There can honestly be no better way to spend V Day than watching Heart Eyes, the perfect blend of horror and romance. It’s got something for everyone: for the bitter singles, it’s got the appeal of brutal slayings of happy couples, for those of you who are loved-up it’s got a killer love story and the most unique date ideas (trying to take down a serial killer > dinner and a movie hands down). Written by the genius mind behind the 2017 hit Happy Death Day (and it’s 2019 sequel), as well as 2020’s Freaky, this movie was almost guaranteed to be a wild ride of horror and comedy. And it delivered.
Romance is dead and no couple is safe. The “Heart Eyes Killer”, a Jason Vorhees lookalike, but without the “mommy issues”, is stalking and killing couples on Valentine’s Day. It’s a simple premise of a girl very much not looking for love (Olivia Holt, Totally Killer) and a man very much open to the real deal (Mason Gooding, Scream V, Scream VI) accidentally meeting in the midst of the chaos of brutal killings of couples in love. It’s funny. It’s crazy. The kills had me laughing out loud because of their creativity. And that’s all I’ll say about it. Because you just need to see it for yourself.
Heart Eyes is hands down the best “romcom” I’ve ever seen. This is probably because my top genre is horror and this is obviously also a slasher, but it also plays beautifully on romance tropes including the “meet cute”, the work nemesis … you name it. But even the most cynical among you will enjoy these moments because they are also infused with the slasher tropes we all know and love. It’s truly got something for everyone. While there was an element of predictability, Heart Eyes doesn’t take itself or even the kills too seriously and that is precisely why it was so good. Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding were perfect for this unique blend of romance and horror, and the combination of genres makes it the perfect choice for date night. It felt like a refreshing start to a year of promising horror movies.
