Now that 2025’s slasher rom-com hybrid Heart Eyes has proven a huge hit, there is no better time to revisit star Olivia Holt’s acclaimed earlier horror comedy Totally Killer from 2 years ago. Although Heart Eyes 2 is unlikely to happen thanks to the movie’s self-contained story, that doesn’t mean that the slasher comedy isn’t a big success. Heart Eyes’ positive reviews prove 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 superb Happy Death Day. Heart Eyes’ twist ending might 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 of Happy Death Day resulted in a slew of slasher comedies in the years since, including Happy 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 did Heart Eyes leading man Mason Gooding appear in both Scream 2022 and Scream VI, but the movie’s heroine, Olivia Holt, also starred in another recent slasher comedy hybrid. 2023’s Totally Killer is an earlier slasher comedy that stars Heart Eyes’ Olivia Holt, although her Final Girl is more complicated in this time-twisting spoof. Totally Killer stars 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.
Jamie’s mother Pam is played by Modern Family star Julie Bowen in the early scenes of Totally 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 of Totally 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 Killer is a fun, clever riff on ‘80s slasher movies that blends time travel adventure and teen comedy with some surprisingly nasty kills. Like Heart Eyes’ slasher story, the plot of Totally Killer is played straight as the movie’s characters provide a steady stream of funny one-liners but the gore and suspense remain ᴅᴇᴀᴅly 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.
Although Heart Eyes makes Holt a full-blown Final Girl, Totally Killer gave 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 of Totally Killer’s twists work, and the ending’s killer reveal pales in comparison to Heart 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 Killer is as fun as 2012’s Detention, 2018’s You Might Be The Killer, or 2015’s The Final Girls. Moreover, Totally Killer offered Holt her first opportunity to impress audiences as a modern-day scream queen. Heart Eyes solidifies Holt’s status as a great contemporary scream queen who can stand alongside Melissa Barrera, Samara Weaving, or Maika Monroe, but Totally Killer put viewers on to the future star first.
Long-time fans of slasher spoofs will also be glad to see Scary Movie supporting star Lochlyn Munro put in a cameo role as Pam’s older father, while Scream VI’s Liana Liberato plays one of Pam’s ill-fated friends. Shipka also appeared alongside Munro in Riverdale as well as Chilling Adventures of Sabrina before starring in Totally 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.
Before Totally Killer, Holt was best known for the teen comedies Class Rank and Status Update, as well as the children’s films Gnome Alone and Trouble. She also starred in Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger and played a main role in the teen drama series Cruel Summer in 2021. Technically, her first horror movie came when she starred in the Disney Channel original movie Girl Vs Monster in 2012 at the age of 15, but it is fair to say that Totally Killer and Heart Eyes were the тιтles that made her a modern scream queen.
