Now that 2025’s slasher rom-com hybridHeart Eyeshas proven a huge hit, there is no better time to revisit star Olivia Holt’s acclaimed earlier horror comedyTotally Killerfrom 2 years ago. AlthoughHeart Eyes 2is unlikely to happenthanks to the movie’s self-contained story, that doesn’t mean that the slasher comedy isn’t a big success.Heart Eyes’ positive reviewsprove that the movie’s mixture of slasher horror and romantic comedy was an unlikely hit with critics.
This should not be too surprising since screenwriter Christopher Landon pulled off a similar trick with 2017’s superbHappy Death Day.Heart Eyes’ twist endingmight be a lot bloodier than the climax of that earlier slasher riff, but both movies successfully blend slasher tropes with a rom-com plot to great effect. The critical and commercial success ofHappy Death Dayresulted in a slew of slasher comedies in the years since, includingHappy Death Day 2 U,There’s Someone Inside Your House,Bodies Bodies Bodies,Thanksgiving,Totally Killer,Scream 2022,Scream VI, and It’s A Wonderful Knife.
Olivia Holt Was In The Sci-Fi Slasher Totally Killer Before Headlining Heart Eyes
Holt Has Now Appeared In Two Slasher Comedy Hybrids In Three Years
Not only didHeart Eyesleading man Mason Gooding appear in bothScream 2022andScream VI, but the movie’s heroine, Olivia Holt, also starred in another recent slasher comedy hybrid.2023’sTotally Killeris an earlier slasher comedy that starsHeart Eyes’ Olivia Holt, although her Final Girl is more complicated in this time-twisting spoof.Totally Killerstars Kiernan Shipka as Jamie, a teenager who goes back in time to stop a serial killer from murdering her mother’s friends in high school.
Heart Eyes Successfully Borrows Two Tricks From A $900 Million Slasher Franchise
While Heart Eyes' twist ending is ingeniously smart, the slasher rom-com’s finale does borrow two clever twists from the iconic Scream franchise.
Jamie’s mother Pam is played byModern Familystar Julie Bowen in the early scenes ofTotally Killer, but her younger self is played by Holt. In a clever subversion of slasher conventions, Holt plays the younger Pam as a thoughtless snob rather than a typically sweet, caring Final Girl. Jamie spends most ofTotally Killer’s runtime trying to convince her popular mother to give her the time of day before the latter half of director Nahnatchka Khan’s movie ramps up the bloodshed.
Totally Killer Is Currently Streaming On Prime Video
Totally Killer’s Inventive Slasher Story Is Perfect For Horror Fans
Totally Killeris a fun, clever riff on ‘80s slasher moviesthat blends time travel adventure and teen comedy with some surprisingly nasty kills. LikeHeart Eyes’ slasher story, the plot ofTotally Killeris played straight as the movie’s characters provide a steady stream of funny one-liners but the gore and suspense remain deadly serious. Over time, Jamie’s friendship with her future mother becomes unexpectedly sweet and Holt impresses in a role that requires her to be alternately cold and imperious, quietly introspective, and comically naive.
AlthoughHeart Eyesmakes Holt a full-blown Final Girl,Totally Killergave the star an earlier run at slasher heroism. Pam sharing the role of Final Girl with Jamie means both Shipka and Holt get a chance to flex their comedic timing and their dramatic muscles, resulting in an unlikely mother/daughter bond that is as touching as it is frequently hilarious. That said, not all ofTotally Killer’s twists work, and the ending’s killer reveal pales in comparison toHeart Eyes’ twist ending.
Totally Killer & Heart Eyes Solidify Olivia Holt As A Great Scream Queen
Holt’s Comedy Stylings Gel Well With Slasher Stories
However, for fans of self-aware slasher movies,Totally Killeris as fun as 2012’sDetention, 2018’sYou Might Be The Killer, or 2015’sThe Final Girls. Moreover,Totally Killeroffered Holt her first opportunity to impress audiences as a modern-day scream queen.Heart Eyessolidifies Holt’s status as a great contemporary scream queenwho can stand alongside Melissa Barrera, Samara Weaving, or Maika Monroe, butTotally Killerput viewers on to the future star first.
Long-time fans of slasher spoofs will also be glad to seeScary Moviesupporting star Lochlyn Munro put in a cameo role as Pam’s older father, whileScream VI’s Liana Liberato plays one of Pam’s ill-fated friends. Shipka also appeared alongside Munro inRiverdaleas well asChilling Adventures of Sabrinabefore starring inTotally Killer, although Holt’s earlier career is less horror-centric.
Holt also starred in Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger and played a main role in the teen drama series Cruel Summer in 2021.
BeforeTotally Killer, Holt was best known for the teen comediesClass RankandStatus Update, as well as the children’s filmsGnome AloneandTrouble. She also starred in Marvel’sCloak & Daggerand played a main role in the teen drama seriesCruel Summerin 2021. Technically, her first horror movie came when she starred in the Disney Channel original movieGirl Vs Monsterin 2012 at the age of 15, but it is fair to say thatTotally KillerandHeart Eyeswere the titles that made her a modern scream queen.
