[Movie Review] Unfriended (2015)
Director: Levan Gabriadze
Writer: Nelson Greaves
Runtime: 82 min
Main Cast:
- Heather Sossaman as Laura
- Matthew Bohrer as Matt
- Courtney Halverson as Val Rommel
- Shelley Hennig as Blaire
Guest Review: by Erika T
This one sort of stood out to me because it seemed like it wanted to try something a little different in the horror genre, taking it in a new direction. I was also curious about Shelley Hennig. Though she is not my favorite on Teen Wolf, she has been a breakout star. She appears to be carving out a niche for herself in the horror movie market, from starring in last year’s Oujia to this. One would think when Teen Wolf finally goes kaput she’ll at least have more opportunities here.
A group of teenagers sign on to a skype chat on the anniversary of the suicide of one of their classmates who killed herself after a mortifying video of her went viral. The chat appears to have a glitch though, showing one extra account that they can’t identify and can’t get rid of. That “person” appears to be the dead teen and she wants to exact revenge on the people that drove her to kill herself.
What I Liked:
The cast did a fairly believable job a carrying on like a group of insufferable teenaged millennials. I was told that the entire movie was filmed in one take. Or rather every take used was the complete movie acted out every time. I appreciate that type of dedication. It’s not dissimilar to actors in a play where you have to keep going no matter what.
What I Didn’t Like:
Though the idea is somewhat new, it still has that formulaic feel to it. It even ends with the usual found footage lack of closure.
If you’re looking for chills and thrills from this, well to he honest it’s not scary. Or at least it wasn’t for me at all. Though I’m not an easy scare I can usually acknowledge how it should be for someone else. I found myself laughing more than anything and I’m not sure it was always intentional. But since my expectations were fairly low for this I was entertained anyway.
Summary
While we’re more connected than ever thanks to the internet, this felt more like a gradual progression for the genre to move onto something like this as opposed to feeling completely new, fresh, and clever. It just wanted to update itself with the times, so the “cybernatural” trend was born.
It’s a short film so it doesn’t require a huge chunk of your time. And I certainly hope Apple, Facebook, Skype, and Google paid them pretty well for the product placement. The movie could probably be funded from those four alone.
It should see pretty impressive profits similar to The Purge. What a good year it is to be Universal Studios! They are really cleaning up at the box office and we aren’t even halfway through the year yet.
User Review
( votes)You can find more of Erika’s work at Your Urban Fantasy
Images Courtesy of IMDB
