More Death Day Celebrations
Happy Death Day is a fun little twist on the time loop genre, switching things up by adding a slasher element to the fold. The end result is a nicely paced movie with equal amounts of gore and comedy to help it stand out next to others in this genre. If you’ve finished watching this one and are looking for alternatives – fret not! We’ve combed through the archives and saved you the hassle with our top picks for alternate viewing. So without further ado, we present 10 movies to check out when you’ve finished watching Happy Death Day!
Scream
The quintessential teen slasher; Scream is a meta horror movie that not only pokes fun at its own genre, it does so by unironically introducing one of the most memorable killers in slasher history – Ghostface. The story picks up a year after Sidney’s Mother has passed away. Along with her friends, Sidney begins experiencing strange calls from a crazed serial killer. Dressed in a white mask and a large black robe, this mysterious figure is out for revenge and uses phone calls to antagonize the group. As the movie progresses, more of the past is revealed which leads to some really memorable and tense segments. While the sequels end up with varying degrees of quality, the original is undoubtedly a great watch.
Triangle
Triangle is a clever film. It’s a movie that takes a simple mystery and folds it into an origami-shaped brain-twisting puzzle. The story works on several levels, and definitely benefits from repeat watches too. The story revolves around Jess, a young girl who heads off on a yacht with a group of friends. The whole time though she feels like something is wrong, crescendoing into a storm that forces them to seek shelter and refuge on a passing ocean liner. Only, Jess begins to feel a sense of Deja vu, like she’s been on this ship before. With someone seemingly hunting them down, it’s up to Jess and the others to figure out what’s happening before it’s too late. Cleverly written, full of some great reveals and incredibly tense, Triangle is certainly a time loop movie you should check out.
Edge Of Tomorrow
Edge Of Tomorrow is another time-loop movie, this time taking the idea of a big, expansive battlefield and forcing a soldier into reliving this epic battle over and over again. At the center of all this is Major William Cage, who finds himself dropped into what appears to be a suicide mission. Aliens have declared war on Earth and hit the planet with an unrelenting assault. Killed within minutes, Cage slowly starts to memorize the attack patterns and eventually teams up with fellow survivors, determined to try and stop this endless cycle before it’s too late. Edge Of Tomorrow thrives on its big action set pieces, and this movie is a real sci-fi spectacle.
Happy Death Day 2U
This one may be a little obvious but if you really are looking for something similar to Happy Death Day, the sequel is undoubtedly a great place to start. The story this time picks up with Tree Gelbman breathing a sigh of relief and ready to put her awful time-looping nightmare behind her. Unfortunately, it turns out Carter’s roommate Ryan is now claiming to be reliving the same day over and over, as the baby-faced killer appears to be on the hunt again. Unlike the first film though, the sequel does have a tendency to over-explain its own premise, losing some of the shine the original has. However, it’s undoubtedly a fun watch and should appease fans of the original.
Source Code
Suspenseful and mind-bending, Source Code is another time loop movie that takes this concept and cranks up the tension to extreme levels. The story revolves around army captain Colter Stevens, who finds himself working on a special program where his consciousness can be inserted into another human being. However, there’s a catch – it will only allow a person to stay for 8 minutes at a time. That morning, a bomb blast explodes a commuter train outside Chicago, prompting the team to uncover what happened. In order to do so, Colter occupies the body of a teacher on his morning commute; onboard the very same train that’s due to explode. Now it’s up to Colter to figure out who the bomber is and where the bomb is located. Tick tock. This movie is dripping in tension and really puts the thrill in the word thriller. This movie isn’t trying to be anything but an entertaining flick, and that really helps Source Code stand out.
The Butterfly Effect
You could easily poke holes in The Butterfly Effect’s logic but there’s no denying that the film makes for an enthralling watch. Like Inception, this movie takes a unique idea and completely runs with it, producing a whole world around our protagonist that’s incredibly rewarding to watch play out. The story itself revolves around Evan Treborn who suffers blackouts during significant events of his life. As he grows up, he starts to remember these key moments, which shape the man into the person he becomes. Thrilling, exciting and full of neat ideas, this is the quintessential thriller for a real mind-bending ride.
The Babysitter
If you’re looking for a solid teen horror movie, Netflix Original The Babysitter certainly has some stand-out moments. The story revolves around Cole, a boy who’s in love with his babysitter Bee. One night, in a moment of defiance, Cole secretly stays up past his bedtime to discover that his babysitter is actually a cold-blooded killer in league with the Devil. Desperate to survive his ordeal, Cole finds himself spending the night evading Bee and her band of killers, who will stop at nothing to prevent Cole from revealing their dark secret. Part comedy horror/part slasher, The Babysitter channels similar vibes to Happy Death Day and does so with a solid screenplay in the process.
Boss Level
Boss Level has absolutely no right to be as good and entertaining as it is. The premise is simple but don’t be fooled by the glossy façade and wise-cracking gags; this film plays on several different layers, each more interesting and clever than the last. Roy Pulver is our time-loop victim this time, a retired special forces officer who finds himself trapped in a never ending death loop with an array of colourful assassins lusting for blood. Despite 140+ attempts to navigate this violent labyrinth of death, Roy has never managed to progress past 12:47pm. Yet through this violent nightmarish day are glimmers of hope. Roy begins to piece together fragments of the time before his infinite-day, and these seemingly insignificant bites of dialogue come into play during the second act of this movie. It’s here where Boss Level starts to move beyond its quirky opener, shifting its central plot-driven question from ‘what’ to ‘why’. This Hulu Original is definitely one of the best films to come out of 2021.
Final Destination
The one that started them all; Final Destination released back in 2000 and brought with it a brand new style of teen slasher. Away from the masked killers came a much more scary, invisible threat in the form of Death itself. This original take on a well-worn genre spawned a whole wave of sequels – each of varying quality. However, the original is undoubtedly a great watch. The movie revolves around Alex Browning and a whole group of high school students, who ready themselves for a trip to Europe. Only, when Alex has a premonition of their plane crashing, his crazy outburst prompts him, his teacher and a group of students to be thrown off the plane before it departs. As fate would have it, their plane does explode but so too does Death’s plan for them to die in the blast. Now, the group find themselves dodging the FBI (who believe they caused the explosion) and Death itself, who sharpens his scythe and tries to kill them in increasingly creative ways every chance he gets. Original, gory and full of some pretty gnarly deaths, Final Destination is a solid choice.
The Final Girls
The Final Girls is one of those movies that perfectly blends comedy and horror together. Armed with some solid characterization and a pacey screenplay, this one should definitely please fans of Happy Death Day. The story revolves around Max and her friends, who reluctantly attend a tribute screening for an infamous 80’s slasher starring Max’s late Mother. Only, in doing so they’re inexplicably sucked into the silver screen. The group soon realize they’re trapped inside this classic movie, forced to team up against the fictional “Camp Bloodbath” counselors. Without giving too much away, a face from Max’s past also happens to be there too, leading to a bloody fight for survival. If you haven’t seen it, The Final Girls is definitely worth a watch and the way it pokes fun at conventional So there we have it, our 10 Movie picks to keep you busy after watching Happy Death Day. What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!
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