Unfriended Review

Every few years an innovative horror movie comes out. I thought that Unfriended had some clever marketing and it seemed to be different at first glance. However, as I started to watch the movie, I realized that it was a cheap parlor trick. Though there are some great elements of fear, it doesn’t seem like the type of narrative that deserves so much praise, albeit, there are some moments that had me second guessing.

The movie is simple enough, a girl’s suicide as a result of bullying comes back to haunt a group of friends. The friends all start out by chatting via Skype, and then slowly get killed off by a stranger. At first, I thought it was a real person. My wife said it was a ghost. I was holding on until the end hoping that the reveal was in fact a real person, and not just a ghost, but you take what you can get sometimes.

The movie is told through the screens of chat and Skype and nothing else. Everything is a matter of noise and talking, interaction, pixelation and more. There are red herrings thrown at you, there are moments of deviance, but overall it’s all a winding and narrow movie with a ghost element thrown in for good measure. It’s a short movie that really shouldn’t garner a sequel, but it is getting one.

Overall, Unfriended is my least new horror movie to come out in some time, but that’s not saying a lot. It’s got some cheap thrills here and there, and if you can keep track of all the typing and random elements, you’ll find that this is a movie that will be thought of as creative, but missing that horror element. I think the cinema element is missing. How this made it to the big screen is beyond me. I’d rather have narrative over just watching others chat and what not. That’s my two cents.

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