Throughout Josh RubenS Brilliant New Valentine’s Day Slasher ”Heart eyes“Potential suspects and the victims refer to real romantic comedies. “My best friend’s wedding.” “Crazy stupid love.” “Pretty Woman.” Anything Your preferred chicken girl -In combination with predator-prey mania by the “my bloody valentine” (and just a touch of the silverness in “Scream 6”) – It should be enough to force you against this fuzzy and graphic whodunit. It is a freaky celebration confirming holiday horror, if it has ever left, is so Back and a prominent performance in the deceitfully dense category of recent romance of genre comedy.
Stupid, lick and self -conscious, the latest farce from “Werewolves within” Director is laughingly loudly fun and boasts with Pops by Gore serving the comparison with Eli Roth’s “Thanksgiving.” Although the killer Pilgrim film from 2023 is more stomach crushing than Rubens filmThis nutty mixture of hyper violence and one-liners is a dark comic delicacy. Characters choke down blood like chocolate and the zippy script (written by Phillip Murphy and Christopher Landon & Michael Kennedy) pairs with two charismatic joints. And in a universe where chemistry is a deadly responsibility, the stars Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding will put you on the edge of your place – or maybe your date lap – faster than you can say “Meat sweet.”
A marketer for a jewelry company, Ally McCabe (Holt) sees that her career collides with real criminal headlines when “Heart Eyes Killer” (“HEK” arrives too short) arrives at Seattle. An evil villain known to attack couples on February 14, the masked killer sent more than a dozen people between Boston and Philadelphia. Unfortunately, news about the tragic events approved to reach our heroine before her ridiculous manager (Michaela Watkins) approved a star -crossed lover theme for their brand’s national advertising campaign. The murderous advertising, which is affected as much by Ally’s unfortunate dating life as everything else, puts her on the receiving end of an involuntary rescue from the damn freelancer/”Consumer Cupid” Jay Simmonds (GOODING) just hours from Big V.
In general, you should avoid being linked to the most equivalent characters in a horror movie. They do not often die first, but they tend to die eventually. And who does it need heart damage? Resistance is meaningless when it comes to the unfortunate birds of love in “heart eyes”, as the budding relationship between the reluctant allies and Suave Jay with confidence focuses on the importance of a literal massacre. Their adorable office-born romance mutates from a will-de-won’t-they to a deadly could-de-shop. Caught somewhere between an upper crust Netflix Rom-Com and a modern “scary film”, the couple is not forced to flee and handle their obvious attraction to each other at the same time. Will a secret kiss on the sidewalk put the so -called “colleagues” in HEK’s cross chair? Smooch was just a tactic to make alliance ex jealous, apparentlyBut such a sudden and spectacular view of passion puts them on a collision course with local authorities.
Detects Hobbs (Devon Sawa) and Shaw (Jordana Brewster) – strong challengers for the best of the year Joking character name – Pick through clues with all the urgency of a school child who deciputes a crusher via flower ceiling blades. The useless law enforcement can be overplayed in some minor horror movies to lose the tension. But when Shaw sweeps through a dating app in the middle of a blood -soaked crime scene, “Heart Eyes” establishes its unique and playful tone. Whether Ally’s Best Friend Monica (Gigi Zumbado) chatting about her arthritis-plated Sugar Daddy, or Ally and Jay Find for a moment to almost Kiss after almost Being killed grows the clash between light and dark steadily more funny. Turns wild between beats that makes you laugh and then scream, the chaos in “heart eyes” builds steadily without humor growing out of date or falling too much fear.
The editor Brett W. Bachman (“Mandy”, “Pig”) keeps the pace at just the right speed in dialogue scenes that can turn too close to a psychotic “Gilmore Girls” otherwise. Several impressive monologues, including a cynical diatribe from allied in a restaurant that foundes much of the first act, shows Ruben’s ability to keep his actors in the same film. The incredible leading lady is complex enough to seriously sell the emotional arc of a woman who is criminally unhappy in love, while Jay is a hopeless ideal who is immediately interested in her but has enough self -respect to remain sexy. Punny jokes from minor characters (think ”I’ll finish you – on yelp! “) evoke the strange joy of a twisted greeting card, but the midpoint relationship is refreshingly and authentic.
The perfect length for a first date, “heart eyes” has a dazzling plot that Going places Quickly. It is a very empty trick you want to see is drawn twice, but Ruben can do well to think about this world’s visual style if it turns into a commitment to several films. The hekworm design, which matches a demented emoji, is haunting and neon flourishes around the literal hearts makes it for a threatening “silence in lamb” basement effect. And yet, for some reason, the director chooses to embrace a kind of gray winterness over the rest of the film which is atmospheric by “My Bloody Valentine” but makes a sometimes read appearance. (With so much pink and red at your disposal, I’m just not sure why you would let a story this colorful look so … bland?)
More rose than towers and more situation than -ship, “heart eyes” will still be love at first glance for audiences drawn to favorites like “warm bodies”, “Lisa Frankenstein,” “Heathers” and more. Riffing the often sexist tropics in the romance genre while exploring the controversial nature of the slasher genre is a difficult task. And yet Ruben turns the grizzly trial into a movie so screaming nice that you will not only root for his main characters to survive, but you will welcome the director’s smiling-inducing como with open arms. About films like “Halloween” (2018) have taught us something, it is that happily ever after not always possible for characters in a horror movie. With “heart eyes” it is a particularly bitter -sweet reality – but a fantastic excuse for a sequel audience, who will almost certainly want. Ally and Jay may turn out to be too good for characters to do it in the morning, but Ruben’s latest film officially launches the director as a horror comedy’s snappy new boyfriend.
Rating: B+
From Screen Gems and Spyglass Media Group is “Heart Eyes” in theaters across the country on February 7.
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