Director Josh Ruben says he wanted to make something a little bit different when it came to Heart Eyes, a bloody new slasher that takes place on everyone's favorite Hallmark holiday.
"This was an opportunity to make a Nora Ephron-esque romcom in earnest, that also slashes into Wes Craven horror," Ruben says in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features Daredevil: Born Again on the cover and hits newsstands on January 29. "I love that it's an original film, that it's not IP. I love that, regardless of the genre bending of it all and the Ephron of it all, it allows me to do what I've been wanting to do, which is to go nastier and to go bloodier and to go darker."
The film follows two co-workers who, while working late on Valentine's Day, are mistaken for a couple by the infamous Heart Eyes Killer. Per the official synopsis, the couple must spend the most romantic night of the year running for their lives. Ruben directs from a screenplay penned by Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon, and Michael Kennedy. The cast includes Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Jordana Brewster, and pop culture icon Devon Sawa.
"Heart Eyes is horror through and through. But if you can't stand horror, there's something for you in the romcom, for sure. And if you can't stand romcoms, boy, you're gonna love watching couples get massacred."
Ruben, who you might recognize from Dropout's viral videos from the improv game show Make Some Noise, also helmed the horror comedies Scare Me and Werewolves Within, the latter of which is based on the video game of the same name.
Ruben continues: "For me, it was about asking, 'What haven't I seen in a while?' I haven't seen a movie as fun and as violent as Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Since we had a really awesome script, my goal was to make a movie that anyone would want to go to see other than myself. That's always the secret."
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Heart Eyes releases on February 7, just in time for Valentine's Day. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which will be available from Wednesday, January 29. Check out the Daredevil: Born Again cover to look for on newsstands below...
