Heart Eyes’ 6 Homages To Iconic Slasher Movie Villain Weapons Explained

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Heart Eyes!

Rather than sticking to one, Heart Eyes allows the villains to switch between various armaments, including six homages to iconic slasher villains’ weapons. The horror-comedy film Heart Eyes has quickly grown popular thanks to its Scream-like approach to the horror and romantic comedy genres. Heart Eyes is packed full of Easter Eggs, references, and homages to the movies that came before. This strengthens the meta-humor and pushes the film onto the line of satire in a great way.

While the romantic comedy speech Monica gives is the most prominent example of an homage, acknowledgment of Heart Eyes’ predecessors can also be seen when looking at the Heart Eyes Killer. The villain borrows many characteristics of the best slasher villains, including using some of their most iconic weapons. Smartly, they make just enough changes, such as the specific make or model of a weapon, for it to feel like paying respect instead of simply ripping off the other films.

6

Jason Voorhees’ Machete (Friday The 13th Franchise)

The Heart Eyes Killer Uses A Machete Throughout Heart Eyes

The most obvious homage to an iconic slasher villain weapon is the Heart Eyes Killer’s use of a machete throughout the film. The crossbow and machete are the two weapons the character uses most often. It’s first shown when the villain is chasing down Ally after Jay gets knocked out. They wield the machete again while trying to kill her on the carousel. Then, it’s brought back again during the police station and the drive-in movie scenes. The Heart Eyes Killer uses it to cut into Hobbs’ groin, threaten Jay, and kill unsuspecting couples.

Similarly, Jason Voorhees’ machete appears in almost every Friday the 13th movie, with him killing people with it in every film except for Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. No matter what other weapon Jason grabs, his machete always comes back. Some of Jason Voorhees’ best Friday the 13th kills with the machete include Mark Jarvis from Part 2, Andy Beltrami in Part III, and Trey Cooper in Freddy vs. Jason.

The Jason Voorhees homage feels appropriate, considering the similarities between the Heart Eyes Killer and Jason Voorhees. Both villains don’t seem to have a sense of fear of mortality. They also don’t have qualms about killing anyone and everyone. Even though the throuple are behind the mask of the Heart Eyes Killer pick a target, they happily slaughter any person who gets in their way. Meanwhile, Jason seems happy to kill anybody near Camp Crystal Lake.

5

Andy Richards’ Tire Iron (Sorority Row)

The Tire Iron Scene Appears During The Drive-In Massacre

One of the goriest, most shocking, and funniest deaths in Heart Eyes is the double murder of the couple who are having sex behind Ally and Jay in the van. They think the entire threat of the Heart Eyes Killer is the couple role playing, so they don’t try to stay quiet.

Subsequently, the villain opens the trunk of the van and stabs a tire iron through the mouth of the man. They then hit the woman’s head down on top of it, leaving a pronounced hole that goes all the way through.

This weapon choice is an homage to the 2009 movie Sorority Row, in which Andy Richards uses an altered tire iron as a weapon. The slasher villain modifies the tire iron used to kill Megan and wields it against the members of the sorority. Each of the individuals that Andy kills in the horror film falls to the tire iron except for Kyle and Claire.

4

The Man’s Crossbow (Hush)

The Crossbow Is The Heart Eyes Killer’s Main Weapon

Very few slasher villains consistently use long-range weapons, but one of the Heart Eyes Killer’s primary weapons is a crossbow. He first uses it to kill the guy proposing, and it pops back up again in almost every attack. The crossbow is also what makes the police think Jay is the killer, and the Heart Eyes Killer who uses the crossbow more often even gets an arrow to the face at the end of Heart Eyes. This fits with the Valentine’s Day setting since Cupid traditionally uses arrows.

However, it also could be an homage to The Man from Mike Flanagan’s Hush – a non-traditional slasher movie with a large fanbase. The villains of both movies like to play mental games of cat and mouse with their victims. This becomes extremely apparent with the Heart Eyes Killer after they’re unmasked since David asks Ally on a date knowing he just tried to kill her.

3

Art the Clown’s Gun (Terrifier)

The End Of Heart Eyes Takes Inspiration From Terrifier

When it comes to horror villains, most use close-range weapons and knives. However, one of the Heart Eyes Killers wields a gun when inside the chapel at the end of Heart Eyes. The villains also give a gun to Ally as a test – forcing her to either shoot herself or Jay. This choice of weapon is most likely an homage to Art the Clown in the movie Terrifier.

Terrifier is one of the newest slasher movies referenced in Heart Eyes, but it quickly solidified itself among the greats. Unlike other villains, Art the Clown doesn’t hesitate to use handguns. One of the darkest kills in the first Terrifier movie (via Collider) happens when Art kills Tara, the movie’s final girl.

The Terrifier weapon homage isn’t the only similarity between Art the Clown and the Heart Eyes Killer. Art never speaks throughout the Terrifier movies, and the Heart Eyes villain doesn’t speak until the very end of the film. This makes both villains much more scary.

2

The Fence Post (Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives)

The Police Department Murder Is A Nod To Friday The 13th

The Heart Eyes Killer takes a similar approach to Jason Voorhees in that they use an unconventional object that’s shaped somewhat like a spear to kill a victim. In the case of Heart Eyes, the villain uses a flag pole with a spike at the end to shish kebob the officer watching over Ally in the police department.

Meanwhile, Tommy Jarvis stabs Jason with a metal fence post that’s pointed at the end, and the slasher villain then uses it as his own weapon after coming back to life. Jason uses the fence post to murder two camp counselors, Darren Robinson and Lizabeth Mott, in Part VI: Jason Lives.

Alternatively, the flag pole murder in Heart Eyes could be a small nod to the lesser-known horror-comedy film Uncle Sam, which does actually include Sam Harper stabbing a deputy with a flag pole. This seems like a coincidence rather than an homage, though, since most of Heart Eyes’ romance references and horror references focus on popular films.

1

Ghostface’s Hunting Knife (Scream)

The Hunting Knife In Heart Eyes Is Just One Of The Many Scream References

The final homage to an iconic horror villain’s weapon is the use of a hunting knife that’s similar, though not exactly the same, as Ghostface’s weapon. Of all the horror movie homages and parallels, Scream is the most prominent, with Heart Eyes’ villain identity and its narrative taking on many traits of its predecessor. This is especially noticeable when one of the Heart Eyes Killers wields a hunting knife.

While David seems to prefer the crossbow, Shaw frequently pulls out the knife. The Heart Eyes Killer stabs the hunting knife through Ally’s closet door and again through the bedroom door. Later, she brings the knife back out in the chapel, where she reveals herself as the second killer.

The creative team on Heart Eyes was smart to use a similar but not exactly the same knife when making an homage to Scream. If they included the same buck knife that Ghostface uses, viewers might have accused them of trying too hard to copy Scream, instead of simply paying respect to another meta-horror comedy.