We’ve all been there. Slasher flicks with a summer camp setting have been around for nearly forty years now. The Friday the 13th series, Sleepaway Camp, The Burning, Piranha, and probably a dozen or so more. But what would happen if you found yourself in the very scenario seen in many of these classic slasher flicks, equipped with a cell phone (and requisite cell reception) and a wisecracking movie nerd friend who knows all the slasher tropes to watch out for? Then add in the possibility that, yes, you might be the killer.
Director Brett Simmons (Husk, Animal) answers all these questions and more with the aptly titled You Might Be the Killer. Based on a Twitter exchange between best-selling writers Chuck Wendig (Star Wars novels, Marvel’s Hyperion) and Sam Sykes (Aeons’ Gate Trilogy), Simmons crafts a loving homage to the genre with the same type of meta-humor made famous in films like Scream and The Cabin in the Woods. Starring Fran Kranz (The Cabin in the Woods) and Alyson Hannigan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, How I Met Your Mother), the film opens in the third act, with Kranz character Sam running from a wooden-masked killer with a gator-toothed machete at a Louisiana summer camp.
He finds refuge in a small cabin, where he calls Hannigan’s Chuck (off-site, at her comic book store job) to tell her most of the counselors have been killed. From there, Simmons and his co-writers take a Memento-esque approach to unfolding the events of the ill-fated summer camp. Much of the fun is knowing where we end up but not how we get there.
Adding to the tongue-in-cheek fun is a constantly revising on-screen death count, rising and falling as Sam bounces around the timeline, patching memories together. As the film comes to a smart, surprising conclusion, we are left asking the only logical question any self-respecting horror fan would ask: Will there be a sequel? (Answer: quite possibly).
Recently screened at the Telluride Horror Show, it is abundantly clear that Simmons and his co-writers, Covis Berzoyne and Thomas Vitale, have a profound love and respect for all things horror. It is part Friday the 13th, part Evil Dead, and part High Tension. In particular, there are full scenes that directly recall those in horror classics such as Friday the 13th Part 2 and Halloween: H20, among others. It should be noted, though, that You Might Be the Killer never feels like it is blatantly ripping off any of those films. Instead, it is more akin to a delicious sauce composed of all your favorite ingredients.
Although Sam and Chuck got their names from the writers who created the Twitter conversation that birthed the film premise, many of the other character names are borrowed from ’80s horror icons, although that was more a device used by the filmmakers to keep track of the counselors. It’s not just horror that the film pays respect to, either, as there are homages to Lord of the Rings, Wet Hot American Summer, and Jim Carrey’s The Mask.
You Might Be the Killer has a brisk pace, and the jumbled timeline keeps the audience deeply invested. Simmons also does a great job juggling a large cast of characters, made even more impressive by the multiple deaths and nonlinear narrative. Adding to the difficulty, the film came together incredibly quickly, produced from March to August of this year in order to be ready for festival season.
It was shot in 12 days with a two-week edit period. The practical effects, which Simmons insisted on, look great and add to the old-school slasher feel. For fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they will love Hannigan’s performance. She is hilarious as a know-it-all super horror nerd, the glue that holds the story together and moves it forward. Kranz is also terrific as our protagonist, unsure of what is happening around him but too terrified to want to find out completely.
Although it is a glowing love letter to the genre, it really is unlike any film I’ve seen before. Sure, it is reminiscent of other meta-horror flicks like The Final Girls or The Cabin in the Woods (which Kranz also starred in). But it really is its own thing, thanks in large part to the nonlinear timeline. The screenplay is full of humor but does not skimp on the gore and violence. It is self-aware without being a parody, a mystery without being too serious. You Might Be the Killer is currently on-demand via the Syfy network and should be available on other streaming platforms soon. For those looking for an original, funny, gory throwback to ’80s slashers, this is definitely one to seek out.
