Think high school rocker boy Marty McFly, only now it’s a high school hipster girl named Jamie Hughes. Think a time machine DeLorean, only now it’s a time machine carnival photo booth. The comparisons between 1985’s “Back to the Future” and this year’s “Totally Killer” are practically endless, but don’t let that deter you. It is 100% self-aware of that. In fact, “Back to the Future” is mentioned by name multiple times throughout the film.
CineDump Rating: ★★★½
Jamie’s mom Pam (Julie Bowen of “Modern Family” fame) hates Halloween. In 1987, three of her best friends were brutally murdered by the coined Sweet Sixteen Killer, each one stabbed 16 times. So she definitely has a reason to not like this particular holiday. Jamie herself (a hysterical Kiernan Shipka), on the other hand, couldn’t care less what her mom thinks. After all, she is at that rebellious high school age of—wait for it—16 years old. Her friend Amelia Creston is building a time machine in a photo booth for the science fair because why not? Who said this film had to make sense? Jamie and Amelia concoct an idea to travel back in time to save Pam’s friends from dying. Unfortunately, they’re stopped by the return of the Sweet Sixteen Killer. After an attack, Jamie finds herself smack dab in the middle of 1987 and starts without hesitation to find and stop the killer. Well, cause and effect take place and Jamie’s mere presence messes up all the history and facts of the murders she heard about during the present day.
I’ll stop there. “Totally Killer” is the rare horror comedy that blends the two genres into a perfect cocktail that goes down easy but still packs a punch. I found myself jumping a few times, laughing out loud more than just a few times, and by the end of the movie I had a nice wide smile on my face that I couldn’t shake off for a while. That’s what the best horror comedies do: They gross you out, shock you, make you laugh the whole time, and somehow after the body count still rises, you can’t help but grin at the feel-good nature of the whole thing.
Jacob Scheer