We live in a world that hasn’t seen a Friday the 13th movie since 2009, but films like Terrifier 3 have become big box office. People are hungry for slashers — they always have been — and if they’re not getting Jason Vorhees, they’re going to look for something new. Maybe Heart Eyes will be the answer.

Directed by Josh Ruben (Werewolves Within) and written by Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon (Disturbia, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) and Michael Kennedy (Freaky, It’s a Wonderful Knife), this is about a serial killer who shows up in a random town every Valentine’s Day and starts to kill couples. Whoever it is, Heart Eyes is now in Seattle, starting his murders at a spa and a winery. These murders end up nearly costing ad exec Ally McCabe (Olivia Holt) her job, as her new ad is all about couples dying. Her boss Crystal Cane (Michaela Watkins) brings in Jay Simmons (Mason Gooding, Cuba’s son) to try to develop a new ad quickly; meanwhile, Heart Eyes is killing through Jet City and doesn’t realize that Ally and Jay aren’t an item.

What if Jay was in the same towns at the same time as Heart Eyes? What if a ring with his initials shows up at a crime scene? What if he gets arrested by detectives Zeke Hobbs (Devon Sawa) and Jeanine Shaw (Jordana Brewster), then handcuffed in the police station when Heart Eyes pays a visit? And what if this mixed a romantic comedy with a slasher that wasn’t afraid to get gory?

Heart Eyes reminds me of post-Scream 90s slashers like Valentine and Urban Legend. I say that as a positive. The killer’s look —designed by Tony Gardner, who also made the masks for Freaky, Happy Death Day and Totally Killer—feels giallo. I wish they lit the neon eyes more because that’s such an interesting image.

No slasher today can equal the glory years of 1978-1981, but Heart Eyes makes an effort. It feels like the candy you eat on the holiday, a whole Whitman’s Sampler that may not fill you up, but you don’t dislike the experience. It certainly has the actual stalk and slash moments that many modern films miss and a couple you want to see survive. That’s way better than we’ve been getting.