Thirty-five years ago in the quiet idyllic town of Vernon, three teenage girls were found brutally murdered. Each were stabbed a total of sixteen times. The dubbed “Sweet 16 Killer”, who wore all black and a mask reminiscent of Max Headroom meets Fallout’s Vault Boy, was never found. That grim and horrifying cloud has hung over the once sleepy little community ever since.

That’s the setting for “Totally Killer”, a new retro slasher black comedy from director Nahnatchka Khan. This Amazon and Blumhouse collaboration is an enthusiastic romp that both celebrates and spoofs the resilient horror sub-genre. But the screenwriting trio of David Matalon, Sasha Perl-Raver, and Jen D’Angelo don’t stop there. There’s also a science-fiction element to their story – more specifically, time travel. And it’s every bit as silly as it sounds.

Make no mistake, the filmmakers know how silly their movie is. They embrace it which is why the film works as well as it does (when it works). In reality “Totally Killer” is much more of a comedy. Yes, there’s blood and bodies. But it’s the humor that fares best, especially when we’re transported back to 1987. It’s there that the utter recklessness of the eighties collides with current day fragility, opening the door for a slew of culture clash gags, many of which garner some big laughs.

Whiny teen Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) is having a hard time with her over-protective parents, Pam (Julie Bowen) and Blake (Lachlan Munro). But you can hardly blame them. They happened to be Jamie’s age when the above mentioned killings took place 35 years earlier and they’re only looking out for their daughter. But it’s getting to be a little too much which has really put a strain on their relationships, especially between Jamie and her mom.

After a hateful spat, Jamie goes off to a Halloween night concert with her best friend Amelia (Kelcey Mawema). While she’s away, the Sweet 16 Killer suddenly returns and violently kills Pam. Unbeknownst to her, a devastated Jamie happens to be the next target. While at the school’s science fair the murderer chases her into Amelia’s project – a broken time machine (yep, you read that right). And wouldn’t you know it, amid the chaos the time machine fires up and suddenly Jamie finds herself in 1987.

As she tries to deal with the sudden time shock, Jamie is surprised when she runs into the three girls who will soon be murdered. And in true “Back to the Future” fashion, she runs into her teenage mother (played by Olivia Holt) who is close friends with the doomed girls. Jamie comes up with a plan – save the girls from being killed and recruit young Pam to help her expose the killer. But that’ll take infiltrating their snobbish clique. Easier said that done.

From there the movie goes in several different directions, sometimes clinging tight to the slasher genre; other times poking fun at it. Along the way we meet a number of side characters across both timelines. Some are fun, some are endearing, some are annoying, some are as dumb as a box of rocks. Many follow common slasher archetypes. But for the most part Khan does some interesting things with them.

Not all of the eighties references land and there are certain gags that the filmmakers run into the ground. Also making sense of the final 15 minutes can seem like a chore. But overall “Totally Killer” finds the sweet spot between serious and spoof. You’ll get a kick out of the eighties attire, the musical blasts of Bananarama, Chris de Burgh, Shannon, etc., and the numerous callbacks to chillers like “Halloween” and “Scream” among others. And while it may not add much to the slasher genre, it’ll certainly have you laughing, often when you least except it. “Totally Killer” is now streaming on Hulu.

VERDICT – 3 STARS