Totally Killer
It’s the time warp again in Nahnatchka Khan’s ode to the 80s.
Killer Instinct: Kiernan Shipka
From a DeLorean to a telephone booth, time machines of the movies seem to have taken all forms – even a hot tub. Adding a photo booth to the list is director Nahnatchka Khan’s 1980s time travel slasher Totally Killer, which premiered at Fantastic Fest shortly before debuting as an Amazon Original timed for spooky season. A True Crime style prologue sets the stage, utilising clay dolls to illustrate the three infamous scenes of homicide that occurred in the small town of Vernon on three late-October nights back in 1987. Three teenage girls were brutally murdered by the masked ‘Sweet 16 Killer’, who gained the moniker by stabbing each of his 16-year-old victims 16 times. Now, in 2023, the killer returns on Halloween night, back and ready for gore. When the killer targets Jamie (Kiernan Shipka), the daughter of former final girl Pam Hughes, née Miller (Julie Bowen), she inadvertently (thanks to the aforementioned photo booth) finds herself back in 1987 – before the original string of murders took place.
Part slasher, part comedy, and mostly just a Back to the Future redux, Totally Killer is the wacky, nostalgic treat Prime subscribers will likely be tricked to click this Halloween. Like that piece of chocolate you know you don’t need, it’s the kind of streaming film consumed because it’s there. Not that it doesn’t come with its guilty pleasures. The self-aware script highlights the best and the worst of the 80s, amusingly demonstrating just how far political correctness has come. Shipka is a bewitching heroine in a role that’s tailor-made to her totally killer talent. It’s hard to think of another young actor who can quip so plausibly. With an 80s soundtrack and plenty of nods to the decades’ films and fashions, it makes for a fun size start to late-night movie marathons. And here’s a final goody for the treat bag: Khan advised the production to devise the look of the Sweet 16 Killer’s mask on 80s heartthrobs Kiefer Sutherland, Rob Lowe and Dolph Lundgren.
CHAD KENNERK
Cast: Kiernan Shipka, Olivia Holt, Julie Bowen, Charlie Gillespie, Lochlyn Munro, Troy L. Johnson, Kimberly Huie, Liana Liberato, Kelcey Mawema, Randall Park.
Dir Nahnatchka Khan, Pro Jason Blum, Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath, Screenplay David Matalon, Sasha Perl-Raver and Jen D'Angelo, Ph Judd Overton, Pro Des Liz Kay, Ed Jeremy Cohen, Music Michael Andrews, Costumes Patricia J. Henderson, Sound Jussi Tegelman, Dialect coach Tony Alcantar.
Amazon MGM Studios/BH Television/Divide/Conquer-Amazon Prime Video.
105 mins. USA. 2023. UK and US Rel: 6 October 2023. Cert. 15.
