We鈥檒l know at Halloween if Heart Eyes has legs.
The featured villain in the horror comedy 鈥淗eart Eyes鈥 has a mask with light-up hearts in the eye sockets.
If those are popular costumes this fall, the films are good for at least 10 years, even though the premise is silly.
Unlike Michael Myers, Freddie Krueger, Ghostface and other lasting killers, the guilty one in this wasn鈥檛 traumatized as a child or spurned as a high school kid. He just lashes out at happy couples, specifically on Valentine鈥檚 Day.
To set him apart from other serial killers, he goes after a couple in the throes of their proposal (in a field, no less) and gets the story going.
Then, the plot turns to an advertising exec who has created a questionable campaign for a jewelry company. She has an eye on ill-fated romances, but no one thinks it鈥檚 a workable idea. A ringer is brought in to help and soon the two are in situations that would send a red flag to Heart Eyes.
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Sure enough, the electric killer loads his dart gun and starts tracking.
Where 鈥淗eart Eyes鈥 loses is in its ability to mix humor and horror. Others have done it (particularly 鈥淪cream鈥), but this often drifts into a Hallmark concept of Halloween. The laughs aren鈥檛 clever enough to temper the horror; the horror isn鈥檛 quick enough to blunt the mild titters.
Mason Gooding, a 鈥淪cream鈥 veteran, plays Jay, the advertising hot shot deployed to help Ally (Olivia Holt), the misguided content creator. They butt heads, lock lips and quickly find themselves in the crosshairs of Heart Eyes. How he knows where to go is anyone鈥檚 guess but the two wind up running from him repeatedly. Even when they go to a police station, they鈥檙e dogged.
Directed by Josh Ruben, the film tries to wink at other, more successful franchises (like 鈥淔ast and Furious鈥) and repeats tropes that worked in those 鈥渒iller in the house鈥 offerings. Characters fill niches, too, but the only one worth watching is Micheala Watkins as the boss who nixes the ad campaign that prompts Gooding and Holt to join forces. She鈥檚 funny in a way that only retail workers could understand.
Unfortunately, she鈥檚 not in the picture very long.
When it gets to the final minutes of Valentine鈥檚 Day, you see how lame this concept is 鈥 particularly when Heart Eyes explains a few things.
There鈥檚 a post-credits scene attached to the film but it鈥檚 safe bet no one will stick around to see it.
Why did Heart Eyes spend so much money crafting a mask that lights up? Perhaps Part 2 will explain more than the OG ever did.
