New Horror-Comedy Heart Eyes Slashes Its Way to Box Office Success
Sound familiar? You and your better (or worse?) half are trying to decide what to watch on movie night, but you just can't agree—rom-com or horror? Well, I've got the perfect solution for you. Heart Eyes: The Couple Killer delivers both in one package. Don't worry, it's neither too saccharine nor too terrifying; it strikes just the right balance for a fun, cozy night in.
The marketing strategy behind this film baffles me. Co-produced and co-written by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Freaky), the horror-comedy Heart Eyes: The Couple Killer—made on an $18 million budget—raked in over $30 million at the U.S. box office. While that's not blockbuster territory, a global theatrical release could have easily boosted its earnings. For comparison, the video game adaptation Until Dawn only made $20 million domestically but grossed nearly $54 million worldwide. Sadly, Heart Eyes never got that chance. There's still no physical release announced for this region; instead, it debuted as a digital purchase and is now at least included in the Prime Video catalog.
Ally McCabe (Olivia Holt) has really messed up. Tasked with creating a Valentine's Day ad campaign for her boss (Michaela Watkins), she delivered something wildly off-brand—hardly surprising, given that her own love life is in shambles after a recent breakup. Now, she's stuck spending February 14th with her new, annoyingly successful coworker Jay Simmonds (Mason Gooding) to whip up a last-minute replacement. The evening goes from bad to worse: not only do Ally and Jay get off to a rocky start, but they're also mistaken for a couple by Heart Eyes, a serial killer prowling the country with a very specific prey preference—lovers.
From that point on, the bickering duo must flee through the nighttime streets of Seattle. In a cruel twist of fate, Jay is arrested by Detectives Hobbs (Devon Sawa) and Shaw (Jordana Brewster)—note the names—as the prime suspect. But even the police station isn't safe from Heart Eyes, and Ally and Jay remain firmly on his hit list. Will they survive the night? And could there actually be a spark between them despite everything?
Heart Eyes: The Couple Killer isn't a particularly deep satire—it's a fast-paced, bloody good time that gets straight to the point. In just 97 minutes, director Josh Ruben (Scare Me) packs in plenty of gore (never grotesque, but cleverly gruesome), a dash of romance, and enough twists to keep audiences entertained. Think of it as a romantic splatter-comedy with heart—light on substance, predictable in its resolution, but loaded with fun.
The cast is packed with horror veterans. Olivia Holt starred in Totally Killer, Mason Gooding has been part of the Scream franchise since the fifth installment, Jordana Brewster fought for her life in The Faculty, and Devon Sawa is a genre staple thanks to Final Destination, Idle Hands, and the Chucky series. Behind the scenes, many crew members from the Happy Death Day films were involved. This is a team that knows its craft—and it shows, especially after sitting through the disastrous recent sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer. Compared to that, Heart Eyes is the Citizen Kane of slasher cinema: a killer comedy with heart—and a few other organs.
