BACK TO THE FUTURE is one of the most beloved and celebrated films of the 20th century. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies, one I’ve seen countless times and could watch many more times. But what if Marty McFly’s accidental time travel dropped him in the middle of a slasher murder mystery? That is the premise of TOTALLY KILLER, a new meta-horror-comedy that’s completely aware of its inspiration and uses it to guide the story.Â
Kiernan Shipka (CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, MAD MEN) plays Jamie, a typical teenager in 2023. Always on her phone and barely speaking to her over-protective parents (Julie Bowen, Lochlyn Munro), a tragedy turns Jamie’s world upside down on Halloween night. From there, TOTALLY KILLER goes the way of our favorite time-travel story from 1985. Our heroine has to overcome numerous obstacles with the help of a burgeoning scientist to save herself and her family and get…back to the future!Â
As I mentioned above, TOTALLY KILLER is absolutely aware that it’s borrowing heavily from a timeless classic. Jamie not only mentions it several times throughout the movie but also uses it as her “Grays Sports Almanac” to help her solve a series of murders that plagued her town in the 80s and again in the present day. This film won’t get mentioned in any “Best Of” lists, but it’s a fun and funny comedy-horror that drops more pop-culture references than the original SCREAM. Shipka, who was only eight years old when she first starred as Don & Betty Draper’s daughter on MAD MEN, is almost 24 years old and has successfully transitioned from child actor to leading lady.
The mystery in TOTALLY KILLER is surprisingly clever, but the film just doesn’t quite go far enough to warrant me giving this an EXPERIENCE NOW. Outside of the killings, the subject matter is far more mature than BTTF ever was, with copious amounts of f-bombs, blood, and talk of teenage sexual activities. As much as it harkens back to films like PRETTY IN PINK, HEATHERS, the SCREAM franchise, and BTTF, it never comes close to being an instant classic. But hey, it’s Halloween time, and TOTALLY KILLER is still totally entertaining.
TOTALLY KILLER is streaming on Prime Video.Â
