Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down to chat with Heart Eyes director Josh Ruben.

During this interview, Ruben discusses the inspiration for the Heart Eyes Killer, paying homage to ’80s and ’90s slashers and balancing the tone between horror and comedy.

Ruben also shares a very exciting update for his sci-fi horror Green Bank with Jasmin Savoy Brown and Tatiana Maslany.

From the trailer alone, Heart Eyes looks like a fun throwback to the slashers of the ’80s and ’90s heyday. In fact, you’ll be happy to know that, in addition to casting some horror movie greats, director Josh Ruben honored the genre with his own passion for the silent killers that came before. Not only is he introducing a brand-new killer, but we’re getting a new holiday horror just in time for a Valentine’s Day date night, which means finding that perfect balance between gory scares and comedy.
Heart Eyes takes place on the night of Ally’s (Olivia Holt) and Jay’s (Mason Gooding) very first date. Unfortunately for this young couple, it’s Valentine’s Day, and that means the Heart Eyes Killer is out for blood — lots of blood. Before the butterflies can even settle, Ally and Jay find themselves fighting for their lives as this warped Cupid slashes their way through town. The movie also stars Devon Sawa, Jordana Brewster, and Gigi Zumbado.
In his conversation with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, Ruben shares the details of designing a brand-new killer to join the ranks of Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. First and foremost, he talks about the different iterations of that unforgettable mask, as well as the details that make it so chilling. Ruben also discusses the inspiration he took from his favorite horror movies, as well as the surprising romantic comedies he looked to when nailing the perfect tone. He also gives a very exciting update for his sci-fi horror movie, Green Bank, starring Jasmin Savoy Brown and Tatiana Maslany.
The ‘Heart Eyes’ Killer Was (Almost) Modeled After These Horror Icons

The mask is crucial for silent killers.

Image by Jefferson Chacon

PERRI NEMIROFF: My first question for you is about that mask. Can you tell me a little bit about settling on the right look? Was there any trial and error, and if so, can you walk me through the variations you considered?
JOSH RUBEN: Oh my gosh, so many variations. I can’t wait to show you all the different “versies,” as the kids say. We talked about homaging the Miner. We talked about homaging Pinhead. There was a gas mask. There was something more sickly, less aged, more futuristic, with a hood, without a hood. I mean, Tony Gardner and Bryan Christensen are geniuses. We always knew we wanted heart-shaped eyes. Once we kind of made them asymmetrical, and once, I don’t know if it was Tony or Bryan, but someone at Alterian applied the stitching to the forehead, and it was Chris Landon who said, “Let’s smear blood across the mouth to just show some kind of oxidized age,” that was where it really started to come together.
My contribution was these light-up eyes. It was like, “Cool, if he already has this sort of toolbelt of death,” my homage to [Friday the 13th Part VI] Jason Lives — my fave — “what else can we do to sort of separate ourselves from iconic killers?” If he’s got weapons, why not take it a bit further? Give him night vision, Buffalo Bill.

Image via Sony Pictures

Very effective choice. But a great mask is only as effective as the person who is wearing it, so can you tell me a little bit about picking Alex [McCall] to play HEK? Were there any parameters you laid out so that his movements felt consistent, like they came from a place of purpose and having a motive?
RUBEN: I didn’t want to micromanage Alex too much. I just said, “Watch Jason Lives, and let me see what you do with it.” Alex is a jujitsu expert. He knows every type of combat. I don’t know if he’s a dancer, but he might as well be. So he moves with this kind of elegance, and with that is an inherent sensuality. I just wanted to take what he brought to the table, his interpretation of everything I love about Tom McLoughlin’s Jason Lives, my favorite, and then just kind of tweak it from there. I knew I wanted the iconic head cock, but I also knew I wanted something that felt sensual and unusual and almost kind of Pinhead-like, kind of how the Cenobites move with a sensuality. That’s important.
Just because you’ve brought up Pinhead twice now, I am curious, what was the Pinhead-adjacent version of the Heart Eyes mask?
RUBEN: I don’t know if there were nails, but there was definitely a spiky helmet kind of vers. We were like, “Eh, it’s probably too busy. Probably too much.” Less is more.
I’m curious if Jason Lives is the answer to this question, but I’ve been asking everybody because I told you before we started rolling, I think your movie does tick this box. I love the idea of a horror movie being a comfort movie for people because I think that’s a very, very real and important thing. When you need a comfort movie, what horror movie do you turn to?
RUBEN: Obviously, Tom McLoughlin’s Jason Lives. Almost any Jaws film. Truly, all the way through Jaws: The Revenge.

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The film’s self-aware, cheeky tone is a highlight of the franchise.

Gigi said Jaws, and I get it.
RUBEN: Yes. It truly is. It also has the blue moonlight that you see in those great films, not only every horror film from Jaws to Get Out, but you also see in movies like Sleepless in Seattle and My Best Friend’s Wedding. But also anything Joe Dante, if you consider The ‘Burbs. It’s definitely more gateway horror for me, but that’s a comfort watch. But [A Nightmare on Elm Street 3] Dream Warriors is also kind of up there. So, that’s a tough one.
Oh, that’s a good one, Dream Warriors. Obviously, I had to tell Jordana and Devon it’s Final Destination — I’ve got a bumper sticker that says “Final Destination is my comfort movie” — and The Faculty.
RUBEN: It’s still so good, and The Faculty’s still so good! Delilah. I had to not think about Delilah when I was working with her. I was like, “Oh, I’m going to get too star-struck.”
I thought a lot about that!
“This Movie Lives and Dies by the Chemistry of the Two Leads”

Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding were “just as electric as Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.”

Image via Sony Pictures

I do want to ask you a little bit about tone here because, obviously, you know what you’re doing when it comes to balancing horror and comedy. When it comes to striking that right balance, are there any parameters you follow that can apply to all of your films, but then also, can you tell me something uniquely challenging about hitting that right balance with this movie?
RUBEN: Never get caught trying to be funny. That’s my go-to. I learned it in acting school. I believe it was my improv teacher who mentioned it to us because I was always the actor who would get up on stage and, like, try and overdo it and outdo everybody, and just the whole thing would fall apart. So this movie lives and dies by the chemistry of the two leads, and we didn’t know that Mason and Olivia would have the chemistry that they did. I’m so grateful that they do because it’s just as electric as Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, and that’s why it flies.
So that was the big question mark. As long as they played all of that stuff for real — the attraction, the charm, the interrogation, the kind of oil and water sort of chemistry of their initial interactions — I knew we would do great. The dynamic was already super well written. I guess living in that kind of rom-com world and emulating that is a little outside my comfort zone just a pinch, but I searched inside myself and remembered I was a kid who loved My Best Friend’s Wedding and Defending Your Life just as much as Jason Lives by Tom McLoughlin.
I said this to their faces in their room before, I think their chemistry is just pitch-perfect, and the success of this movie in earning the audience’s heart hinges on it. They’re so good together.
RUBEN: Yeah. It’s paramount. Totally. We lucked out with them.
This ‘Heart Eyes’ Scene Was the “Most Terrifying”

But it was also the most joyful for the filmmaker to see come together!

I was telling you before I had a question that I’d come up with because of something Devon had said on Instagram, and I just really like the idea. We kind of talked a little bit about it with the comfort movie thing, but there’s another part. He said, “I like watching horror-comedy because it allows me to temporarily escape the crazy world we live in,” and then he says, “I like making it because, do what you love.” So, can you tell me the single moment of making Heart Eyes that brought you the most joy as an artist?
RUBEN: Oh my gosh. I think the moment that brought me the most joy was probably realizing that the drive-in was going to work. That was the most terrifying sequence because it was the highest production sequence I had ever surmounted, but seeing it in action every day, us chipping away at this monstrous sequence, is like, “Oh my gosh, this thing’s going to work.” That was when I knew we had a kind of Jaws-at-the-beach moment for a slasher. It was like everything I wanted in [Friday the 13th VIII] Jason Takes Manhattan, but actually seeing them go even further. You’re probably like, Jason Lives and Jason Takes Manhattan?

Image via Sony Pictures

I will fully admit I probably like Jason Takes Manhattan more than I should, and I don’t care! And Jason X, for that matter.
RUBEN: Absolutely. Okay, that might be taking it a little too far, but I was there on opening night. I’m not gonna judge.
I’ll squeeze in one more question before I’ve gotta leave you. Is Green Bank happening?
RUBEN: Hopefully, any second now. It’s a killer cast.
Heart Eyes is in theaters on February 7.

Heart Eyes

Release Date

February 7, 2025

Director

Josh Ruben

Writers

Michael Kennedy, Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon

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