You Might Be the Killer is probably the first feature length film that started off simply enough as a back-and-forth on Twitter. The thread from last July between writer Chuck Wendig and fantasy author Sam Sykes had the authors improvising a horror film fueled by tropes and the usual missteps of the slasher sub-genre. The film based on this thread, which had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, is directed by Brett Simmons (Husk/Animal/The Monkey’s Paw) with a script by Brett Simmons and Thomas P. Vitale. You Might Be the Killer is definitely fun, but the film at times struggles at times to keep ahead of the audience.
You Might Be the Killer feels like it wants to be the bastard child of Scream and Cabin in the Woods and starts off very much like the synopsis would lead you to believe. Stan (Fran Kranz), the head counselor at Camp Clear Vista, is on the run from a crazed masked killer who has slaughtered most of his staff. This is illustrated by a kill count that is also used to discern time in the film, by how many counselors have been killed so far. The film uses this mechanic to jump back and forth in time to fill in the back story of how Stan has survived this long and what his plan is make it out alive. After leaving a message for the town’s 76 year-old Sheriff, Stan calls his best friend and genre expert Chuck (Alyson Hannigan) to assist him with some tips on how to survive this scenario. The film’s plot then undergoes a few twists and turns as it desperately tries to keep the gag going long after it runs out of steam in the first 30 minutes.
I watched this film because I am a big fan of both Kranz and Hannigan, who oddly never really share the screen together, only interacting over the phone. It’s a weird dynamic that I think really hurts the performances of the two because the interactions feel sloppy and at times uneven. I think this idea, if it had to be a film, would have probably best served as a short or even possibly as a 70 minute mini-feature since the film comes to a grinding halt the second act. Here we take a break from the masked killer as the director tries to inject in some character development and exposition to set up the ending a bit and get the audience more invested, which wouldn’t have been needed for a short. Fran and Alyson are fun to watch on screen; it’s just the other characters lack that same spark, and when Fran and Alyson aren’t on screen you’re waiting for them to come back on.
I REALLLY wanted to like this more — I wanted to love it. But honestly, I would say just watch Cabin in the Woods or Scream instead; those are much smarter and better excuted. The script here just seems to fall apart about half way through as the film attempts to figure out a clever way to throw something at the audience they wouldn’t expect. It’s much harder here considering this is aimed at genre fans like myself who have probably seen it all before now. This film just lacks the ingenuity to put a fresh spin on it to make it happen. You Might Be the Killer is fun, yet forgettable, and that’s a shame for the two leads who in my mind deserve better than the quirky characters roles they are resigned to, film after film and show after show.