pseudo-sequel to Dawn of the Dead. Fulci outdid himself with this one
100% Zombeavers. So dumb, but so entertaining.
Oh good lord – how did I forget this comp – I went to Japan that’s how – hahaha – humble brag 🙂
Our five winners are……………
Alex Lim
Val C
Moviespoileralerts
Cian
Andrew McCarthy
Can you all please email me your addresses to jking@saltypopcorn.com.au and will send them out in the next few days.
BIG GRATZ and thanks to all who entered!!!