10 Slasher Movies That Broke All The Rules

One criticism often understandably levelled at slasher films is that, much like their Italian predecessors giallo movies, the flicks often dwell on the deaths of their almost-anonymous young female stars, objectifying their gruesomely offed bodies whilst offering them little character or agency onscreen. 2017’s Blumhouse offering Happy Death Day has a pretty genius workaround for this problem, and manages to succeed as both a slasher and—of all things—a rom-com as a result.

The film follows Tree, a hard partying college girl who is killed off after the opening fifteen minutes—only to wake up, Groundhog Day style, and repeat her titular death day (which happens to be her birthday, poor girl), until she’s able to uncover her killer and end the loop.

What follows is a surprisingly funny, tender rom-com wherein Tree falls for the frat boy one-night-stand who helps her unmask her killer whilst also growing as a character, becoming a braver, kinder friend as she deals with the death of her mother and her subsequent distance from her father. It’s a great reminder that the versatile template of the slasher film can be a great springboard for stories all of tones—even unexpectedly cute ones.