Original movie ideas often feel like they are few and far between in modern times, but every once in awhile an exciting concept hits like a lightning strikes. That's what happened to Phillip Murphy when a bad date gave him the kernel he needed to begin writing inspired by Jason Vorhees (but also Sleepless in Seattle).

Heart Eyes stars Mason Gooding and Olivia Holt as Jay and Ally, who are forced to fake date for a work project and in doing so run right into the dreaded Heart Eyes Killer. HEK, as he is affectionately known, seeks to destroy and dismember happy couples on Valentine's Day — which Ally and Jay unfortunately appear to be at the moment. Other cast include Fast and Furious star Jordana Brewster and Final Destination's Devon Sawa as a pair of cops hilariously named Hobbs and Shaw, and Bridge and Tunnel's Gigi Zumbado as Ally's best friend Monica.

ScreenRant interviewed the writers and director of Heart Eyes to uncover what lies beneath the surface of the rom-com turned slasher, and how the perfect Valentine's Day killer was created. While Ruben shared some of his primary inspirations for the movie's aesthetic (which he pulled from both the romance and thriller genres), Landon and Kennedy explained how Heart Eyes was a natural evolution from their work on projects like Blumhouse's Freaky. Finally, Murphy revealed the bad Smokehouse dating experience that first got the ball rolling on the newest holiday horror tale.

Heart Eyes Was Born From 1 Bad Date Then Evolved Through Ties To Freaky, Happy Death Day & Jason Lives

"We often are our own worst enemies when it comes to love."

ScreenRant: Philip, I read that Heart Eyes was inspired by your personal experience on a challenging date. Could you elaborate on how the events sparked the idea for the horror rom-com?

Phillip Murphy: Honestly, it was October 2021. I was doing my annual Halloween marathon, so I was watching a horror movie every night. I had this date., and the FaceTime was great — it was still that COVID FaceTime dating. Then we went to the Smokehouse, and the vibe from the FaceTime just didn't translate into the date at all. Nothing could get through; it was really frustrating.

I had that frustration, combined with the fact that I was watching so many horror movies, and it just kind of came together. I was off to the races after that. The mask came after that, and it really just started to snowball.

ScreenRant: Christopher, you previously worked on genre-bending films like Happy Death Day and Freaky. What drew you to Heart Eyes, and how did you approach combining a slasher film with a romantic comedy?

Christopher Landon: That's what drew me to the project. I saw it as an opportunity to make the most violent and gory rom-com ever. Every time I approach something, I'm always looking for the familiar but also unique angle of something. That really struck me; the opportunity to make a real rom-com that keeps getting invaded by a slasher. That felt really fresh and really, really, really fun.

It felt like a great character opportunity to explore Valentine's Day, but also the complexities of love and human nature, and how we often are our own worst enemies when it comes to love.

ScreenRant: Michael, after the success of Freaky, how did you want to push the boundaries further with this project? Were there any risks that you were excited to take with this script?

Michael Kennedy: When Chris asked me to read the script, I was really excited to go to a little bit more of a mature place for me. Freaky has this manic, fun energy with teenagers, and It's A Wonderful Knife was teenagers, so I thought it was a really good opportunity to see what my writing looks like when it's adults.

Chris said this one thing early on about a rom-com being invaded by a slasher movie, and I thought, "Holy s--t, that's it. That's the movie." It also felt familiar and comfortable in a way; similar to the stuff that we both do. I immediately sparked to it and was like, "Yeah, we could do something here."

The challenge was fun to do. I always try to do something that is not easy; that has a challenge to it and makes you flex different muscles.

ScreenRant: This is the perfect balance of rom-com and horror, and I think it's done so brilliantly. What were some of the films that inspired you to make sure you got this tonally right, Josh?

Josh Ruben: The films that I grew up loving to death. Sleepless in Seattle, Defending Your Life, and Tom McLoughlin's Jason Lives.

Jason Lives was my North Star for how I wanted it to feel, but a modern take on it. So as fun but as brutal a horror as I could make without it being excruciating or too gruesome; truly fun. And I want it to be as legitimately sweet as anything Penny Marshall would make.

How The Heart Eyes Killer Wound Up With The Perfect Iconography For A Horrendous Valentine's Day

"I think my f--king stove was on fire."

ScreenRant: I think the Heart Eyes Killer is an instant classic and will be an iconic horror slasher villain. The character seems poised to create a new slasher icon. What do you think makes HEK distinct and memorable compared to other horror villains?

Josh Ruben: I think we take what separated Jason in Part VI, specifically the tool belt, and we take it further. We take the fun and almost supervillain-like quality of his light-up eyes and his retractable weapons, and we throw him into a world that has the same blue moonlight you'd see in Jaws or Get Out, but also Sleepless in Seattle and My Best Friend's Wedding. Those great rom-coms had that same look.

It was really about just how we make him — not just the most iconic because that's like saying, "Let's make a viral video." You don't know if it's going to turn out iconic — the most fun can we make him. Would you want to dress up like him for Halloween, and would you want to buy the stuff? Do you want to play with the action figure? Do you want the Legos? That's the kind of horror film I want to make. I want all the Heart Eyes merch I can get my hands on.

Phillip Murphy: I was cooking dinner one night and [the design] just came to me. At first, I was calling it The Couples Killer, and I was like, "No, I can do better than that." Then maybe I sent the emoji, or somehow that emoji just came to me. Hearts over the eyes, I'm like, "There we go!" I think my f--king stove was on fire. I forgot about my dinner, I was so jacked about that idea.

I found a few Google images; variations of people that had masks on with hearts over the eyes. I'm like, "It's creepy. This is something, and I'm excited about it." And then to call it the Heart Eyes Killer was just like, "Of course!" At first, I was like, "Is it too on the nose?" But no. The best part of the movie is that we lean right into that.

ScreenRant: I love the fact that HEK uses a crossbow, almost as an homage to Cupid. Can you share the creative process and the design for these scenes that tie into the films like the Valentine's Day setting?

Josh Ruben: When deg the kill scenes, all you really want to do is make them as tense as possible. I pulled on everything that ever freaked me out, including the way the lights wink out in the police station, which is totally an homage to what I saw and loved in Signs.

But for romantic scenes, I knew very early on that I wanted to homage Big, which I think is a rom-com in its own right. We very blatantly, in my opinion, homage the restaurant scene with the large pink tapestry windows, and Rob Bavin (our production designer) and Stephen Murphy (our cinematographer) really blew it out to just bring on those colors. You want to make sure that, in a Valentine's Day film, you have some combination of red, pink, and white in just about every frame. Just like a Christmas movie should have green and red.

Michael Kennedy: When we read Phil's script, he leaned really heavily into Valentine's Day, which is a setting I think the few Valentine's slashers there are don't really take advantage of. So, I know one of the first things we did when we sat down was start making lists of romantic locations that you can use in a movie. The date, the drive in a park, the circuit...

He had a carnival situation going on, and we took that and made it the carousel. That was one of the first things we did. I sitting down and going, "What are some Valentine's Day events? I Googling, "What do people do in Japan on Valentine's Day?" to try and get some sort of motivation and that kind of stuff.

Heart Eyes Has The Benefit Of Action & Horror Stars Jordana Brewster And Devon Sawa

Director Josh Ruben reveals the origin of the Hobbs and Shaw running gag.

ScreenRant: I love Detectives Hobbs and Shaw. Were those always the names prior to Jordana getting cast?

Josh Ruben: Hobbs and Shaw was always there, and we were all reluctant as to if it would work. Then when we played it in the test audience, it was one of the biggest laughs in the film. We did not know Jordana would end up starring in the film, but I'm so glad she did, and I'm glad it adds to that meta layer.

ScreenRant: Can you talk about working with Devon Sawa?

Josh Ruben: Devin is a horror legend. I was thrilled to be able to work with him. We were asked to go screen Final Destination with a Q&A after in Auckland, and he was super down. He really doesn't usually do those types of events for most of his films, but he's a legend. He's one of the nicest dudes I know; extremely thoughtful and very committed, and I hope this is just the beginning of my working with him.

More About Heart Eyes (2025)

For the past several years, the “Heart Eyes Killer” has wreaked havoc on Valentine’s Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine’s Day, no couple is safe…

Check out our other Heart Eyes interview with:

• Mason Gooding & Olivia Holt
• Jordana Brewster, Devon Sawa & Gigi Zumbado

Heart Eyes arrives in theaters on February 7.