Totally Killer - A Fun Combo of Slasher and Time Travel

Last night I watched this movie that was released on Prime Video 2 days before as I was really interested in the premise. It was the slasher horror genre that was more of my thing as compared to the supernatural horror. Anyway, why don't I just get to it?

Brief Story Line

Jamie Hughes (Kiernan Shipka - Chilling Adventures of Sabrina TV series etc) was a teenager who just wanted to have fun on Halloween night with her best friend Amelia (Kelcey Mawema - To All the Boys movies etc), but her parents Pam (Julie Bowen - Hubie Halloween, Boston Legal TV series etc) and Blake (Lochlyn Munro - Peacemaker TV series, White Chicks etc) were very protective of her. This was due to the killing spree during Halloween back in 1987 where the killer was never caught.

After another killing occurred and shocked the town, Jamie was somehow transported back to 1987 where she met with her teenage mother (Olivia Holt - Cloak and Dagger TV series, Gnome Alone etc) and her friends who were still alive. Jamie was determined to stop the murders from happening so she could save the life of the person in the present. With the help from Amelia's mother Lauren (Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson), Jamie must do so before she was permanently trapped in 1987. 

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

As I said above, I am quite a fan of slasher horror type. However, I am also a major fan of time travel. So obviously I was excited at the prospect of seeing these two combined and this movie did not disappoint. Although the killings were not extremely violent and gore like other horror slasher movies, but the time travel element was quite interesting. It was unique and a bit anti mainstream for me though still making some sense. In any case, it was never a perfect science, so trying to understand the whole concept would be useless anyway. 

One thing that I also liked here was the strong dark comedy with brief witty remarks usually said by Jamie who truly represented the present day teenager and had a bit of culture shock when she arrived in 1987. And her encounter with Pam with the rest of the people she knew as adults were a bit hilarious at times. I thought Kiernan Shipka did a wonderful job portraying the character and she was truly convincing as high school student, though I could not really say for few of the people who portrayed their teen versions cause they did not look youthful enough. 

Aside from the names I mentioned above, there were some support characters too such as the Mollys Tiffany (Liana Liberato - Scream VI etc), Heather (Anna Diaz) & Marisa (Stephi Chin-Salvo), Podcaster Chris Dubusage (Jonathan Potts - Ginny & Georgia TV series etc), Sheriff Dennis Lim (Randall Park - Ant-man and the Wasp, Blockbuster TV series etc) and few others. Mostly they did their part nicely. Btw, the movie was directed by Nahnatchka Khan (director of Always Be My Maybe and executive producer of Fresh off the Boat TV series), so she was quite experience in comedies. I also noticed the name Jason Blum of Blumhouse as one of the producers.

Now I have seen slasher genre combined with body switch (Freaky) and time loop (Happy Death Day) which I really liked. And having it combined with time travel certainly made it a fun combo. I also like the 1980s setting where the make-up and costume department did amazing job to make sure the appearances look really from the period. The songs playing on the background were quite famous back then as well, adding the fun element for me personally. There were also few references to famous time travel movie and slasher films which I thought was a nice way of appreciation. Oh the ending was pretty satisfying too with closing credits that gave some closure even though it might not be completely acceptable for audience. 

Overall this was an entertaining movie. It was smart to combine two different genres and the story telling was fine with some dark comedies here and there, plus the nice enough performance by its cast. The only thing that I thought was not strong enough was the gore nature of the killings and the lack of jump scares which I thought were trademarks of slasher films. In addition the killer was not that difficult to guess since there was a clue given in the middle, although I did get another surprise before the climax which was an added point. But it was still an enjoyable film and critics certainly enjoyed it as proven by its high ratings. So if you like time travel and slasher genre, then you can give this one a try. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars