When the plot of Totally Killer was announced, much of the horror internet was aghast at just how similar it compared to The Final Girls (a film I love dearly). Such coincidences happen, and it helps no one to harp on the similarities when you have the freedom to, you know, sit back and enjoy good movies.
Quick Plot: In 1987, a trio of high schoolers were brutally murdered by the Sweet Sixteen Killer. By 2023, the crime remains unsolved in the small town of Vernon, which now celebrates some of its notoriety with true crime podcasts and walking tours.
16-year-old Jamie Hughes is your typical sullen suburbanite. Her life is quickly turned upside down when mom Pam is stabbed to death by a mysterious figure sporting the same mask popularized by the same man who slayed her three best friends. Jamie is inconsolable, especially after the killer hunts her down. The only escape? Her best friend Amelia's time machine prototype, which promptly sends her from school science fair to 1987.
Armed with 36 years of knowledge about the future, Jamie attempts to prevent the murders. Along the way, she befriends Amelia's genius mom Lauren, her own high school principal, bullying gym teacher, and Vernon's version of the Heathers (in this case, Mollys) headed by a sniping Pam.
Thankfully, Back to the Future is still fresh in most of the young people's memories, while others are easily convinced that Jamie's psychic powers are up there with Miss Cleo. Still, solving a crime before and while it's happening proves to be much harder than Jamie anticipates, especially when she also has to contend with messing up her parents' delayed courtship and getting home before her cell phone battery dies.
Let's deal with the elephant in the room first: no, Totally Killer is not on the same level as The Final Girls, a movie that charms you with its cleverness than shoves itself down your throat to tear your heart apart with some of the most emotional mother/daughter relationship drama I've ever seen in on film, let alone a horror comedy sold on a meta gimmick. The Final Girls is a masterpiece. Totally Killer is totally fun.
Directed by Nahnatchka Khan, Totally Killer finds its horror comedy tone immediately. Aces like Julie Bowen help tremendously, and Kiernan Shipka serves as the right north star through both the light and heavy. Marty McFly references aside, Totally Killer has a certain Scream-quality in its blend that respects the fact that young people are being murdered as tragedy while finding humor around its corners.
High Points
A growing trend I love in cinema about young people is how it's managed to maintain some of its high school character tropes (mean girl, nerd, and so on) but takes just enough time to make them human along the way. Jamie is quick to call out the many behaviors of her mom's era that are problematic to her 21st century eyes, but there's a sense of believability about the way they interact that's both funny and somewhat honest
Low Points
I can't necessarily pinpoint what needed to be cut, but overall, Totally Killer just feels a tad too long, as if a few scenes just have to hold on to throw out an extra, unnecessary joke
Lessons Learned
Gen-Z does not knock
You can't try to invent time travel without the full expectation that you'll meet people from the future
You don't observe Halloween in the manufacturing industry
Rent/Bury/Buy
Totally Killer is streaming on Amazon, and it's a joyful little way to spend 100 minutes. Have at it.
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It's happening again!!
ReplyDeleteTotally Killer sounds ok, but The Final Girls sounds really good! And I just watched the trailer and liked what I saw so I'm adding it to my list now.
Yes! I hope you love it as much as I do (but that you don't cry quite as hard)
ReplyDeleteI'm obviously in the minority here but Totally Killer didn't do it for me. Kiernan Shipka, who I usually like, was pretty annoying and her constant commentary about all the problematic behaviour of the 80's got old really fast. I even found the teenage mean girl version of her mother more endearing. It's just not funny enough and the (few) kills are bloody but kinda lame. The movie also drags at times and, as you mentioned in your review, feels too long. It felt like the makers wanted to replicate the magic of Happy Death Day but failed.
ReplyDeleteBtw, there's another Back To The Future meets Scream slasher in the works: Time Cut. This time Christopher Landon, the director/writer of Happy Death Day is even involved (as a producer).
Final Girls is great though.
I can totally understand this not clicking. There's a very particular tone of humor here, and if it doesn't work for you, I can see this being a pretty obnoxious experience!
DeleteHadn't heard about Time Cut but I'll look out for it!