Totally Killer (2023)
A Horrifically Funny Time Travel Journey
Totally Killer is probably the closest thing we’ll get to a horror version of Back to the Future. It’s a cheerfully ridiculous time travel horror comedy wherein a teen girl from the 2020s travels back to the 1980s to stop a deranged psychopath that has terrorized her family for generations.
In 1987, a maniac in a Max Headroom mask carves up three teenage girls on Halloween. The assailant, dubbed the Sweet Sixteen Killer, leaves one surviving victim: sixteen year old Pam.
Thirty-five years later, Pam (Julie Bowen) is the mother of a teenager of her own, Jamie (Kiernan Shipka). The Sweet Sixteen Killer has long since disappeared, but his gruesome activities are exploited by sleazy true crime podcasters.
Jamie is tired of her mother’s tales about that horrible long-ago night. She wants her family to move on and forget the past. Pam disagrees and forbids Jamie from going to a Halloween concert, much to her daughter’s chagrin.
I really enjoyed Kiernan Shipka’s performance. She balances snarky-ness and sweetness without going overboard with either. Shipka has established herself well in the horror genre. Who would have imagined that little Sally Draper would grow up to be a scream queen?
A Tale of Two Eras
After the Sweet Sixteen Killer suddenly returns, Jamie travels back to 1987 (using a high school science fair time machine) so that she can stop his killing spree before it begins. Jamie is bewildered by this new world of short shorts, water beds, and “problematic” behavior. The ’80s characters are equally confused by Jamie, especially her clothes and her phone.
The contrasts between the eras is always a fascinating aspect of time travel movies. ’80s teen Marty McFly was baffled by the 1950s world of his young parents. 2020’s teen Jamie is equally flummoxed by the 1980s.
Jamie has an awkward encounter with her future mother who, much to Jamie’s surprise, was a snarky mean girl. Teenage Pam (Olivia Holt) is skeptical of Jamie’s stories about a masked maniac, but they eventually team up in an attempt to stop the killer and discover his identity.
Like Marty McFly, Jamie’s presence in the past changes the course of history in ways both large and small. This causes profound changes for the future.
Rating
Totally Killer is derivative of previous time travel and slasher movies, but it’s an entertaining Halloween treat filled with satirical social commentary and wild gore.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 7
