Heart Eyes (USA, 2025)

Josh Ruben is carving a bloody niche for himself in horror cinema. While there is no shortage of comedy horror films out there, Ruben’s work stands out as funnier than most. He has a long career in improv, and he brings his comedic skills to the screen, even when he is neither starring or writing. Heart Eyes is no exception, with a script by the writers behind such comedy horror hits as Happy Death Day and Freaky.

I reviewed Ruben’s second feature, Werewolves Within, back in 2021, and while I didn’t enjoy it as much as his debut, Scare Me, I’ve been looking forward to seeing what he did next. As with a number of this month’s selections, it’s taken self-discipline to save Heart Eyes for the October Horror Movie Challenge. Happily, it was worth the wait.

Heart Eyes is currently streaming on NowTV in the UK.

Synopsis

It’s Valentine’s Day, and there is a masked killer on the loose. The press have dubbed them the Heart Eyes Killer, a maniac who preys on young couples in love. HEK, as the press calls them, goes on a spree every Valentine’s Day. They choose a new city each time, and this year it’s Seattle.

Meanwhile, Ally McCabe has recently broken up with her long-term boyfriend and has now possibly torpedoed her own career. The marketing campaign she dreamt up for a jewellery company has unfortunate connotations as HEK starts killing again. As if all that weren’t bad enough, a dishy consultant named Jay Simmons is brought in to fix this mess and wants to discuss strategy with Ally over dinner.

While Ally has no intention of falling for Jay’s charms, they are thrown together in a desperate battle for survival when the Heart Eyes Killer mistakes them for a loving couple. But just why are the police so suspicious of Jay? How can HEK see in the dark with red lights for eyes? And, most importantly, will true love prevail?

General Thoughts

The Heart Eyes Killer is a classic slasher in most respects, from the mask to their dogged persistence in stalking victims. One aspect that did take me by surprise was their using a crossbow as their weapon of choice. You don’t often see slashers using ranged weapons like that. It took me far too long to make the connection with Cupid’s bow.

Given the premise and the fact that it was released for Valentine’s Day, there must have been pressure to make Heart Eyes a tamer PG-13 film. Happily, this is every bit as nasty as it should be. There is one extended scene at a drive-in, for example, that is absolute brutal chaos. Ruben has shown himself to be a strong horror director before, but here he also reveals a gift for action. He also treats himself to a brief cameo in the midst of all the carnage.

The most unexpected part of Heart Eyes, for me at least, was that it really is a romantic comedy. I thought that would just be window dressing, but we spend at least as much time watching Ally and Jay fall for each other as we do seeing them fight for their lives. And, perhaps more importantly, the comedy comes from both the romance and the horror. This is an impressive balancing act.

Verdict

Heart Eyes knows its genre tropes and uses them well. While the hook was always its mixture of horror and romantic comedy, it would have been easy to jettison the latter once the blood started flowing. Instead, we have a film that shifts effortlessly between genres and never loses its heart, even when there’s a knife stuck in it.

There is no attempt at realism here, and the film is all the stronger for that. This is a story filled with contrivances and coincidences, from meet cutes to mistaken identities. You’ve seen all the elements in other films, but the combination and execution are fresh enough that Heart Eyes doesn’t feel trite even as it wallows in cliché.

For all the irony and blood, Heart Eyes really is a romantic comedy. That may well put some viewers off, especially if they just want a slasher film with some jokes. I don’t think any horror fan will be disappointed by the tension and gore, but I can certainly imagine some viewers giving up as the first act completely changes genre.

In another year, Heart Eyes might have made my top three for the month. As things stand, however, it’s up against some serious competition. Even if it doesn’t make the list, however, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants something, fun, bloody, and oddly heartfelt to watch this Halloween.

The October Horror Movie Challenge

Please do join in and share your own thoughts with us about this or any other films as the month goes on. You can usually find us on BlueSky, Reddit, Discord, or lurking in the dark corners of your home.

If you would like to play along at home, my provisional selections are:

Heretic (USA, 2024)
The Sadness (Taiwan, 2021)
The Uninvited (USA, 1944)
The Lodge (UK/USA, 2019)
WolfCop (Canada, 2014)
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czechoslovakia, 1970)
The Monkey (USA, 2025)
Sister Midnight (India/UK, 2024)
Roadgames (Australia, 1981)
Nightmare City (Italy, 1985)
Dangerous Animals (Australia, 2025)
Dead Talents Society (Taiwan, 2024)
Winterbeast (USA, 1992)
Byzantium (UK/Ireland, 2013)
The Ugly Stepsister (Norway, 2025)
A Page of Madness (Japan, 1926)
Heart Eyes (USA, 2025)
Grafted (New Zealand, 2024)
Arrebato (Spain, 1979)
Hatching (Finland, 2022)
Abigail (USA, 2024)
Ganja & Hess (USA, 1973)
The Devil’s Bath (Austria, 2025)
Pieces (Spain, 1982)
Infested (France, 2023)
Best Wishes to All (Japan, 2022)
A Cat in the Brain (Italy, 1990)
Enys Men (UK, 2022)
Creature From the Black Lagoon (USA, 1954)
Perewangan (Indonesia, 2024)
Bring Her Back (Australia, 2025)

A Final Note

If you have been enticed here by these posts, please do look around at some of our other film reviews. We also have a podcast, called The Good Friends of Jackson Elias, which occasionally covers horror films. If this appeals, you might want to check out some of the following episodes.