I’ll start off this review on the right foot. You Might be the Killer is the best horror-comedy since The Final Girls. And I’m not saying that because Alyson Hannigan (Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) co-stars. OK, maybe that’s got something to do with it, but You Might be the Killer is really, really good. Written by Brett Simons, Thomas P. Vitale and Covis Berzoyne, You Might be the Killer follows a camp counselor (Fran Kranz) who suffers from blackouts and finds himself surrounded by dead bodies. He call his best friend (Alyson Hannigan), a horror enthusiast, and through their telephone conversion the pieces start coming together. Is a masked serial killer butchering the counselors, or is our “hero” the cause of the chaos? A collaboration between Curmudgen Films and Vital Signs Entertainment, You Might be the Killer stars Fran Kranz, Alyson Hannigan, Brittany S. Hall, Jenna Harvey, Bryan Price, Patrick R. walker, Jack Murillo and Sarah Catherine Bellamy. This film recently screened at Toronto After Dark, and it’s going to do big things in the future when it’s inevitably picked up for home media distribution.
Who doesn’t love a good slasher film? At its core, that’s exactly what You Might be the Killer is, but it’s told in an nontraditional way. It’s almost a horror anthology in itself, with the current narrative wrapping around previous events including character introductions, plot progressions and character deaths. It’s a lot of flashbacks and flashforwards, and I normally wouldn’t dig a movie like this, but You Might be the Killer is so fully actualized and fluid despite the time jumps that I need to give it a good review. Expert execution from the three screenwriters and brought to life so effortlessly by director Brett Simmons. Sometimes movie magic just happens, and pairing this team together resulted in a feature length horror-comedy that delivered tremendous amounts of both genres. You Might be the Killer will also delight fans of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and Shaun of the Dead. By this, I mean that it’s in the highest tier, the highest caliber, the highest group of horror-comedy. The laugh out loud material is subtle and slow building, but it’s there, and I can appreciate not being beaten to death with it at every turn.
As the director, Brett Simmons helped You Might be the Killer become the little film that could. It’s screening at all the big movie festivals, it premiered on the SyFy Network early last month, and it’s fronted by a pretty incredible cast. This is a testament to his impressive skills as the film’s leader, as decision making skills behind-the-camera could have derailed this movie from becoming so successful, so great. Hell, You Might be the Killer should be in theaters around the country because I think it would do well there with the right promotion. It was also produced by Griff Furst – as well as Vitale and Simmons – and Furst is a master at film-making as himself. Anything he touches is just splendidly macabre, and joining forces with the writers and Brett Simmons was another force that made You Might be the Killer the perfect storm. Speaking of the word perfect, the film sees cinematography by Andy Strahorn and editing by Stephen Pfeil, and honestly it’s a flawless production from start to finish. It takes place almost completely at night, but it’s still error free with lighting and visuals and features perfect audio and enviable special effects. Well done, guys.
A slasher film featuring a whodunnit killer with a bone-knife, You Might be the Killer is one of the best slasher films of 2018 and a campy, comedy of errors that’s also gory and messy. And, Alyson Hannigan is queen. Keep an eye out for this movie in the future, because it’s 100% a Blu-ray you’re going to want in your horror film collection. Wait! I almost forgot to mention that You Might be the Killer is retro in its texts, graphics, scores, and mood. I loved that, too! Yay old school nostalgia! OK, now I’m done. Final Score: 9 out of 10.
