''Smiley Face Killers'' is a 2020 American

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

directed by Tim Hunter and written by

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author, screenwriter, short-story writer, and director. Ellis was first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a w ...

, loosely based on the Smiley face murder theory. The film stars

Ronen Rubinstein Ronen Rubinstein ( , he, רונן רובינשטיין ; born ) is an Israeli-born American actor, environmental activist and lead singer of the rock band Nights in Stereo. He is best known for his roles as T.K Strand in '' 9-1-1: Lone Star,'' ...

, Mia Serafino, and

Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for portraying eccentric characters on screen, such as George McFly in ''Back to the Future'' (1985), Layne in ''River's Edge'' (1986), Andy Warhol in ''The Doors'' ...

Synopsis

The film opens with the abduction and murder of two unrelated victims by a hooded killer in a white van. The only clue linking the murders is the presence of smiley face graffiti near the body. The film then shows Jake, a university student who believes that someone is stalking him, as they have left him a map marking the locations of the prior smiley face murders along with creepy text messages and photos. His girlfriend Keren is concerned that he is off his psychiatric medication, particularly after he grows jealous of her talking to her ex-boyfriend Rob. Jake relates the strange events to his friend Adam, who theorizes that Rob may be doing them out of jealousy. He begins to investigate the map and messages with more earnest, all the time unaware that the stalker, a mysterious hooded figure, has murdered his roommate Devon. Jake discovers messages from Rob on Keren's phone and the two argue, causing her to further worry and assume that his concerns are due to non-compliance with his meds. He continues the fight later when he discovers Rob at a party, during which he pushes Keren. Upset, Jake leaves the party and is swiftly abducted by his stalker and two other hooded figures, one of whom begins to drain his blood. An attempt to free himself is only momentarily successful and results in the death of a gas station clerk and a group of teenagers who happened to drive up. Jake is then killed by the figures, who dump his body and graffiti a smiley face. Devon's death is eventually discovered and it's generally believed that Jake murdered him. The film ends with the hooded figures stalking their next victim.

Cast

as Jake Graham * Mia Serafino as Keren *

as Hooded Figure * Amadeus Serafini as Gabriel *

Ashley Rickards Ashley Nicole Rickards (born May 4, 1992) is an American actress, known for her role as Jenna Hamilton in the MTV comedy-drama series ''Awkward'', and as Samantha "Sam" Walker, a troubled young girl in The CW's teen drama series ''One Tree Hil ...

as Alana * Garrett Coffey as Adam *

Cody Simpson Cody Robert Simpson (born 11 January 1997) is an Australian swimmer and singer-songwriter. Since his debut, he has released four solo studio albums: ''Paradise'' (2012), '' Surfers Paradise'' (2013), '' Free'' (2015), and ''Cody Simpson'' (20 ...

as Rob * Daniel Covin as Devon * Gianna DiDonato as Liv * Rachel Crowl as Woman Killer * Daniel Dannas as Ryan Elliot * Reese Mishler as Brandon Douglas * Corey Prather as Paul Lader

Production

In October 2017, production was announced to have begun.

was cast in the lead role and

in a supporting role, with Tim Hunter directing a screenplay by

Release

''Smiley Face Killers'' was released on

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on December 4, 2020.

Reception

''Smiley Face Killers'' holds a rating of on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on reviews.

Marketing

On October 8, 2020, the official poster and trailer for the film were unveiled by Lionsgate.

expressed his frustration towards the studio's approach to the marketing and apparent lack of support for the film. Following a month-long dispute with the studio, Trenton Ryder confirmed on Twitter the film's social marketing assets were back in his control after being removed ahead of the film's release.

References

External links

* {{Bret Easton Ellis 2020 films 2020 direct-to-video films 2020 horror films 2020 independent films 2020s serial killer films 2020s slasher films American direct-to-video films American independent films American serial killer films American slasher films Direct-to-video horror films Films directed by Tim Hunter Films set in Santa Cruz County, California Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles County, California Lionsgate films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films