Heart Eyes//October 139th, 2025

 As someone with a lifelong love of both Valentine's Day and Halloween, it always excites me when the two things combine. 

I talk every year (including in my previous post) about how amazing it's been to see "Valloween" really rise to prominence in recent years. And this year, the release of the Valentine's Day slasher film, Heart Eyes seemed to really solidify that.

As you can imagine, I was extremely excited about this movie from the get-go. Slasher films are, currently, my most preferred brand of horror for the most part, and add in the Valentine's Day twist? Sounds like a match made in heaven to me. I'm only aware of two other horror films (or I suppose three if you count one remake) that are set on Valentine's Day, and, I don't know, something about the fact that Heart Eyes was born in the age of the online Halloween community, just makes my heart soar. I feel seen.

I finally saw the movie on Valentine's Day morning, and I'm thanking my lucky pumpkins that I decided to get to an early show, as I got sick almost immediately after and likely wouldn't have been able to make it otherwise. I'm sad that my second favorite holiday got cut short, but I am so, so glad I got to see this movie.

While Heart Eyes is not going to win any Oscars, and isn't a major standout among its slasher brethren, it was a really fun time, and what amazes me the most about it is how flawlessly and seamlessly it blended the horror and romantic comedy genres.

The opening sequence of the movie is a Hallmark holiday/campy horror gorefest fever dream. A couple is trying to act out the perfect proposal in a very cliche setting, when the Heart Eyes Killer, sometimes known as HEK, comes along and destroys it all. As someone who is very put-off by the idea of elaborate proposals and all that jazz, I was cheering HEK on from the jump. (And also questioning how in the world Valentine's Day is my second favorite holiday when romantic scenes like that make me twitch, but it is what it is.)

The rest of the movie continues similarly. We meet Ally, a marketing executive for a jewelry company, who has a sudden meet-cute with a man named Jay, when they find out they take their coffee exactly the same way and almost grab each other's orders. It turns out Jay has been hired to fix the disastrous, obviously-created-by-a-bitter-single-woman Valentine's Day campaign that Ally submitted for her company, and it's all very straight out of a Hallmark movie. Like, I literally think I've seen almost this exact concept play out in something that was once playing in the background at my aunt's house. The filmmakers absolutely nailed that vibe and all of the tropes, right down to Ally's scene-stealing sassy best friend/coworker Monica. 

Ally and Jay agree to meet for dinner, despite it being Valentine's Day, since Jay has to leave in the morning, and when they make a fake scene in front of Ally's ex, HEK's attention turns to them and their undeniable chemistry, and then the slasher fun really begins. But somehow, in the midst of all the chasing and gore and trying to figure out who the killer is, as it really never seems to be anyone you're thinking, you still find yourself in that rom-com mode of "Will they or won't they?" with Ally and Jay. 

Do I usually root for the killer in the types of movies? Honestly, yes. But was I also rooting for love in this one? Also yes. Well played, Heart Eyes.

The only real compliant I have about this movie is actually the identity of Heart Eyes himself...without giving away any major spoilers, I thought it was a little silly how they did it and why. It didn't make any real sense and a couple of the characters involved were really just throwaways, but at the same time, I feel like the horror end of the story was meant, at least at times, to be over the top ridiculous, so I can kind of just laugh it off. The important thing to remember is that this is a self-aware movie that's not taking itself too seriously.

All in all, I'm just truly amazed at what this movie managed to pull off. It truly blended two genres, and two genres one would not expect to see brought together like this. I can see this being a movie that lots of couples, or even friend pairs or groups, will agree on, as it truly has something for everyone. It's a romantic comedy that still brings something for the anti-romantic, and it's a horror movie that that still proves romance isn't dead. 

And most of all, for me, it proves once again that Halloween and Valentine's Day can truly exist hand in hand. 

Stay spooky, my friends.