This movie ticked all the boxes for me. A genuinely funny whodunnit with some great suspense scenes and likeable characters everywhere you look. That's basically the summation of my ideal film. This one was a blast.

The time travel between 2023 and 1987 opens up some great opportunities for comedy, pointing out the differences between the two time periods. The film does a great job of taking advantage of these without over-doing it.

It's a film that finds a really good balance in almost all areas. For example, when you are balancing comedy and horror it can be easy to lean too far in one direction and take away from the other when those scenes come up. That isn't the case here. When the film is funny, it is funny. When it is trying to be suspenseful, it is suspenseful. One genre never feels like it gets in the way of the other.

The best thing this film has going for it though are the characters. Every single character in this movie is perfectly crafted. The ones who are meant to be likeable are extremely likeable. The ones who are meant to be despicable are truly despicable. There are no throwaway characters. Even the adults are well crafted and fleshed out.

'Totally Killer' was a great film to see in the cinema at Fantastic Fest on closing night. The audience all seemed to love it and I was right there with them having a great time myself. 9/10.

Fantastic Fest 2023 Greetings again from the darkness. All Hallows' Eve approaches, so we know to expect the latest from Blumhouse Productions. What we didn't expect was a rare blend of comedy, horror, science fiction, and time-travel wrapped in 1980's nostalgia. Director Nahnatchka Khan ("Fresh Off the Boat" creator) and a trio of co-writers, David Matalon, Sasha Perl-Raver, Jen D'Angelo (HOCUS POCUS 2, 2022), deliver a film that pays tribute to many that have come before, most notably BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) and HALLOWEEN (1978). Or maybe it's HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (2010) and SCREAM (1996). Either way, it's a good ride as we poke fun at the culture of 1987.

Jamie (Kiernan Shipka, "Mad Men") is a teenager fed up with her overprotective mom (Julie Bowen, "Modern Family"). However, this mom has history on her side when it comes to being protective. It's Halloween night, and thirty-five years ago, three girls in North Vernon, all friends of hers, were stabbed sixteen times. These days, the most popular Halloween costume in Vernon is that of the 'Sweet Sixteen Killer" ... all black attire and a creepy blonde mask (one that seems like we should recognize, but I didn't).

Of course, it's this year that the killer returns to claim another victim. While being pursued by the masked killer, Jamie heads to the rundown amusement park where the school science fair is set up. In my day, most science projects were done with a poster board and colored pens. Times have changed, and Jamie's smart friend Lauren (Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson) has transformed a photo booth into a time travel machine. Although it hasn't previously worked, the killer's knife plunging into the control panel sends Jamie back to 1987, where she meets her high school aged mother (Olivia Holt) and tries to prevent the original tragedy from ever occurring.

It's at this point that the nostalgia kicks in. Most would agree the 1980's was not a pretty time, and it's even more cringe-inducing now. Pam is in a 'Mean Girls' type group called The Mollys (because they worship 80's icon Molly Ringwald), and there are cracks about the music, the clothes, and cocaine. But the best part is seeing how Jamie is aghast at the insensitivity and lack of political correctness in the era. Security is so lax, she easily passes as a Canadian exchange student, and spends an inordinate amount time telling people they shouldn't say or do something that was commonplace in the 80's and outlawed these days.

The expected wise cracks counterbalance the violent murders, and for the most part, the film works just fine as an entertaining and fun trip down memory lane. As a bonus, it gives Kiernan Shipka a lead role that she can build upon.

Available on Prime Video beginning October 6, 2023.