The slasher genre has had some interesting new takes over the years with films like Freaky, Happy Death Day and The Blackening that bring humor to the horror. The latest looking to find its own place is Totally Killer starring Kiernan Shipka, Olivia Holt, Charlie Gillespie, Lochlyn Munro, Troy L. Johnson, Liana Liberato, Kelcey Mawema, Stephi Chin-Salvo, Anna Diaz, Ella Choi, Jeremy Monn-Djasgnar, Nathaniel Appiah and Jonathan Potts with Randall Park and Julie Bowen from Always Be My Maybe director Nahnatchka Khan.

 

Totally Killer follows thirty-five years after the shocking murder of three teens, the infamous “Sweet Sixteen Killer“ returns on Halloween night to claim a fourth victim. Seventeen-year-old Jamie (Shipka) ignores her overprotective mom’s (Bowen) warning and comes face-to-face with the masked maniac and, on the run for her life, accidentally time-travels to 1987, the year of the original killings. Forced to navigate the unfamiliar and outrageous culture of the 1980s, Jamie teams up with her teen mom (Holt) to take down the killer once and for all, before she’s stuck in the past forever.

 

I loved the premise to this flick so was excited and hopeful that it would deliver that something special and it does just that. This film was a blast fusion of horror, comedy and mystery all mixed up in 80s nostalgia. Sure the idea behind time travel is silly and you have to buy into it for it to work, but if you let it happen it works perfectly. It makes perfect sense to the rest of this story and offers up so many new layers to elevate this fun flick to its own place.

 

The cast are great both young and old and kicks things off with a great action style sequence reminiscent of Scream before getting into the other silly bloody fun. It hits every 80s cliché as it navigates the story trying to not only stop the killing but also figure out who it is. This is where it really steps its game up as