The Amazon Prime Video slasher movie Totally Killer has a great title that draws the audience in, and the ending is as funny and memorable as the rest of the story. Starring Kiernan Shipka and Julie Bowen, the movie adds something new to this popular horror subgenre and has a particularly clever and hilarious script.
2022 was a particularly compelling year for horror movies, thanks to releases like Smile, Scream, and Barbarian. 2023 has had a few unforgettable films and started off strong with Blumhouse's killer doll M3GAN. Totally Killer's great performances and clever ending both prove that this is one of the best horror movies that has been released in 2023.
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What Is Totally Killer About?
The premise of Totally Killer is enough to draw any slasher fan in right away. Like other great teen horror comedies, the main character feels fresh yet familiar enough. Kiernan Shipka's character Jamie Hughes is a regular teenager trying to live a regular life in the small town of Vernon. She lives with the knowledge that her mother Pam (Julie Bowen) lost three of her best friends in high school to the Sweet 16 Killer who brutally murdered them. The movie opens on Halloween night, which is one of the best settings for any horror movie. When Pam is killed in her home while handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, it becomes clear that the killer is back and no one is safe.
When Jamie's best friend Amelia Creston (Kelcey Mawema) builds a time machine that transports Jamie back to 1987, Jamie does her best to save Pam's three friends from death in the hopes that her own mother will be okay. As Jamie tries to stop the murders of Heather Hernandez (Anna Diaz), Marisa Song (Stephi Chin-Salvo) and Tiffany Clark (Liana Liberato), she realizes that this will be harder than she thought.
While The Butterfly Effect and its shocking ending is often the clearest example of a time travel thriller, Totally Killer is worth watching because it feels fresh yet familiar enough. Slasher fans will love the '80s setting, the fact that it's a horror movie with a smart main character, and the funny, witty script. There are also plenty of heartwarming moments between Jamie and her parents, particularly her father Blake (Lochlyn Munro) who wants to spend time with Jamie but understands that she doesn't find him cool anymore.
What Are Other Time Travel Horror Movies?
There are several great horror movies that tell unique and compelling time travel stories. These films are proof that while some time travel movies have strange machines, sometimes characters end up going back to the past without a machine at all.
One of the best picks is the popular Blumhouse film Happy Death Day, which was released in 2017. Fans would love a Happy Death Day 3 because both the original and the 2019 sequel Happy Death Day 2U were so beloved. In the first movie, Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) is murdered by the Babyface Killer and keeps going back in time to the day of her death.
The Final Girls is another solid time travel horror movie. In this film, teenage Max Cartwright (Taissa Farmiga) ends up in the 1980s slasher movie Camp Bloodbath, which starred her late mother Amanda (Malin Akerman). The Final Girls includes a clever twist on the subgenre, and the main characters are in a time loop that they have to get out of. The 2014 movie Time Lapse is another good pick for those looking for this subgenre. Several friends find a time travel machine that proves to be more trouble than it's worth.
How Does Totally Killer End?
The ending of Totally Killer proves that when a character changes the past, it's going to change the future in ways that they didn't anticipate. This is a rule that is always present in the best sci-fi time travel movies. Jamie switches up the timeline because she saves Marissa and Heather is then murdered.
When teenage Kara (Ella Choi) hurts the Sweet 16 Killer at the amusement park in Vernon, the killer turns out to be Doug Summers (Nathaniel Appiah). He wanted to kill Pam's three friends because they gave his girlfriend Trish alcohol and she then got into a fatal car crash. The characters realize that there is another Sweet 16 Killer and Jamie learns that it's Pam's friend and true crime podcast host Chris Dubusage (Jonathan Potts). It turns out that Chris killed Pam so he could talk about it on his podcast, which is heartbreaking and horrible. Jamie murders Chris and saves herself.
The Sweet 16 Killer is one of the best teen horror movie villains since he has a memorable mask and is motivated by revenge. While this isn't always the case, Totally Killer thankfully explains the killer's reasons, which makes the ending satisfying.
When Jamie comes back to the present timeline, she is thrilled that her mother Pam is there, too. But in a hilarious twist, Jamie is Colette and she has a brother named Jamie, thanks to the fact that her mom and dad began dating sooner than they were supposed to. The Totally Killer ending proves that this movie is smart, entertaining, and adds something new to the crowded time travel genre. There should definitely be more slashers that explore time travel tropes with humor.