If I had a nickel for every time a slasher film was mixed with the romcom genre, I would have five nickels, which isn’t a lot but I’m shocked it happened five times. Heart Eyes is the most recent slasher film to come out and is also the most recent slasher to do a Valentine’s Day theme. The film is generally considered a fun and self-aware mashup of the romcom and slasher genres but some audience members say the film could’ve been better, with some people even writing it off as just another gorefest of a film. Is the film a good and entertaining slasher or just a disappointing gore show?
To give a short summary of the plot, our story begins with a couple being brutally murdered by a masked figure in a winery. It is through the news sequence that follows that the audience finds out that the killer is name Heart Eyes, a sadistic serial killer who targets couples on Valentine’s Day. We then cut to our main lead Ally McCabe, played by Olivia Holt, a pitch designer for a jewelry company who is ridiculed for a commercial she wrote involving couples in literature who’ve died like “Romeo and Juliet”, and, in light of the murders that have been happening, it’s obviously seen in bad taste. As if this wasn’t bad enough, she has also recently broken up with her boyfriend, and she is potentially under threat of being replaced by consulting advertiser Jay Simmonds, played by Mason Gooding. Things get even more awkward when Jay decides to ask Ally on a date on Valentine’s Day, and having been recently jaded by love, she’s not all that into the date. While leaving the restaurant, Ally spots her ex and kisses Jay in order to make him jealous, which doesn’t work. Unbeknownst to them, Heart Eyes saw them kiss and now has eyes set on his next victims. What follows is a series of fun murders, the main leads almost getting killed, romance, and a dose of dark humor. Oh, and there’s this detective side plot where a detective played by Jordana Brewster is trying to track down the Heart Eyes Killer and she ends up thinking it’s Jay. In terms of plot, it’s fine; it’s not exactly by the numbers but the movie isn’t going to win awards as one of the all-time great slasher films, but that doesn’t mean the plot isn’t fun because it very much is. Aside from the slasher story, the film is an amalgamation of several different romance stories such as the “meet cute”, “enemies to lovers,” and “the person whose heartbroken learning to love again” stories. Yet strangely they all somehow work mixed together and that’s not a complaint. However, the detective side plot is kind of forgettable and the whole plotline doesn’t become relevant until the last third. It kind of felt like it was put in the narrative in order to add padding to the film and add red herrings. Speaking of which, time to move onto the characters.
The characters of this film are pretty fun; they aren’t always the best, but they’re entertaining. Ally is the final girl of the film and she’s fine in the role. Of all the characters, she probably has the most going on with her and her romance with Jay isn’t bad. The actress also plays the role pretty well; she balances being jaded by love and being scared for her life pretty well, and her performance is fun as well. Jay is also pretty good; he wants to have a relationship with Ally but doesn’t try to push it onto her. The actor is pretty fun and bounces off well with Olivia Holt’s character. I’ll admit I’m not a romance guy, but the chemistry between them is honestly believable. The detective character is honestly the weakest character of the main three; aside from being played by Jordana Brewster, you barley remember anything about her. She and her plot don’t even become relevant until the final act. Then there’s the main antagonist of the film, Heart Eyes. Though his design isn’t the most unique thing, he’s honestly a pretty entertaining and memorable slasher villain. His worldbuilding is pretty good in this film as well. Instead of being a local boogeyman like Michael Myers or a ghost tale like Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger, he’s instead just a sadistic serial killer who has been terrorizing couples on Valentine’s Day for years simply for the fact that he enjoys it. He’s a perfect blend of being intimidating and being weirdly comedic with how over the top he is with his kills.
Aside from the characters, there are few positives I must give this film as well. The cinematography is pretty good; there’s a lot of enjoyable and creative shots in the film. The acting in the film is pretty good and you can tell the actors are having a ball with this film. Some of the music choices work well and not to mention, for a slasher film, the action scenes are pretty well choreographed. The gore, while brutal, is actually kept to a minimum surprisingly. Another large positive about the film that has been alluded to is that it’s just fun. It’s purely just dumb fun to watch and I love it. It’s cheesy but it’s cheesy in all the right ways. Plus, the film can be unintentionally funny.
However, the film isn’t without its faults. While unintentionally funny, it sometimes feels like the film tries too hard to be funny when attempting to be comedic. It also feels a little over reliant on swear humor; it’s not as egregious as other R-rated shows and films, but it is noticeable. The film can be predictable at certain parts and the twist is pretty bad. This is yet another slasher film where they feel the need to shove in a useless plot twist where the killer turned out to be another character. It could be that I’m just jaded to this kind of twist but, honestly, it shows up in so many slasher films as of late that it feels like they’re all trying to copy Scream. Thankfully though, it only feels like a Scream clone toward the end with the twist; the rest of the film is still pretty solid.
So, with all that being said, is the film a good and fun slasher or just a disappointing gore show? I am happy to say that it’s the former. While the film does fumble with some of the comedy and the final twist, it excels at being just a fun and overall enjoyable movie. When watching you can tell they didn’t try to half-ass the film; you can tell that they made this film with love. If you’re a slasher or romcom fan, I recommend this film because, as I said before numerous times, it’s generally an enjoyable film to watch.
