HEART EYES

HEART EYES (2025). Director: Josh Rubin.

A serial slayer known as HEK (Heart Eyes Killer) has already struck on Valentine's Day, targeting couples and others who get in his way, when he makes his presence known in grisly fashion in Seattle. Advertising woman Ally (Olivia Holt of Totally Killer) and newcomer Jay (Mason Gooding), carry on a budding, awkward romance while dodging attacks from the killer. Finally cornered, they find out the dread secret of the Heart Eyes maniac.

The Heart Eyes Killer

Heart Eyes begins with a sequence in a winery where a female victim is literally crushed in a wine press, her head being graphically smushed for the edification of disaffected gore geeks. Then we get a whole series of rom-com type scenes which are completely out of sync with the opening sequence. There's a scene when our young couple inadvertently lead the maniac to a drive-in theater, where he proceeds to hack and slash at dozens of people -- this is a highly uncomfortable reminder of such real-life scenes of slaughter (albeit this killer doesn't use a gun). 

Gooding and Holt

Okay, Heart Eyes doesn't get points for good taste, nor for its rather self-absorbed lead characters (Ally takes forever to start thinking about the many innocent victims and never really expresses much dismay over the people she literally sees killed right in front of her.) However, the climax, which has at least one surprise, is well-done and satisfying. Mason Gooding, an appealing actor, is the son of Cuba Gooding, Jr. 

Verdict: An odd mix of humor and gore that unlike the early Scream movies, doesn't quite work. **1/4. 

TOTALLY KILLER

TOTALLY KILLER (2023). Director: Nahnatchka Khan. On Amazon Prime.

35 years ago three 16-year-old girls were butchered by an unknown maniac eventually christened the "sweet 16" killer. Although one young lady, Pam (Julie Bowen), received a threatening note, she was spared -- until the killer shows up again in 2023 and kills her. Pam's grieving daughter, Jamie (Kiernan Shipka), seeks shelter in a time machine built by a friend when the killer pursues her, and inadvertently winds up back in the past on the very day the first murder is to occur. She decides to do everything she can to not only save her mother from her ultimate fate, but save the other girls as well. But it won't be easy, as her teenage mother (Olivia Holt) and her friends are basically all "mean girls." She also finds out that events are not unfolding exactly as they did in the past, meaning no one is safe ...

While I could have done without the film's flippant approach -- obviously trying to come off like a Scream movie -- I must say that the screenplay has some inventive and clever aspects to it. There's a very good sequence dealing with a "Quantum Drop" spaceship ride in the carnival, and more than one good twist. The identity of the killer is a complete surprise but there are still a couple of surprises even after the maniac, who actually has a solid motive, is unmasked. However, haven't we all had enough of mean girls and dumb jocks in horror movies? Shipka and the rest of the cast go through their paces competently. There are frequent references to Back to the Future. 

Verdict: Despite the sillier aspects, this is a decent time-travel slasher movie. ***.