3 Horror Movies With Time Loops

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I like a movie with a time loop, where a character, or multiple characters, are stuck living the same day, or time period over and over until they learn some sort of lesson or achieve a goal. There's just something about the sheer persistence of the characters in the face of such maddening repetition that appeals to me.

The classic example is Groundhog Day (1993), in which TV weatherman Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) is trapped living the same day over and over, gradually learning to be less selfish as he tries to win the heart of TV anchor, Rita (Andie McDowell). However, while some time loop movies are romantic comedies like Groundhog Day, here I have focused on films where the premise took a scarier turn.

1. Re/Member (2022)



A group of Japanese high school students learn that they have been chosen for a "body hunt". They must find the scattered body parts of a murdered girl and return them to her coffin while hiding from a terrifying figure known as "the red person". The day will replay, with them being killed over and over until the task is completed.

Re/Member is pretty gruesome in parts but is less about the horror and more about lonely teenagers from different social circles becoming friends. Think The Breakfast Club, only with severed limbs.



2.The Final Girls (2015)





Not to be confused with Final Girl (2015), this horror/comedy was directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson (director of The Inbetweeners). It stars scream queen Taissa Farmiga (from American Horror Story and The Nun) as Max, who loses her mother in a car accident. Her mother, Amanda (Malin Akerman from 27 Dresses and Slayers) was an actress, and years later Max reluctantly accompanies her friends to a midnight screening of Amanda's last movie.

When the cinema catches fire Max and her friends escape through a strange portal and find themselves trapped in the movie. Since the movie in question is a slasher flick called Camp Bloodbath, they must stay clear of the killer until the 'Final Girl', a virgin, can dispatch him.

The Final Girls is a hilarious parody of the slasher genre while still having some genuinely emotional moments. There's also a great soundtrack.



Haunter (2013)





Lisa is a teenage girl who discovers that she is being forced to live the day before her sixteenth birthday over and over together with her family, who are unaware of the loop they are stuck in. She begins to make contact with other people who have lived in the same house at different times, in order to find a way out.

This Canadian horror film was directed by Vincenzo Natali (director of Cube and Nothing). I sought it out because I loved his previous films and was not disappointed. It stars Abigail Breslin (from Zombieland and Final Girl ) as Lisa. The score is (no pun intended) haunting, with snippets from Peter and the Wolf used to great effect.


Honourable mentions here go to the following films which have already been reviewed on Weekend Notes:

In the Tall Grass

Happy Death Day

Happy Death Day 2U

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