By Sara Clements | Film | October 12, 2023
If you’re looking for something scary to watch this Halloween, Totally Killer isn’t it. But if you’re in the mood for a fun slasher comedy, it will be right up your alley. The teen slasher may seem tired these days, but the film’s script adds something extra to change up the subgenre: time travel. While it’s not as structurally sound as Happy Death Day, which combines the slasher with Groundhog Day, it’s still playful in its premise as it takes satirical jabs at the 1980s and the films it’s inspired by. Now on Prime Video,Totally Killer has sick kills, tons of humor, and a great cast - sometimes that’s all you need for a totally killer time.
Halloween night holds painful memories for the town of Vernon. Thirty-five years ago, three girls were brutally murdered by the “Sweet Sixteen Killer”. All 16 years old and stabbed 16 times. It’s a memorable modus operandi. The murderer vanished soon after, and despite the possibility of the killer still being out there, kids don his mask on Halloween. There are true crime podcasts and murder tours that follow the killer’s rampage. The trauma of that night, however, still lingers with many, like Jamie (Kiernan Shipka)’s parents, Pam (Julie Bowen) and Blake (Lochlyn Munro), who were friends with the victims. They have lived with the fear of the killer’s return for decades, but Jamie couldn’t care less about a masked murderer.
She’s your angsty, rebellious teen who thinks keychain pepper spray is enough to keep her safe. Despite her mother’s worry, Jamie and her friend Amelia (Kelcey Mawema) head to a rock concert. Jamie’s night, however, won’t be rocked by music but by the killer’s return. The killer’s blade comes close to home and Jamie and Amelia come up with a plan to stop the killer from killing in the first place. At an abandoned fairground, a perfect set piece for a slasher, Amelia has built a time machine in an old photo booth. It’s back to the ’80s. Partnering with younger versions of various people in her life, Jamie tries to stop the killer - but it won’t be easy.
The film’s time travel aspect, while interesting in concept, is a bit silly and not very well executed. But sending Jamie back in time works as a great throwback to ’80s slasher flicks and provides a lot of effective humor when it comes to Gen X vs Gen Z. Constant jokes about how weird and laidback the ’80s were, surprisingly, never get tired. It’s fun to see Jamie’s reaction to being let loose in an environment with no rules, where she’s hit in the face with dodgeballs and suffocating in smoke-filled cars. It’s a fun culture shock that makes satirical jabs at the era. The film is also refreshingly self-aware of its place alongside films like Back to the Future and Scream. It’s also refreshing that, while the film is mainly comprised of a bunch of dumb, horny teenagers, they all put up a fight. It steps away from the tired tropes of having the characters get murdered over dumb decision-making or because they can’t run properly.
Totally Killer provides fans of sci-fi, teen movies, and slashers the perfect combination. While its time travel element could have used some tighter writing, it’s still humorous and bloody fun. It has plenty of heart thanks to the mother/daughter dynamic of Jamie and Pam, and it also has plenty of killer twists. Kiernan Shipka stands out as a final girl in a film that may not stand the test of time but will surely provide amusement for those who want to get in the spooky mood but don’t do well with scary movies.
