Totally Killer Review: A Blast to the Past

Ever wondered what Back to the Future would be like if Biff traded in his goons for a mask and knife? That’s more or less what you’ll get with the newest slasher time-travel movie, Totally Killer. The film was directed by Nahnatchka Khan (Always Be My Maybe) and it follows a teen named Jamie Hughes, played by Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), who gets sent back to 1987 after a run-in with a masked murderer named the Sweet 16 Killer. Fortunately, this gives her a chance to save the original victims, three teens who were all killed on their 16th birthdays.

In addition to Shipka, the film also stars Julie Bowen (Modern Family) and Lochlyn Munro (White Chicks) as Jamie’s parents, Pam and Blake. While Olivia Holt (Cloak & Dagger) and Charlie Gillespie (Julie and the Phantoms) play their teen versions. Kelcey Mawema (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) plays Jamie’s best friend Ameila, and Troy L. Johnson (Big Sky) plays the teen version of Ameila’s mother, Lauren. While the film doesn’t hold back with its kills, Totally Killer is also a comedy, one that makes for a fun time.

Totally Killer Might Make You Laugh

Going into Totally Killer, you might be expecting a paint-by-numbers slasher movie. Instead, this film is more of a science fiction comedy with some kills in between. Written by David Matalon, Sasha Perl-Raver, and Jen D’Angelom, the script is solid. There are some plotholes, as there are with most time-travel movies, but they get explained away with some funny lines and modern movie references. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, leaning on comedy to entertain you for its brisk 106-minute runtime.

Swapping between Jamie working with her young mom to save her friends and Amelia’s attempts at getting Jamie back to the future (or rather, the present), balances the pacing of the movie quite well. By keeping the story moving, I was always engaged, although not always entertained. The humor can be quite hit-or-miss, with roughly 50% of the jokes landing with me. There were some jokes that compared 1987 with 2023, jokes reliant on the sexism or homophobia of the time, that made me cringe more than they made me laugh.

Those jokes felt too forced, whereas if you compare the movie to Back to the Future, the differences between 1985 and 1955 were funny but subtle. Pointing out that something is different can be funny, but by the tenth time Jamie mentioned that someone’s behavior was different, it got a little taxing. With that being said, there were many jokes in the film and Totally Killer is a funny movie.

Back to Back to the Future

Totally Killer isn’t shy about being a new take on Back to the Future. There are plenty of similarities between the two movies, and Totally Killer makes plenty of references to the classic time-travel movie as well. This works both for and against it. The references are fun for the most part, but the parts of the film that are similar to Back to the Future just don’t work as well as they do in that film. For example, an element of the final act is similar in both movies and is executed better – with more tension and suspense – in Back to the Future.

The film’s main issue lies in how artificial it feels. This isn’t always a negative, but it impacts the story, characters, and visual effects. This makes it hard to take anything in Totally Killer seriously. It is a fun horror comedy, so while this would be a large strike against the film, it also slightly works for it. If the film were meant to be taken seriously, the plotholes would be much more prevalent. But, because of how artificial it is, you can just laugh, enjoy yourself, and move on. Conversely, those moments can distract you in the more serious scenes.

What’s impressive is how well the tone of the movie holds. Sure, it’s artificial, but it never stops being artificial. I didn’t really care about any of the characters, or who the killer ended up being. None of it felt believable so it was more enjoyable. All the characters make dumb choices, ones that don’t make sense for their current situation. While that’s what makes it a weird slasher movie, it’s also what makes Totally Killer a good comedy.

To Die For

Nobody stands out amongst the cast, but they don’t turn in a bad performance either. Most of the characters are one-note but you won’t mind because of how well they fit in the story unravelling in front of you. The delivery of the jokes is never the problem, and the three girls Marisa (Stephi Chin-Salvo), Tiffany (Liana Liberato), and Heather (Anna Diaz), make fine would-be victims. The film’s soundtrack is solid too, with songs like Bananarama’s Venus to make sure you know it’s 1987.

The immersion is great in that respect as well, it always feels like the characters are in the 1980s when they are, even if everything is stereotypical. The costumes added to the humor, especially as the group of four girls called themselves “the Mollys” and dressed like different characters played by Molly Ringwald. And the Sweet 16 Killer’s mask is ridiculous too. There are so many references in the movie as well, not really surface-level ones either. They add another level to the comedy, with the references not just contained to older films but to newer ones as well.

In a year full of excellent horror movies, it’s great to have a solid, entertaining option for one with a more comedic, science-fiction spin. If you are in for a totally fun time-travel movie filled with pop culture references, you should put Totally Killer on with some popcorn as soon as you can. If not, check Totally Killer out on Amazon Prime Video at your leisure.