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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
If Blumhouse’s Happy Death Day is considered a progeny to Groundhog Day, then the studio’s newest science-fiction horror-comedy, Totally Killer, should be considered a descendant of Back to the Future. I got to see this film at the end of Fantastic Fest, and it is a sharp passion project from different talented names in the industry. It may not be the best horror film to have come out this year. However, it does help pave the way to Blumhouse’s slasher cinematic universe, or the slasher-verse, as I would like to coin it.
Totally Killer is directed by Nahnatchka Khan (Malcolm in the Middle, American Dad!, Fresh Off the Boat, Always Be My Maybe). The film is written by David Matalon, Sasha Perl-Raver, and Jen D’Angelo, with the story by Matalon and Perl-Raver.
In this review, I will be reviewing Nahnatchka Khan’s Totally Killer. As the title of this article suggests, there will be no spoilers from the film present here. References to sci-fi tropes and slasher horror tropes will be made.
Discussion
Khan’s second feature film is a creative effort that requires much attention for the story conveyed. While Totally Killer fits the streaming format in some areas, in most places this Blumhouse-Amazon Studios joint is deserving of time on the big screen. The editing and the visuals (especially within the first 21 minutes) fit the former format—such as the choppy cuts in the Sweet Sixteen Killer’s (Adrian Persad) first on-screen attack as well as in a scene involving the protagonist, Jamie Hughes (Kiernan Shipka), at school with other teenagers.
On the brighter side, editors Jeremy Cohen and Andrew Crisman prevail with the transitions they make with Director of Photography Judd Overton, who is quite the master behind the camera. This includes capturing a couple of tracking shots, one of which almost feels like viewers are observing a round of Friday the 13th: The Game. It’s a neat way of inserting the audience into a new slasher setting without going too far.
The few transition cuts that the team makes are incredible, and it’s intriguing how they juxtapose the past with the present. For example, Overton showcases a pristine shot of the fictional amusement park character, Billy the Beaver, in the past with a dilapidated shot of the animal in the present. This is done to suggest the drastic changes in Jamie’s hometown, a twisted synecdoche of the world we live in, almost like Derry, Maine in Stephen King’s It or Haddonfield, Illinois in John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise. I also like the juxtapositions of innocence and bottled-up anger, along with transformations of old into new, through these transitions.
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
On the gaudier aesthetic end, I enjoyed the crew members’ attempts to recreate a mid-to-late-1980s atmosphere. For instance, costume designer Patti Henderson brings back ’80s gym clothing. This is specific to this era and not necessarily the norm for a modern-day backdrop. Even Jamie has an iconic cowboy/ cowgirl-like outfit to mirror Marty McFly’s lifejacket look. For the most part, Paul Edwards et al’s hairstyling of the supporting characters possesses a nostalgic feel. However, I do find it difficult to believe in Pam Miller’s (Olivia Holt) hairdos.
In addition to that, production designer Liz Kay et al reinvigorate the loss of a popular era through the set pieces they craft. The waterbed room appears simplistic, whereas the cabin interiors look like they’ve been taken out of the Friday the 13th films. Moreover, the 1987 Billy’s Boardwalk is vibrant and prismatic. It isn’t pregnant with neon lights, but it feels as if a young adult was permitted to use a whole rainbow of crayons to fill up a black-and-white page. Meanwhile, the present-day amusement park is just drained of all color.
Every Breath You Take
In terms of the screenplay, Totally Killer closely yet eerily follows the narrative formula of Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future, blended with elements of the 1978 and 2018 Halloween films. While I cannot give away what allusions and references are made, it should be noted that the details are too obvious to miss, even more so if you have sufficient knowledge of the films’ character interactions. The first quarter-hour of Totally Killer alone contains dialogue that just sounds expository, informing viewers of background minutiae to keep in mind for a later time.
Fortunately, as a time travel narrative, this Blumhouse film doesn’t waste precious minutes explaining quantum mechanics, and it might be a beneficial thing since too many pre-existing time travel narratives have already done this. On that same note, it also goes so far as to become a slasher metanarrative, which isn’t wrong per se but is at least conscious of its place within the horror subgenre.
Next to these two layers, the comedic timing provides levity to the tragedies that come from the murders. Open-minded viewers will come to appreciate the young women’s self-assertiveness as well as Dennis Lim’s (Randall Park) small role in the grand scheme of things. The secondary character ecospheres and the narrative beats functioning as connecting tissue are well-written, each hinting that one or another may be the individual under the mask. Honestly, this might be the most clever and laudable aspect of the story. What I don’t understand as much, however, is the logos behind the Sweet Sixteen Killer in relation to their targets/victims. Would astrology be accounted for in the context of the overall conflict?
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Thematically, Totally Killer is subtly about the changes in time, whether it’s the political correctness of the present to differentiate itself from the lack thereof in the past, the cinematographer and editors’ near-fluid transitions from scene to scene, or, on the surface, the literal tweaks to the timeline. Writers David Matalon, Sasha Perl-Raver, and Jen D’Angelo exhibit young adult sins in such a manner that is naive yet conscious of consequences.
Their screenplay demonstrates instances of blatant misogyny and fatphobia, hints of homophobia, and minor racism. It purposefully does so to lend to the idea of “cause and effect”. As the late French psychoanalyst Anne Dufourmantelle writes of spirals in her text, In Praise of Risk: “This is the movement that seems best to describe our relation to the past and, even more, to trauma … to return to a point where the past slips away, to cause it to be born or surge up anew; and, at the same time, structurally to adopt a vanishing point for yourself” (170). By acknowledging our mistakes through words and actions, we challenge ourselves to allow for absolute change to happen, no matter how long we tread those waters. In that, new meaning can be discovered.
The Crew Behind Totally Killer
Judd Overton serves as the film’s director of photography. Robert Pratt serves as the storyboard artist.
Jeremy Cohen is the editor, while Andrew Crisman is the assistant editor.
Michael Andrews does the musical composition. Toko Nagata is the music supervisor. Jussi Tegelman (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, Drag Me to Hell, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Hulu’s Into the Dark, Sound of Violence, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) is the sound designer, while Alex Thompson serves as the music editor.
Terri Taylor (The Purge franchise, Get Out, Happy Death Day, Upgrade, Us, The Invisible Man, Freaky, Halloween Kills, The Black Phone, Halloween Ends, M3GAN) and Sarah Domeier Lindo (Happy Death Day 2U, The Invisible Man, Freaky, Halloween Kills, The Black Phone, Halloween Ends, M3GAN) are the casting directors. Ally Conover and Satchel Buck Stoddard-Jones are the Los Angeles casting associates. Hilary Matkovich is the LA casting assistant.
Tiffany Mak is the Canadian casting director. Heather McGowan is the Canadian casting coordinator. Lauren Au and Alycia Rose are the Canadian casting assistants.
Sandra Couldwell is the extras casting director. Kyle Horton and Andrea Hughes are the extras casting assistants. Natasha Martina serves as the intimacy coordinator.
Simon Burnett and Richard Brooks serve as the stunt coordinators, while James Michalopolous serves as the fight choreographer.
Aesthetics
Liz Kay serves as the production designer. Andy Amoroso is the art director, while Chris Lewis is the set designer. Tamara Gauthier (Riverdale, Supergirl, Violent Night, It Lives Inside) is the set decorator, while Naomi Wise is the assistant set decorator.
Patti Henderson is the film’s costume designer, while Paula Negritto is the assistant costume designer. Danielle Fowler is the key makeup artist. Paul Edwards is the head of department hairstylist.
Ingenuity Studios, VFX Legion, and Visionary FX do the visual effects for the film.
The Cast of Totally Killer
Kiernan Shipka portrays Jamie Hughes/ Collette, the protagonist of Blumhouse and Amazon Studios’ Totally Killer.
Adrian Persad portrays the Sweet Sixteen Killer.
The Past—1987
Olivia Holt portrays Pam Miller, Jamie Hughes’s mother in her teens. Charlie Gillespie plays teen Blake Hughes.
Troy L. Johnson portrays teen Lauren Creston.
Liana Liberato (Haunt, The Beach House, Scream VI), Stephi Chin-Salvo, and Anna Diaz portray Tiffany Clark, Marisa Song, and Heather Hernandez, Pam’s respective friends in high school who form the Mollies high school clique.
Ella Choi portrays teen Kara Lim, a stoner friend of Blake’s. Jeremy Monn-Djasngar plays teen Randy Finkle, a jock friend of Blake’s.
Nathaniel Appiah portrays teen Doug Summers, a high school nerd and hall monitor.
Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat, Ant-Man and the Wasp, WandaVision, Always Be My Maybe, Shortcomings) portrays Sheriff Dennis Lim, Kara’s father. Andrew Barber plays Deputy Brody, Dennis’s partner.
Zach Gibson plays teen Damon, nicknamed “Lurch”, a quiet peer. Nicholas Lloyd plays teen Chris Dubasage.
Amy Goodmurphy plays Coach Zane, Vernon High School’s gym teacher. Andy Thompson appears as Mr. Parr, a chemistry teacher at Vernon High.
The Present—2023
Julie Bowen (Modern Family, Hubie Halloween, The Fallout) and Lochlyn Munro (Scary Movie, Freddy vs. Jason, Riverdale, The Predator, Peacemaker Season 1) portray Pam Hughes and adult Blake Hughes, Jamie’s mother and father, respectively.
Kelcey Mawema portrays Amelia Creston, Jamie’s best friend and a science genius.
Jonathan Potts portrays adult Chris Dubasage, North Vernon’s local podcaster and a tour guide. Kimberly Huie portrays adult Lauren Creston, Amelia’s mother.
Patti Kim plays Sheriff Kara Lim. Tommy Europe plays adult Randy Finkle, Vernon High’s coach. Conrad Coates plays Principal Doug Summers.
Brendan O’Brien appears as adult Damon/ “Lurch”, Billy’s Boardwalk’s theme park maintenance worker.
Minor Characters
Fred Henderson plays Norm Dubasage, Chris Dubasage’s father and a famous local news reporter. Pam Kearns plays Luann, a faculty member at Vernon High.
Tate Chernen plays teen Eddie Royal, a local heartthrob at Vernon High in 1987. Jesse Inocalla appears as Ned, a theme park employee at the Quantum Drop.
Valin Shinyei appears as Derek, a peer of Jamie and Amelia’s in the present. Vanessa Prasad appears as a Zattaburger employee named Angie.
Alex Pychtin appears as a “34-year-old man” character, while Eliza Norbury appears as Pam’s mom in the past.
Shaira Boucher plays a dodgeball girl, while Jocelyn Kim plays a teen stoner at a house party.
Kevin Osea is credited as a “cute guy”, while Ryan Cowie plays a “regular dad”.
Tara Pratt plays an ‘80s mom. Madeleine Kelders plays a crime scene photographer.
Brittany Whelton plays Sheriff Beasley.
Miakay Scott and Alex Kerry appear as teenage trick-or-treaters. Hannah Sarah Grills appears as a dead Trish via photo.
Kevin Mesic plays a news crew camera operator.
Performances and Character Developments
Shipka’s line delivery as Jamie Hughes during the first act can be incredibly dark, and it might just be some of her best performances in the film overall. Her character is also reckless in ways that Marty McFly was, not fully aware that her every choice bears an outcome. Jamie’s excuse for being in the past and knowing about the killer, paired with her presence alongside the teens, fits into the ‘80s trope of the final girl archetype leading a band of survivors, such as is the case in Friday the 13th Part VIII: The New Blood and in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.
Holt is not bad a scream queen, and while she has enough screen time, her role is a classic storytelling obstacle of “show, don’t tell”. The actor is good at mimicking her character’s adult self, portrayed remarkably by Julie Bowen. However, I cannot help but feel that the film could do more to help Pam as a whole. The same thing can also be said about (and in her relationship, if any, with) Lauren Creston (Troy L. Johnson and Kimberly Huie). Holt and Shipka work best together towards the end of the film, whether it’s with the surviving bunch or simply as a duo.
One flaw the writers have in trying to focus on the smaller characters is figuring out the balance in all of them. Amongst these characters, Randall Park’s Dennis Lim is hilarious, even if the actor’s appearance also serves as a nod to his lead role in Khan’s previous film, Always Be My Maybe. What I love about his character is how he owns his profession as an officer of the law. I mean… DNA??
Final Thoughts on Blumhouse and Amazon Studios’ Totally Killer
Given its runtime, there could be more to show within Totally Killer as a singular title. Still, this Blumhouse film has more than enough details to warrant a sequel and possibly even a third film, if it were to follow in the combined footsteps of both the Back to the Future trilogy and the Blumhouse Halloween trilogy. Upon the endless list of possible enemies made by the “mean girls”, there are some cited unseen characters/ high school peers that are not present in the film at all, further expanding the realm of what could and can be. For instance, what more can we learn of Blake Hughes (Charlie Gillespie and Lochlyn Munro) and his perspective in North Vernon, or that of Lauren Creston?
Totally Killer contributes to the ongoing thesis that love conquers all as a violent, transformative power. Anyone familiar with the director’s prior film, Always Be My Maybe, should know this. On the creative end, we now have to wonder if this film will cross paths with the worlds of the Happy Death Day and Freaky movies. Until then, Blumhouse holds multiple worlds of slasher stories that we can already get into!
4/5
Nahnatchka Khan’s Totally Killer streams tomorrow on Prime Video!
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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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