Pretty Boy is directed by Marcel Walz, and the cast includes Sarah French, Jed Rowen, Devanny Pinn, Heather Grace Hancock., Jake Red, Andrew Rohrbach, Robert Felsted Jr..
My Thoughts On Pretty Boy
Pretty Boy is the sequel to 2019's Blind, and has been on my watch list for a while. It was released in 2021, but it only got released on streaming this year for some reason, and it still didn't come out when it said it would.
The film picks up pretty much straight after Blind, with Faye, the blind woman at the center of the first film, returning, but this time, she’s more of a side characte, and instead, we’re dropped into a neon-soaked Valentine’s Day party where the masked stalker from the first film, Pretty Boy, gets to take center stage. And what starts out feeling like a slightly offbeat romantic thriller quickly turns into a full-on slasher.
Where Blind was slower, quieter, more psychological, Pretty Boy goes for the throat, literally. This movie doesn’t waste time building slow tension. It wants to slash its way through as many bodies as possible, and it does just that. It’s bloodier, faster, and way more playful in how it handles horror.
Written by Joe Knetter and directed again by Marcel Walz, the duo clearly wanted to shift gears and explore another side of this world. And while it doesn’t abandon the tone of the first movie completely, it definitely dips into a different genre pool.
You can feel them leaning into the slasher formula with a group of new, mostly doomed characters with barely-there backstories, one creepy killer, and a location that’s just isolated enough to turn into a bloodbath. It’s a shift that mostly works, especially if you go in with the right expectations.
Sarah French gives another strong performance as Faye, maybe even better than the first, but the film doesn’t give her much to do. She’s in a few scenes, makes an impact, then fades into the background, and it feels like a missed opportunity.
She anchored the weight of Blind, and here she’s treated more like a plot point than a person. I get why they did it, as the story needed to evolve, and they wanted to open up the world, but I still found myself wanting more of her.
That said, the cast overall is pretty solid, and they all do a decent enough job.
While the film is not set in the 1980s, it might as well be, the entire Valentine’s Day party is dripping in retro style, featuring neon lights, pink fog, synth-heavy score, the whole package.
But because the movie owns that aesthetic so fully and places it in a modern context, it doesn’t feel forced. It’s more of a vibe than a gimmick, and that’s where cinematographer Michael Su really shines.
His work here is polished but not overly slick, and he’s not afraid to lean into the stylized lighting and color, but he always keeps the focus clear, as he lets the camera follow the characters in a way that actually enhances the mood and builds atmosphere.
His work here is polished but not overly slick, and he’s not afraid to lean into the stylized lighting and color, but he always keeps the focus clear, as he lets the camera follow the characters in a way that actually enhances the mood and builds atmosphere.
And horror fans will probably be pretty satisfied with the kills, too. They’re well-staged, and creative enough to keep things fun. The blood flows freely, and the movie doesn’t flinch when it’s time to go there. Some of it is a little over-the-top, but that’s kind of the point. The tone never gets too grim, it’s more like a twisted party than a descent into darkness.
There are some moments that feel a little underdeveloped though, such as side characters that don’t really matter, background elements that don’t totally add up, and a few moments that could’ve used a bit more tension or payoff. But that didn’t take too much away from the experience for me. It knows what kind of movie it wants to be, and it delivers on that.
Pretty Boy is a sequel that takes some bold swings. It trades the quiet intimacy of Blind for a louder, bloodier ride, and while not every choice hits perfectly, it’s a fun and stylish evolution of the story. If you’re into slashers, or just want to see a Valentine’s Day party turn into a massacre, you’re in good hands.
Just don’t expect subtlety. This one’s all about mood, mayhem, and a masked killer who might actually be more interesting than he lets on, and despite it receiving poor reviews, I actually had enough fun with it.
Go in with low expectations and you might too.