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MOVIE FEATURE

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HEART EYES : A KILLER ROM-COM Halloween meets Sleepless in Seattle in Heart Eyes , the bonkers new valentine slasher movie from the director of Werewolves Within . GENRE: Horror romance RUN TIME: 1h 37m

“I had two very specific movies in mind,” director Josh Ruben tells STACK . “ Friday the 13th Part 6 and Nora Ephron”, the latter being the director of classic rom-coms like Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail . And the great challenge was how the hell could I legitimately do a little bit of both?” The movie is a formulaic slasher - in the best possible way - about a masked killer who returns every Valentine’s Day to target unsuspecting couples. But when the killer mistakenly assumes two strangers who’ve just met are a couple, their night quickly descends into a reign of terror. “The rom-coms from the era

cinematography. And the real success of Heart Eyes , if the franchise were to continue, is that

it should give you the feels that any of those movies did. “You should feel like you’ve been swept up by Dylan Mulroney, or charmed by Tom Hanks, but also as terrified and grossed-out as anything Wes Craven or John Carpenter ever did in their gnarliest heyday.” In recent years, there’s been a resurgence of classic, practical effects

Director Josh Ruben

“In the script it will say, ‘Adeline is crushed in a wine press,’ and then I will take that and go ‘OK, what’s going to make the best version of crushed in a wine press?’. Well, I want to see the eyeball come out and I want to really extend the dread and the terror of what it would feel like to be in there as the walls are closing in.” Glenn Cochrane

FUN FACT

The writers of Heart Eyes also wrote Happy Death Day 1 & 2 , Freaky , Scouts Guide to the Apocalypse and the Paranormal Activity sequels.

when I grew up were really cinematic and deeply moving. Pretty Woman , the way it looks, the way it moves. My Best Friend’s Wedding, Sleepless in Seattle , these movies have flawed characters and beautiful

driven slasher films, with titles like X, Thanksgiving, and Clown in a Cornfield proving that real fake blood beats CGI splatter every time. Heart Eyes fully embraces this approach, and Ruben shares the ethos behind the film’s gruesome kills.

• Heart Eyes is out Jun 4

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL LOVE THESE:

Thanksgiving, Clown in a Cornfield, The Monkey

GENRE: Horror RUN TIME: 1h 34m NATTY KNOCKS A HALLOWEEN REUNION Danielle Harris has been dubbed 'horror’s reigning Queen of Scream', and her latest role in the new slasher Natty Knocks proves why.

FUN FACT

• Natty Knocks is out Jun 4

Natty Knocks was also produced by former child

star Jason James Richter - who happens to be Dwight H. Little’s stepson - and the project marks a reunion for him and Harris as well, as they appeared together in Free Willy back in 1993.

(Below) Bill Moseley, Robert Englund, and Dwight H. Little

Danielle Harris

”B ill heard me scream and he came up to me and said ‘That is the most amazing scream that I have ever heard,’” she explains to STACK during a recent catch-up. She’s referring to fellow horror icon Bill Moseley – star of cult classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 and The Devil’s Rejects – who co stars in Natty Knocks alongside other notable genre players Robert Englund and Jason James Richter. Harris made her movie debut as Jamie Lloyd in the 1988 film

Dwight H. Little has been a consummate namaste in the film industry for decades, having Marked for Death (1990), Rapid Fire (1992), Free Willy 2 (1995), Murder at 1600 (1997) and Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004). also directed films such as

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers , and in a full-circle moment, she reunites with the same director, Dwight H. Little, for this latest shocker, which also happens to take place on Halloween. “He called me and said ‘I need a favour,’” she says, amused. “He said ‘I’m financing this movie myself and I need you to do it’. And I had been wanting to work with him again for a really long time, and he’s exactly the same, and lovely.” The movie concerns the spirit of a

former starlet - lynched by resentful local wives who accused her of witchcraft - which is awakened by a group of teenagers on Halloween eve. “I’m so proud of this movie and I really am so excited to have everybody see it,” Harris says, seizing the opportunity to remind horror enthusiasts why they need to check it out. “I hope everybody enjoys the reunion, I mean God, you’ve got Robert Englund and myself and Bill Moseley in it. You kind of can’t go wrong with that dynamic”. Glenn Cochrane

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL LOVE THESE:

Heart Eyes, Thanksgiving, In a Violent Nature

22 JUNE 2025

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