Fantastic Fest Review: YOU MIGHT BE THE KILLER Gives The Final Girl A Twist
If you like slasher movies that don't take themselves too seriously, You Might Be the Killer is right up your alley. Sam (Fran Kranz) and his team of camp counselors just want to get off the grid for a while, and what better opportunity than their annual summer camp? The kids may not have arrived at Camp Clear Lake just yet, but there’s a killer on the loose to keep the chaperones busy while they wait.
When things start hitting the fan, Sam reaches out to his best friend Chuck (Alyson Hannigan) in the hopes that all of her serial killing slasher knowledge will get him through the night. Why does he call Chuck instead of, say, the Sheriff? Half because it’s funnier that way, and half because the Sheriff is old. With old folks, you've got to leave a voicemail after a certain time of night.
You Might Be the Killer goes out of its way to poke fun at the horror tropes we’ve all become used to. It doesn’t necessarily land every joke, but it remains fun to watch even when it falters. It also takes time to show respect to the genre, giving the audience plenty of good kills, a chase scene or two, and even an attempt to light the killer on fire. In some instances, the movie isn’t so much making fun of tropes as it is giving them a little twist. By the time the credits roll, the Final Girl gets to reclaim her story in more ways than one.
Though there’s a performance or two that fall flat, Fran Kranz is consistently funny and endearing. Running at a brisk ninety minutes, the structure is different from traditional films, hopping all over the place between Chuck’s video store, Camp Clear Lake, and more flashbacks than you can count. If that formula’s not for you, you may find yourself a little annoyed here and there. But the chronology of events is clearly labeled throughout the movie by just how many camp counselors have been killed off so far. You Might Be the Killer isn’t perfect by any stretch, but it’ll do the trick if you’re looking for some lighthearted slasher fun.
