You Might Be The Killer [2018]

February 26, 2024

Well, well, well, if it isn’t another retro slasher we have here. You Might Be The Killer is a solid horror comedy poking fun at the Grindhouse genre. Right from the frantic opening scene, you can tell that this is going to be a good, if not great, movie. The story, taking place in modern times, follows Sam, a camp counselor who just escaped from the clutches of a masked killer. After he calls the local sheriff, he rings up his best friend Chuck, an apprentice in all things macabre to get her advice on how to survive this situation. From this moment on, we will be going back and forth in time, trying to piece together this fragmented story into a cohesive unit.

So, you’ve got your classic “a bunch of young people in the middle of nowhere getting killed one by one” story. The twist is that it’s told in a non-linear manner. And it would also appear that the movie is a bit too self-aware. Please do not let this or a bit lower production values prevent you from checking out this movie. You Might Be The Killer is a retro slasher definitely worth watching. First of all, the script is excellent along with the atmosphere. However, the thing I liked the most was the fast pacing which does slow down a bit towards the end. It would appear that they ran out of steam just before the finish line. Luckily, our young cast was there to pick up the slack.

In the lead role, we have Fran Kranz, a man who’s no stranger to these meta horror comedies. You might remember him as that stoner Marty from The Cabin in The Woods. To make things even funnier that’s exactly where we find him. Alyson Hannigan (American Pie franchise) plays his best friend Chuck, short for Charlotte. The two of them carried this movie ’till the end. I also just want to add that the rest of the cast wasn’t bad as well. The director is Brett Simmons, who made Husk, another indie horror almost ten years earlier. Here, he struggles a bit to fill that rather short running time of 80 minutes but eventually succeeds.

Some scenes run a bit longer than they should and the whole thing becomes a bit tedious in the end. However, by that time you already had your fun. The gore was pretty good and you can count on a couple of pretty nasty kills. They were bloody but pretty much standard-issue when it comes to this genre. The true meta thing would be to go nuts with the kills. To have our homeboy kill them with a branch or some pebbles from the lake he can throw really hard. And you can use those ideas for free, any perspective filmmakers out there. While You Might Be The Killer reminds me most of the Final Girls, it has a distinct Hatchet setting.

The twisting storytelling offers a bit of mystery although I have to tell you that you will fairly quickly find out who the killer is. Or will you? I have to entice you with something to check out this movie. Especially if you’re a fan of this genre that seems to be all the rage now. I must’ve seen at least ten of them in the past couple of years. You can start your journey with The Babysitter and Freaky and see where it takes you. Finally, I just want to highlight the quality of the end product here. You Might Be A Killer proves that you don’t need a lot of money to make a good indie movie. Just look at how gripping a simple phone conversation can be and how it can easily fill up the running time.

The editing was also spot on and I really liked those humorous title cards. They kept the atmosphere casual despite all the bloodshed. If you’re using non-linear storytelling it’s quite easy to end up with a disjointed mess that’s hard to follow. However, that wasn’t the case here. So, if you’re looking for inspiration for your next project, this movie might be the right choice. Especially when you consider the fact that the movie was inspired by a Twitter thread.