Possible spoilers below!
A not-very gory good time with a few decent kills thrown in! The time travel element is certainly not new (in fact, both "Back to the Future" and "Avengers: Endgame" are explicitly mentioned by the heroine) but still well worth a watch. Although superficially similar to "The Final Girls" (2015), the two plots are dissimilar enough that I didn't feel like I was watching a rip-off. This film is also more explicitly comedic than "The Final Girls" (although, yes, that one has its moments, too). In fact, toneally this really reminded me of the underrated "Freaky" (2020). That film screened back to back with this one would be one hell of a double feature for ages 14 and up, actually.
Actors are all solid, particularly the young women playing the 1987 versions of the characters.
Kills are very '80s slasher style: brutal but not particularly explicit. Not a lot of suspense otherwise. I honestly think the filmmakers were consciously choosing the comedic beats over thrilling ones.
Costume and set design were stellar!!! As someone who was indeed in high school in the year in which this film is set, trust me, nothing about the 1980s gets made fun of here that doesn't well deserve being made fun of, or that we Gen Xers don't already make fun of, like, all the time.
There were even a few good plot twists I didn't see coming.
And, hey, is it me, or is the killer's mask a loose rendition of "David," the vampire character played by Keifer Sutherland in 1987's "The Lost Boys"? The moulded hair and earring would seem to suggest it: would be awesome if true!
A not-very gory good time with a few decent kills thrown in! The time travel element is certainly not new (in fact, both "Back to the Future" and "Avengers: Endgame" are explicitly mentioned by the heroine) but still well worth a watch. Although superficially similar to "The Final Girls" (2015), the two plots are dissimilar enough that I didn't feel like I was watching a rip-off. This film is also more explicitly comedic than "The Final Girls" (although, yes, that one has its moments, too). In fact, toneally this really reminded me of the underrated "Freaky" (2020). That film screened back to back with this one would be one hell of a double feature for ages 14 and up, actually.
Actors are all solid, particularly the young women playing the 1987 versions of the characters.
Kills are very '80s slasher style: brutal but not particularly explicit. Not a lot of suspense otherwise. I honestly think the filmmakers were consciously choosing the comedic beats over thrilling ones.
Costume and set design were stellar!!! As someone who was indeed in high school in the year in which this film is set, trust me, nothing about the 1980s gets made fun of here that doesn't well deserve being made fun of, or that we Gen Xers don't already make fun of, like, all the time.
There were even a few good plot twists I didn't see coming.
And, hey, is it me, or is the killer's mask a loose rendition of "David," the vampire character played by Keifer Sutherland in 1987's "The Lost Boys"? The moulded hair and earring would seem to suggest it: would be awesome if true!