Totally Killer called out by director for “copying” his 2015 horror movie

Totally Killer is an upcoming horror movie, but as some people have accused, it seems very similar to an already existing movie.

Horror is a very self-referential genre; take the Scream franchise, for instance. But there’s a difference between taking inspiration, and just plain copying, and the lines have been blurred with a new movie coming out, Totally Killer.

The movie is produced by Jason Blum, set to star Kiernan Shipka – of Mad Men and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina fame – and looks very exciting, but many claim to have already seen this movie.

Particularly the director of another horror movie, The Final Girls, which came out in 2015. In fact, he called out Totally Killer on X/Twitter for its similarities.

Director of The Final Girls calls out Totally Killer

Just today, an announcement of a new horror movie, Totally Killer, was released on social media with a plot summary, cast list, and first-look images.

However, one director, Todd Strauss-Schulson, responded to said post, accusing the movie of copying his 2015 film The Final Girls, stating, “Didn’t I already make this movie?”

See, both films share very similar plot elements, including a protagonist who has lost their mother and is transported into a new reality to face a killer. Obviously he is not involved in the making of this new movie, which instead is coming from director Nahnatchka Khan.

As stated by the original tweet, Totally Killer’s plot is as such, “The slasher comedy follows a girl who accidentally time travels back to 1987 and teams up with her teen mom to take down a serial killer.”

Meanwhile, the official plot synopsis for The Final Girls reads: “A young girl grieving the death of her mother gets magically transported into a movie starring her mother. Soon, the two women must survive a series of dangerous adventures.” Sound familiar?

Twitter responds to the horror of copying

Obviously, there are some slight differences between the plots, such as being transported back in time rather than into a movie, or the setting of a high school vs a summer camp. Plus we don’t know yet if the 2023 film will have the humorous tone that The Final Girls does.

However, this hasn’t stopped other Twitter users from calling out the new flick. One fan of the 2015 movie wrote: “I would find some loophole to sue if I was involved with THE FINAL GIRLS to be honest,” while another user took a more positive approach: “I’m excited for this! I will say it does seem to share a similar plot to The Final Girls (2015), though. So if this story interests you I HIGHLY recommend watching The Final Girls first. It’s fantastic.”

Check out some more of the responses below:

Now, just because a movie feels redundant, doesn’t mean it will be bad. We’ll just have to wait and see when Totally Killer drops on Amazon Prime Video on October 6, later this year.

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