Directed By Josh Ruben

Starring – Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Devon Sawa

The Plot – For the past several years, the “Heart Eyes Killer” has wreaked havoc on Valentine’s Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine’s Day, no couple is safe….

Rated R for strong violence and gore, adult language and some sexual content.

HEART EYES – Official Trailer (HD)

POSITIVES

Imagine a dominant romantic comedy stumbled upon a cutthroat slasher already in progress, and you’d have “Heart Eyes”, a film not above poking fun at the aforementioned genre and all of its tacky and reheated cliches that tie so many of its movies together. That’s not to say that it’s not fun, as the structures and set-ups to a romantic comedy surprisingly work effectively well to a whodunnit? that just so happens to take place on Valentine’s Day, with the surrounding traditionalism of the holiday taking shape sleeplessly in Seattle, it’s just that the script takes ample opportunity with its dialogue, presentation and development to mirror a lot of those silly and surreal circumstances, allowing the comedy to breathe throughout some tense interactions that intentionally feel overly dramatic to take at face value. This wouldn’t even be compelling if not for the magic in chemistry shared between Holt and Gooding, which not only helps to transcend some of its conventional characterization in respective outlines, but beyond that elicits a constant fun factor to the engagement that seemingly grows all the more complex with each forthcoming development, with the actors very much involved in the self-awareness of Ruben’s direction, in order to elicit charisma that make each of them such commanding forces of nature. This is especially the case for Mason Gooding, who fresh off of a trio of movies in the Scream franchise proves he’s anything but a one trick pony, supplanting Jay with a charming cadence and bravado that feels like the T-1000 of all romantic comedy love interests, but beyond that an endearing humanity that constantly taps into the frustrations and exhaustion of planning the perfect night. Holt is no slouch herself, as Ally is very much the manifestation of broken heart trauma that makes her skeptical about the holiday, but never with approach that feels self-wallowing to her lonely captivity, instead servicing a driven and resilient heroine who simultaneously opens up to love’s possibilities while battling a deranged killer who targets happy couples. On the subject of that titular antagonist, the design and intensity of this killer is simplistic yet effective towards illustrating their vitriolic rage, particularly in the absorbing qualities of the sound designs not only conveying impending doom with the killer’s rhythmic marching, but also in the heft that they articulate such impactfully unforgiving blows upon their opposition. While the script utilizes its kills sparingly enough in the pacing of the product, the creativity and macabre of some stunning practical effects work made them feel all the more revolting, especially in that Ruben’s direction refuses to spare a single second of opportunity to enact the R-rated captivity that makes this film feel unapologetically adult. As to where past titans of terror stuck to one means of weaponry for their carnage candy, Heart Eyes utilizes several, in everything from cross-bow to even tire iron to slay victims, and it gives this killer an intelligence to spontaneity that allows them to think quickly on their feet, but beyond that affords never-ending freedom to the movie’s brain-trust to carve up some ruthlessly volatile means of devastation that can always be felt as suddenly and sporadic as a silent assassin can muster. Beyond this, I found the pacing of the first two thirds of the movie to practically fly by with undeterred velocity, but never in ways that I felt compromised the story that was being told within the script. It starts with an introduction that wastes little time in getting the blood of the audience pumping, and then from there transitions into the developing dynamic between Ally and Jay, which with a movie practically spoofing its own subgenre feels like it could weave into one of many directions throughout the narrative. The mystery of the killer’s identity certainly plays into this factor, as two people falling in love alongside a killing spree feels more than a little alarming for the people involved, but even in scenes away from the killer’s clutches, I found myself legitimately invested to the ebbs and flows of this couple’s evolving dynamic, particularly when the ice between their career objectives is broken, and they can begin to start appreciating one another for the people they are, instead of the titles they brandish. Neither character is exactly reinventing the wheel of compelling protagonists, but their sensibilities towards being driven to open themselves up to the possibilities of loving and being loved by somebody else certainly give the audience something to invest in when the slashes and gashes go absent, proving its script to have a lot more depth than your typical slasher, with the horror, romance and comedy of the clashing each earning a palpable influence towards the movie’s integrity.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, an overlong and drawn-out third act outlined more than a few glaring issues to the movie’s appeal, particularly that of the killer’s identity and big reveal, which emit one of the most silently disappointing deliveries in whodunnit? slasher films that I can remember in some time. Part of this issue certainly stems with only firmly developing and following two characters, as anyone who isn’t them won’t conjure the same kind of devastating impact in surprising betrayal, but I think the even bigger issue is its overwhelming predictability, which I was able to correctly nail down as a result of one scene during the middle of the movie that stood out like a sore thumb with the unneeded arrival of one particular character. Because of the way that the production focuses intently on this one scene in order to make it feel as unnatural and uncomfortable as possible, it feels like the script shows its cards long before it ever gets a chance to sit at the table, and while the big reveal left more to be desired, the convoluted nature of its expansion and explanation for motive halted the movie’s otherwise smoothly seamless pacing to a grinding halt that made the last twenty minutes feel like an eternity. Aside from the mystery and killer reveal, I found the comedy to compromise the integrity of the suspense and urgency factors that so many of these physical conflicts needed before showing off their gruesome kills. While I previously commended the gags to humble and humanize the vulnerabilities of the characters in giving themselves over to the possibilities of love, I found the tonal shifts from comedy to horror feeling as abruptly forced and improper as necessary, especially in the way the humor utilizes spoofing a subgenre in ways that make it difficult to take any conflict or resolution at face value. Creative kills are certainly a meaningful measure to make any killer menacing, but the chase leading up to those kills are severely underrated when it comes to the appreciation from an audience, and while I can certainly commend a movie for wanting to simultaneously spoof a subgenre while giving gore-gorging couples a chance to feast on carnage candy, it feels like too much ambition for a movie that is better served in simplicity, making the comedy, while effective in its intention, feel like the third wheel in a relationship between romance and horror that worked surprisingly in the movie’s favor. Finally, it can be expected that stupidity continuously lingers in slasher movies, but I found so many of the elements that the audience are being asked to believe in the script to be downright distracting, with a few spoiler-free instances deserving of focus. The first comes from some of the dumbest police officers that I have ever seen in a movie, with one mislabeling the killer when evidence literally in front of her plainly spells out otherwise. The other one stems from the idea that the city of Seattle, knowing and publicizing that a serial killer is on the loose in their city, would continue on with a life-risking Valentine’s Day festival involving hundreds of couples on hand to celebrate. While irresponsible decisions like these have always been a part of horror movies, the idea that this killer distinctly hates couples pits them directly in the path of devastation, and as can be expected the scene becomes a tiger being let loose in a cage of rabbits, feeling simultaneously like a P.R nightmare to the city, as well as logic lapse in the script, which was better served to be avoided all together.

OVERALL
“Heart Eyes” is an entertainingly hearty hybrid of romantic comedy and slasher horror, that, with its combination of viscerally gruesome gore and stomach-churning practical effects proves that love hurts harder than anything. Despite a predictably bland and inconsequential big reveal, as well as intrusive humor that directly undercuts the suspense and tension factors of slasher splendor, the film is elevated immensely by the magnetic charisma and chemistry of Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding’s next level turns, proving its heart is in the right place, even if its head is constantly wandering

My Grade: 6.8 or C+