Do you love horror and enjoy rom-coms? Do you love horror and despise rom-coms? Have we got a movie for you!

For two years running, the “Heart Eyes Killer” or HEK has terrorized Valentine’s Day, targeting romantic couples but also striking down anyone in the way. One person with little to fear is very-single Ally (Olivia Holt), scolded by her marketing boss for creating a death-is-romantic jewelry campaign. Desperate to salvage it, Ally is tasked to work with recent-hire Jay (Mason Gooding), who wastes no time seeking to brainstorm ideas with her. When their assumed business meeting at a couple’s hot spot breaks down, the co-workers are mistaken for romantic interests… and hilarity ensures as HEK attempts to paint the town red with their blood.

Post awards and holiday season is now a proving ground for mid-to-low budget horror and thrillers — each hoping to replicate the Blumhouse success of M3GAN — and this year is no exception. From Werewolves Within director Josh Ruben and Freaky / We Have a Ghost / Happy Death Day 2U co-writer Christopher Landon, a new contender arrives to steal the holiday mantle from My Bloody Valentine. Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving (now poised to become a franchise) and Christmas bloodbaths like Violent Night provide an April Fool’s Day opportunity to play with holiday trappings, so what’s wrong with a little blood and chocolate?

Fans of holiday horror will recognize the send-ups and self-aware references, because letting the audience in on the joke is all part of the fun: kill-box venues, misdirection, and everyone a suspect until they aren’t… or are they? There never seems to be a shortage in these films of empty parks, sprawling attractions closed for renovations, or secret lairs impossibly stocked with deadly opportunities. At the same time, it’s still a romantic comedy, with two lovelorn characters who obviously want nothing to do with one another while ridiculously trench-bonding; you can almost hear someone off camera rattling off “the rom-com rules.” The production can’t fully escape its cross-genre Scream-like inspirations but ultimately earns enough goodwill to forgive the trespass.

Moving the film along are Jordana Brewster and Devon Sawa as a pair of detectives with their own in-jokes and will-they won’t-they banal banter providing background for “our previously scheduled program already in progress.” Not to be outdone, there are numerous stereotype characters populating the background providing necessary fodder for the body count: hopeless romantics, doomed security guards, and make-love-not-war stoners. The title killer has been thought out as well, employing myriad weapons with cupid-like details to set them apart from just any another masked maniac in a trench coat. A lot of this doesn’t entirely make sense the more one thinks about it, but a ninety-minute runtime with a mid-credit scene keeps the production brisk and fun.

It’s safe to say Art the Clown with the Terrifier franchise has influenced the horror genre, pushing more filmmakers to lean on practical gore and effects. It’s also a credit to the writing that protagonists in these self-aware flicks act somewhat smarter, a nod to fans thinking outside of the box who cheer whenever heroes attempt something clever in the moment. Welcome to the genre, HEK; we hope to see you in theaters again soon.

Heart Eyes is rated R for strong violence and gore, language, some sexual content, and whoso pulleth out this tire iron of this stoner.

Three skull recommendation out of four