I'm glad I went in knowing absolutely nothing about it; I thought it was just going to be a vaguely humorous slasher movie so I was very pleasantly surprised!

It was a fun ride from beginning to end that kept me engaged the whole time. The cast is doing a great job and the script has enough originality paired with poking fun at its own clichés that it doesn't feel like reheating the same formula. And the script manages to keep us guessing for the most part of the movie, if not until the end.

So all in all this was a great unexpected find and I do recommend it, especially as an alternative to the usual scary movies for spooky season.

In this era of 1980s/90s nostalgia and wistfully looking back at "simpler times", what could be better than a time-travel horror/comedy back to 1987?! Well, it turns out the answer to that question is "just about anything", as "Totally Killer" is pretty much DOA after a promising first 10-or-so minutes.

For a very basic overview, "Totally Killer" sees modern-day (circa 2023) teen Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) time-travel back to 1987--the same year a string of grisly murders took place in her hometown. With the help of her young mother (Olivia Holt), Jamie sets out to stop the mystery murderer--and not screw up the timeline too badly in the process.

After what I found to be a pretty interesting setup, it quickly becomes clear that director Nahnatchka Khan is going for a glib, ironic tone here. The problem, however, is that "Totally Killer" also wants to be a legitimate time-travel flick and a horror movie--and none of those things mesh well with each other. Essentially, the film tries to ambitiously tackle a great many genre conventions and doesn't land the execution of any of them.

Though a clear acting talent and one capable of being the lead here, it is a little sad to see Shipka in such a dud. Perhaps this star vehicle and exposure, at the very least, will vault her to bigger and better things.

I rarely give a movie under 3 stars--it has to achieve a "I can't believe I watched the whole thing" vibe for that. Sadly, that is exactly where "Totally Killer" landed for me. I stuck it out until the end for some 80s music and visuals, but I can't say I was ever invested in one iota of what was transpiring on screen after the first 10-15 minutes.