Spoilers ahead for Heart Eyes.
With horror fans currently showing Heart Eyes quite a bit of love, there might be no better time to shed some light on the largely forgotten Lovers Lane. Featuring Anna Faris in her first appearance in a full-length film, Lovers Lane was made in 1999 and released commercially on VHS the following year. And while Lovers Lane certainly didn’t achieve anything close to Heart Eyes’ positive reviews, it still makes for an interesting companion piece.
A basic summary of Lovers Lane would reveal notable similarities to Heart Eyes’ ending, as well as both films’ choice of murder targets, but it’s actually the differences between the two films that make them interesting to look at side by side. There’s even a noteworthy contrast between Anna Faris’ career and that of a particular member of Heart Eyes’ cast. But even without diving that far into the film, most casual viewers will immediately notice a key similarity in each movie’s basic premise.
Heart Eyes And Lovers Lane Both Feature Seattle-Based Valentine’s Killers Targeting Couples
They Even Target One Couple Each In Similar Locations
Much like HEK in Heart Eyes, “the Hook” from Lovers Lane begins the movie by attacking a couple on Valentine’s Day. The police quickly make an arrest, but he escapes thirteen years later to strike again. Since the Hook initially targets couples at the тιтular hookup spot, this leads to at least one attack quite similar to HEK’s memorable killing at the drive-in movie in Heart Eyes. But, much like HEK, the Hook does quite quickly move on to kill several non-coupled people who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s somewhat interesting that both movies also set their couple killers in Seattle, although viewers familiar with the area might not find it very recognizable in either film. Part of this is because Heart Eyes was actually sH๏τ in New Zealand instead of Washington. But while Lovers Lane was sH๏τ on-location, its use of primarily suburban shooting locations means that those who have only visited Seattle as tourists probably won’t be able to differentiate it from any other city.
Lovers Lane And Heart Eyes Use The Same Killer Idenтιтy Reveal In Different Ways
The Differences In Motive Are Actually Key To Each Movie’s Themes
One of the major comparisons between Heart Eyes and Scream is the twist revealing that there are multiple killers, but Heart Eyes is far from the first movie since Scream to include a similar twist. In fact, Heart Eyes and Lovers Lane both reveal the same number of killers. In the case of Heart Eyes, this reveal makes a certain amount of sense to the story. David and Detective Shaw are both lovers with the same kink for violence, while Eli is their fanboy. In Lovers Lane, the twist is a bit more complicated.
Ray Hennessey is technically the original Hook, but the other two killers have individual motivations that don’t much relate to him. Chloe kills two people before targeting her ex-boyfriend as payback for dumping her, but her father Jack’s motivations are more complex. It’s hard to say if Jack even qualifies as a copycat killer since he’s responsible for one of the killings on the night Ray was arrested. He’s now fueled by a lustful obsession with his first victim’s teenage daughter. The fact that later victims were also hooking up at lovers lane is more or less a coincidence.
Heart Eyes And Lovers Lane Swap The Concepts Of Love And Lust
Both Can Be Dangerously Unhealthy
The targeting of couples in Lovers Lane might often seem coincidental, but that’s because of an interesting twist in what drives the killers. Although Heart Eyes never fully establishes why HEK targets couples, it’s possible that David and Shaw simply prefer them because it reflects the fact that murder is a baked-in part of their marriage. But despite the sheer volume of Heart Eyes’ romance movie references, love has nothing to do with their actual motivation. They quite explicitly establish that killing is merely a Sєxual kink they share.
By contrast, many of the couples targeted in Lovers Lane aren’t even together romantically. One is having an affair, some are just hooking up, and protagonist Mandy is only at lovers Lane because a guy bet a friend he could get some that night and convinced Mandy that she couldn’t do any better. But while the couples aren’t romantic, the killers are motivated by a twisted obsession they’ve confused with love. Chloe is lovelorn after watching her ex flirt with Anna Faris, and Jack’s obsessed with Mandy because she looks exactly like her mother Harriet (his first victim).
Jack states that Ray was also obsessed with Harriet, but the reveal that Jack was her actual killer renders this claim unreliable.
Ray’s motives are the only potential outlier. He targets his victims’ children after escaping, seemingly to get revenge for their surviving parents’ role in his arrest, but his first killings remain more of a mystery. Jack states that Ray was also obsessed with Harriet, but the reveal that Jack was her actual killer renders this claim unreliable. It’s also suggested in a therapy session that Ray envied couples at lovers lane because he felt unloved, but this claim once again comes from Jack. But for at least two out of three killers, the theme of twisted love stands strong.
Devon Sawa And Anna Faris Also Share A Bizarre Acting Connection (With A Twist)
They Made Opposite Career Moves In The Exact Same Year
One of the more interesting contrasts between Heart Eyes and Lovers Lane is only evident from looking at the histories of the casts. Heart Eyes’ Devon Sawa should be pretty well-known to horror fans. He played multiple characters in the Child’s Play television series Chucky, appeared with Bruce Campbell in the horror comedy Black Friday, and gained significant recognition in the horror community for starring in 2000’s Final Destination. But the year before he became known for serious horror, he starred in the cult classic horror comedy Idle Hands.
Lovers Lane has a 27% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Interestingly, Lovers Lane’s Anna Faris moved in the opposite direction at the same time. Not only was she shooting her role as cheerleader Jannelle at the same time Sawa was appearing in Idle Hands, but the very next year she spoofed the genre in Scary Movie just a few months after Final Destination’s release. That may not have too much to do with Heart Eyes or Lovers Lane in a thematic sense, but it’s an interesting bit of trivia for those who appreciate both actors.
Lovers Lane Provides A Perfect Roadmap For Future Horror Comedies Like Heart Eyes
Older Horror Movies Could Be Goldmines For Comedy Writers
Although Lovers Lane is generally a straightforward take on an old campfire tale and not a horror comedy, it’s also a product of its time in several hilarious ways. It’s hard not to laugh at moments like Jannelle trying to clutch three knives at once to defend herself, or the incredible scene in which Half-Life’s Michael Shapiro watches two teens lustily grind each other in the middle of a crowded restaurant. There’s even a recurring bit that bizarrely suggests Ray’s primary motivation for breaking out of confinement wasn’t just revenge but also because he hated the food.
The more laughable moments in indie horror moments like this could be promising now that talents like Heart Eyes director Josh Ruben and screenwriter Christopher Landon have helped set horror comedy on a bit of a winning streak. Although they’ve more than proven they can strike gold with their own stories, remaking lesser-known films like Lovers Lane or simply using them as springboards to new ideas could easily reap a profit. By breathing fresh life into forgotten тιтles, their fans can enjoy newer films while also discovering a few older ones they might have missed.
