10 Horror Movies That Just Aren’t Scary

9. Happy Death Day

It chapter 2
Universal

The prospect of relieving a Groundhog Day-esque scenario that constantly ends up in the lead character’s bloody, brutal death should be enough to make a film tense and intriguing. Particularly in how each of these deaths varies from the others, and each new death brings new clues as to who’s behind these murders.

Unfortunately for Happy Death Day, this possibilities-laden premise ends up steering clear of making things too sinister.

Despite being pegged as a horror film, and despite being full of some impressively gory kills, 2017’s Happy Death Day is a horror movie that just again leans too much on comedy – sacrificing any genuine scares, as a result.

As for the sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, that takes the exact same premise and gives the exact same un-scary result.

Neither of these movies are set out as spoof offerings that fully embrace the comedy element of comedy-horror, and so these comedy-horrors end up neither laugh-out-loud funny nor terrifying. Which, given the potential of such a narrative, seems like such a waste.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.