Horror fans are in their element this year. 2024 ended on a high with Nosferatu and, since then, there’s been a near constant supply of spine-tinglers, from future classics like Sinners, which is still packing them in at the cinema, to the tongue-in-cheek thrills of The Monkey and the pared-down terror of Leigh Whannel’s Wolf Man re- boot.
Those two have already landed on streaming and today [Thursday, May 8] sees the arrival on Netflix in the US of a horror which mischievously loves to twist and stretch the genre. It's Heart Eyes.
The title gives away the romantic element in Josh Ruben’s movie but, with a comedy background including The Late Late Show and fan favorite Werewolves Within (2021) in pole position on his directing resume, it’s no surprise that Heart Eyes is a genre mash-up, with the emphasis very much on fun. It's certainly one for our best movies on Netflix round-up.
The movie's title is also the media name for a serial killer who only shows up on Valentine's Day and in a different city each time. It's year three and his choice is a surprisingly dry and sunny Seattle. Having already brutally killed several loved-up couples, he spots his next targets, Ally (Olivia Holt) and Jay (Mason Gooding, Scream VI, Fall) but he’s got something wrong: they’re work colleagues, not lovers.
Not that they have the chance to explain things, as he mercilessly goes after them, slaughtering anybody else who gets in his way with as much blood and gore as the make-up team can muster. As the death toll mounts, Ally and Jay decide there’s only one thing to do. Turn the tables and kill the killer.
While the movie was released in the US the week before Valentine’s Day and landed in British cinemas on the day itself, the romance is essentially there to hold the story together. This is essentially a horror-comedy, proving yet again not only that horror itself is easily one of the most versatile genres around, but also that it has a sense of humor.
True, it’s flexible and strong enough to explore whatever takes a filmmaker's fancy, from mental illness to religion to ….. well, just pick your subject. But that humour can range from the broadest of the broad, as in Cocaine Bear (2023), to the genre-specific in the original version of What We Do In The Shadows (2014), taking in anything and everything in between. No wonder it has so many fans and there are no signs of its popularity diminishing. It’s quite the opposite.
Don't expect to be scared
One of the most endearing things about Heart Eyes is that it knows exactly what it is.
A B movie slasher comedy. Telling its story with a knowing twinkle in its eye and shamelessly poking fun at other movies, it doesn't boast any big names in the cast: Mason Gooding is as close as you’ll get. At no point does it show any signs of taking itself seriously. That’s just as well, as it’s not a movie for the audience to take seriously either. There are times when it gleefully descends into farce and the nods towards other titles are both verbal and visual.
As the murderer rampages through a drive-in movie, the film on show is 1940 comedy classic, His Girl Friday, with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in glorious black and white. Ruben deftly allows the camera to glance back at Russell's expressions, so it looks like she’s commenting on the carnage happening under her nose. It's a touch of pure class.
But there's one thing you shouldn't expect and that's to be scared. It's not an especially frightening film — that's not the intention — and at the very most, you’ll wince occasionally. This is all about gory enjoyment and poking fun at a multitude of targets. The cast are completely in on the joke right from the first frame, so all you have to do is join in with them. After all, it would be rude not to.
Heart Eyes is on Netflix now in the US. You can rent it via Prime Video in the UK.
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