Smiley Face Killers

...and believe me, I've watched some bad ones.

Watched this because it was a Lionsgate films and generally they are fine but what even was this.

You take a premise of a well known spree of crimes and it becomes this boring mess.

Could have been so much more. Forgettable.

There isn't a single aspect of this movie that works. It has some if the dullest shots ever seen on film, half of the movie is literally just people walking and acting confused. It's even a bigger disgrace that they dared to even remotely allude that the events depicted are based on a true story. If you plan on watching it just because of Crispin Glover, he's in the movie for like a minute and has no lines.

This movie is not what the marketing shows. It's not a slasher. Having said that, I did enjoy this movie for what it was. Knowing already that it was written by Bret Easton Ellis tells me what I'm in for. It's very atmospheric with A sense of impending dread slowly closing in on the main character. I must admit that this movie is very disjointed. When the final act comes around you will swear you were watching a different movie. For a movie called The Smiley Face Killers, the killers are really only featured in it for the last 20 mins. The ending will leave you with more questions than answers. I recommend if you are into different types of horror other than the constant slasher death type. It's a slow burn 🔥 but the ending was worth it. Plus this movie is SUPER Homo-erotic. A lot of the first couple of acts reminded me of the tone of Nightmare on Elm street 2. There could be a lot to read into between the lines.

Yeh it's one of those movies where you could be on your phone the entire time and basically get the point.

So themes of mental health, serial killing, and religious fanaticism I guess. Acting seems borderline dull and a bit too "on the nose" as college students. And the plot maintains very little other than he seems depressed and they are psychotic. Doesn't really go anywhere or get to anything of a point. Just there, flat.