Why is no one talking about Totally Killer?
Seriously. Why is no one talking about it? I only got it suggested to me because I watched the Lisa Frankenstein trailer so many times that YouTube’s algorithm finally recommended the trailer for Totally Killer to me, I don’t know, eight months since it came out, give or take? Which is pretty bad for algorithm standards, usually taking only .05 seconds for me saying I’m vaguely interested in a concept before they are trying to sell it to me. So the second I watched the trailer, I knew I had to watch the movie – and I loved it.
But this movie has everything I love – it’s a play on a comedy film (like Happy Death Day with Groundhog’s Day or Freaky with Freaky Friday)Starring Kiernan Shipka as Jamie Hughes, Totally Killer tells the story of Jamie Miller, a present day teenager who accidentally gets sent back to the 80’s, where she must protect her mom, Pam Miller (younger Pam is played by Olivia Holt, older Pam is played by Julie Bowen) and her friends from a serial killer who killed all of Pam’s friends in the 80’s before coming for her in the present day. Unlike every other horror movie I review, I am not going to spoil this one for you as I don’t think a lot of people even know it exists. Usually I can type in anything on Etsy and find at least one fan poster, yet typing Totally Killer gets me…zilch. It’s frustrating as this is every bit as fun and campy as other horror movies I love that have achieved cult status, yet it has gone completely under the radar.
And with this stellar cast, that is so disappointing.
Kiernan Shipka plays the every man so well, I think she is on Jason Bateman in Arrested Development levels of relatability. Shipka is one of the most talented actresses in our generation and perfectly immerses herself into every role she does – from quirky Sabrina Spellman to a possessed, lonely student in Blackcoat’s Daughter, yet I think her version of the straight man is one of my favourites. She captures the energy so well, the bewildered facial expressions and her awkward attempts to fit into a crowd draw instant laughter. She is so well cast as Jamie, a daughter who is exasperated with her mom’s bitchy friends in the 80’s yet desperate to keep them alive. While Shipka garners a lot of laughter, she also brings a lot of heart to the character, a teenager who gets to know her mother better as they navigate their way through this frightening world. Holt also is so wonderfully bitchy as Pam, who tries to ditch Jamie at almost every turn so her and her friends can have the most kick ass birthday weekend ever in a way only the 80’s can do it. The dynamic between Holt and Shipka is so fun and really there is none of that familial softness you get in other variations of this film (such as the direct inspiration Back to the Future, or similar mother-daughter horror like The Final Girls). This movie is focused on fun, and that’s what you get – with some softness at the end, with Bowen and Shipka really selling the heartfelt mother and daughter bit.
This movie is a bit more brutal than the horror comedies I usually review, maybe because there is no mystical force at play besides time travel, and even that’s only an element because her friend invented time travel for the SCHOOL SCIENCE FAIR (I fucking love this movie). There’s a lot of these girls getting their shit rocked as the killer is a very real person with a very real, personal motive, and it’s not in the bizarre over the top ways in Lisa Frankenstein or The Final Girls, or even Freaky. There were a lot of scenes where my friend and I audibly ‘oofed’ as the violence felt a little too real. But that aside, the movie is so camp and fun in every other way, I think that the realistic kills should be chalked up as a good thing. This isn’t your normal horror comedy with magic, this is a horror comedy that could happen to you (maybe, if your friend is bringing the concept of time travel to life for a high school science fair which is so brilliant, I know I keep talking about it but it’s so good). There are so many great performances and nods to the 80’s (like having Pam and her friends all dress like a different variation of Molly Ringwald) that make this film feel so fun, while also having the good, horror elements that elevate it to a good, spooky time.
I don’t know what the advertising budget for Totally Killer was, but it feels nonexistent. Their Instagram account is just a shared account for a bunch of Amazon horror projects, which…why? Why not have one account for each of these movies, allowing for an actual fandom to cultivate around it. It also blows my mind how something like Mean Girls 2024 got a theatrical release while Totally Killer is streaming only – in the age of meta, camp horror, this feels like something that would have been a box office smash (or at the very least would have given it a cult following). I don’t understand why Totally Killer has been lost to the sands of streaming time, but it shouldn’t be. My reach is small, but anything I can do to get people to watch this film is time well spent.
There’s so much room to explore the horror comedy that is playing on classics, and Totally Killer really brings this genre to life in a fun and more brutal way. I will refrain from saying I wish there were more movies like this, and instead say I’d love for you to give Totally Killer a chance instead.
It’s just so fucking good.