Totally Killer Review — Lyles Movie Files

Totally Killer has a terrific premise for a modern horror comedy influenced by characters like Happy death day. A spirited blonde must solve the mystery of a killer who is happily making his way through a group of teenagers. But this time, there is time travel!

Thirty-five years ago, the town of Vernon was shocked when a masked killer brutally massacred three 16-year-old girls, ending their killing spree on Halloween. Pam (Julie Bowen) and her husband, Blake (Lochlyn Munro, Peacemaker), survived the horror and are naturally very protective of their daughter Jamie (Kiernan Shipka), now 16 years old.

Like most teenagers, Jamie finds his parents overbearing and annoying. She can’t wait to ditch them to go to a concert with her awesome best friend, Amelia (Kelcey Mawema, To all the boys I’ve loved before). Tragedy soon strikes when the killer returns to strike again.

This leaves Jamie grieving, desperate to bring the killer to justice. It turns out that Amelia is working on a time machine based on her mother Lauren’s (Kimberly Huie) old designs. Maybe Jamie could go back and stop the killer in 1987 before the first victims were killed?

It’s a fun concept even with some similarities to The final girls. The jokes are harder, the action scenes are more intense, and the performances are better here. Director Nahnatchka Khan (Always be my maybe) doesn’t just tackle ’80s clothing and technology.

Complaint for a single delay? The soundtrack could have used 10-12 more iconic 80s songs.

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Now in the 1980s, Jamie is shocked to learn of the school’s status quo, viewing her high school administrators as students. Pam (Olivia Holt) is the queen bee of the school’s Mean Girl set and Blake (Charlie Gillespie) is a stupid, horny jock. Fortunately, Jamie can lean on teenager Lauren (Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson) for help and possibly return home in 2023.

Screenwriters Jen D’Angelo, David Matalon and Sasha Perl-Raver don’t exaggerate the clash of generations as much as possible. Jamie still takes the moral high ground by calling out phrases, actions, or images that in modern times would be problematic or “unworthy.” These jokes are about 50/50, as Jamie’s disgust seems pretentious at times.

Jamie is never put in a position where she can make a mistake or gain insight from her “prehistoric” counterparts. A little give and take would have been welcome. Maybe just because the less tech-savvy students are more resourceful since they weren’t raised just to Google something?

At times the shift in tone is jarring, from sometimes awkward humor to brutal murder scenes, but Khan balances it all out quite well.

Shipka is great in the lead role. Jamie is not the typical slasher finale girl. She is fully capable of defending herself and has several encounters with the killer in surprisingly very physical fights. Khan has largely stuck to comedies, but it would be interesting to see her handle an action comedy next.

The supporting cast handles their roles well, with Johnson, Holt and Gillespie particularly standing out.

As usual with this slasher style, the reveal of the killer is the key to a satisfying finale. Totally killer has a solid payoff and an epilogue that made it worth the investment.

Given the setup of the film and the dynamics of the time jumps, it was a bit surprising that there was no post-credit scene. I would be up for a sequel to Totally killer. Maybe this sequel could explore the 90s next?

Rating: 8 out of 10

Photo credit: Amazon

You can check out Totally Killer on Amazon Prime.

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