Masked killers, improvised time travel devices- plot elements unheard of for the 1980s. Shockingly, given the amount of nostalgic content popping up in every direction, these elements haven’t been brought together into a coherent film narrative. …Until now.
The Film:
Totally Killer
Director:
Nahnatchka Khan
The Premise:
Decades after a masked killer terrorized her mom as a teenager, daughter Jamie tries to change the course of events with the power of time travel.
The Ramble:
It’s been 35 years since a masked serial killer terrorized the small town of Vernon. As his victims were a group of 16 year olds, the murderer was dubbed the Sweet 16 Killer. The murders remain unsolved, though a thriving tourist industry, podcast, and other money-making schemes have cropped up.
On the anniversary of the killings, teen Jamie is looking forward to a concert with her bff, Amelia. Her mother, Pam, a teenager during the attacks, worries something will happen despite the self-defense classes and pepper spray she’s armed her daughter with. In a twist of fate, Pam stays home alone and is murdered by a masked man. Could it be the Sweet 16 Killer has returned, or a Scream-style copycat has emerged?
With no likely suspects, the police begin to suspect Jamie’s dad, Blake (TBH, this is the only thing I agree with the cops on given his sketchy past on Riverdale). Though since it’s a small town, everyone’s petty grudges and rivalries are at play–including those of the sheriff. When the masked killer goes after Jamie, she hides in the time machine Amelia has been working on (obviously). Of course, the time machine works perfectly, and Jamie is transported back in time to the night of the first killing. Can she solve the mystery and stop her mother’s murder from ever happening?
Making it to 1987, Jamie is in for a bit of a culture shock in terms of acceptable behavior. She’s astonished to discover her mom is part of the school’s most popular clique of queen bees, frequently putting down and bullying others. Despite Jamie’s best attempts to warn the high schoolers about the murders about to unfold, they make all of the worst mistakes of ’80s horror teenagers.
Jamie’s choices seem to be changing the future in subtle ways. Can she change things enough to prevent the murders from happening to begin with?
The Rating:
3/5 Pink Panther Heads
IDK, for whatever reason I only enjoyed about half of this. It’s a fun setup, but it consistently chooses to make references to Back to the Future and ’80s pop culture over doing anything particularly interesting with the premise. The tone is odd as the film begins with a violent murder & then takes the approach that time travel can solve everything in a rather unsatisfying way. Even some of the comedic moments towards the end of the film are more uncanny than anything–the changes Jamie unintentionally causes are meant to be silly but would genuinely freak me out if they were suddenly part of my life.
I also don’t think the comedy elements work very well because the film doesn’t really solve one of the problems it sets up: the troubled relationship between Jamie and her mom is just sort of erased? There are so many plot turns & other characters packed into the runtime that this relationship isn’t explored particularly well. And it’s not particularly satisfying that her mother Pam is the one who experienced the terror of the masked killer yet Jamie is the one to solve it. Some of the tension & potential emotional investment is lost that way.
On the bright side, stylistically this looks good & Julie Bowen gets a really badass fight scene.