Remember what I said two months ago about not seeing bad movies. Well, I'd like to amend that slightly. I don't see bad movies on purpose. See, it's one thing to look at the trailer for, say. Paul Blart 2 (and seriously, who was asking for a second one of those. Does anyone remember there was a first one), and know that it won't be good. It's an entirely different matter for me to see a trailer, and think that a film will be good, or at least decent. I thought Man of Steel was going to be good. I also thought that Amazing Spider-Man 2 was going to be good, and that the naysayer just hated the film, because they hated the first film. (Now that I have seen that, I'm beginning to wonder whether the first film was actually as good as I remember.) And that's the real shame. Trailers raise our expectations, and so do good reviews. When it doesn't reach expectations, you hate it even more. Where am I going with this? I'll take you back a few months. I was browsing upcoming films, when I came across one called Unfriended. Given that it is a Facebook term, I assumed it was a comedy about Facebook or the like. I found out it was a horror movie. Okay, I was somewhat interested. Then, I learned that it had been getting positive reviews. Okay, expectations were raised. Then the trailer came out. Expectations fell. I had the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that this was going to be terrible. Yet, the good reviews kept coming. I went into it, praying it would surprise. And some films do. Frozen surprised me with how good it was. Guardians of the Galaxy, whilst I knew that would be good, surprised me with just how great and funny it was. This film did not surprise me. It had the exact quality I was... Okay, that's not true. I admit, it was slightly better than I thought it would be. But, not by much.
The film is almost completely shot through the Mac Book of a young woman named Blair Lily (Shelly Hennig). She starts the film, viewing videos and articles pertaining to the suicide of a classmate named Laura Barns(Heather Sossaman). Barns was the subject of a rather unfortunate video, featuring a rather humiliating incident, and the response ultimately led to her suicide. Blair then has a casual Skype (actually Skype, not a Lawyer-Friendly variation) conversation with a few friends, including her boyfriend Mitch (Moses Storm). However, there is a mysterious person also on the call named billie227. At the same time, Blair is getting a series of mysterious messages from Laura's old Facebook account, which she can't memorialize. (Doesn't Facebook have a policy where a deceased person's account is taken down? She had been dead for a year, yet nobody memorialized her account?) After a few attempts to dispose of this mysterious user, they trace the messages from billie227 from to Laura. They assume it's a prank from one of their other friends, Val (Courtney Halverson). However, when she's included, crude photos of Val are placed from friend Jess (Renee Olstead) account. When Jess removes them, the photo appears on another friends account. Eventually, the account reveals to herself to be Laura, and she begins to demand who sent the original video. When Val tries to call the police, she is logged off, and when the picture re-emerges, Val is deceased, apparently having drank a bottle of bleach. Laura then warns the others, that if they try to log off, THEY DIE! So, it's becomes a game of, who will die next, and yeah, that's pretty much it. People are killed.
Good things: For all I am about to say, It kept me interested. Not invested, mind you, but interested. I did want to know what is exactly going on. And the film at least delivers on explanation. I also at least paid attention to what was happening. The actors largely do fine, and heck, I did enjoy going through the screen, trying to look at the various details about Blair. What did I learn? Well, she likes Johnny Cash, and Teen Wolf. That was interesting. She also likes indie rock. I admit, when she occasionally types a message, and alters it before posting, it was mildly interesting.Also, there is a small twist at the end, which works well, even if you see it coming.
The filming of a single computer screen.This is a gimmick. An annoying gimmick. I mean, I watched the Modern Family episode that did this, and it was irritating then. I don't know what exactly irritates me about it. Maybe, it's the fact that seems so "trendy." Like, they, in their pretentiousness, decided that they should film a whole movie, and its told through the perspective of a laptop screen. There's just... Something off about that, for me. Also, it wasn't scary. Let me tell about another movie I saw a few weeks ago: It Follows. Another low budget indie horror film. The horror in that film was based off tension. It built up a lot of tension and menace with its monster, and made you unnerved. It didn't use any jumpscares, it used little gore, and it utilized graphic scenes spaciously. It just had a single figure, walking omniously towards the main character. That is scary, because you a.) don't know when a scare is coming, or b.) know a scare is coming, and is waiting for it to happen. That kind of terror actually, in a way, follows you out of the theater. This film doesn't do that. It relies on graphic violence and jumpscares. And let me tell you about jumpscares. There is a difference between being mildly surprised and actually frightened. This film had me mildly surprised. And after that wears off, you stop feeling scared. There is a very cheap jumpscare at the end, and it wore off very quickly for me. Also, the characters were just horror cliches, most deeply unlikable. You kind of stop becoming interested in this characters. I actually started rooting for Laura towards the middle of the film. That's how unlikable these characters are. Only Blair is somewhat sympathetic. I also thought that maybe there was going to be a twist about supposed account. Maybe it wasn't Laura at all. Maybe it was something else, something more intriguing. Spoiler: that's not true. It is Laura's Ghost doing all this.
If you could tolerate the gimmick, and enjoy cliched horror films, or if you just want to see a movie, just 'cause, I suppose you might like this. However, if you are looking for a subtle, shocking, and terrifying horror film, go watch It Follows. That is more subtle, more interesting, and much more terrifying. It definitely deserves your ticket, and in my opinion, will be a modern classic. This film will be largely either considered a relic of the times, or forgotten. Unfriended from the general public if you will. Thank you for reading. I will post a brief preview post for Tomorrowland, and will post my review for Age of Ultron (which, given I have exams and graduation that month, will probably be my only post.)
The film is almost completely shot through the Mac Book of a young woman named Blair Lily (Shelly Hennig). She starts the film, viewing videos and articles pertaining to the suicide of a classmate named Laura Barns(Heather Sossaman). Barns was the subject of a rather unfortunate video, featuring a rather humiliating incident, and the response ultimately led to her suicide. Blair then has a casual Skype (actually Skype, not a Lawyer-Friendly variation) conversation with a few friends, including her boyfriend Mitch (Moses Storm). However, there is a mysterious person also on the call named billie227. At the same time, Blair is getting a series of mysterious messages from Laura's old Facebook account, which she can't memorialize. (Doesn't Facebook have a policy where a deceased person's account is taken down? She had been dead for a year, yet nobody memorialized her account?) After a few attempts to dispose of this mysterious user, they trace the messages from billie227 from to Laura. They assume it's a prank from one of their other friends, Val (Courtney Halverson). However, when she's included, crude photos of Val are placed from friend Jess (Renee Olstead) account. When Jess removes them, the photo appears on another friends account. Eventually, the account reveals to herself to be Laura, and she begins to demand who sent the original video. When Val tries to call the police, she is logged off, and when the picture re-emerges, Val is deceased, apparently having drank a bottle of bleach. Laura then warns the others, that if they try to log off, THEY DIE! So, it's becomes a game of, who will die next, and yeah, that's pretty much it. People are killed.
Good things: For all I am about to say, It kept me interested. Not invested, mind you, but interested. I did want to know what is exactly going on. And the film at least delivers on explanation. I also at least paid attention to what was happening. The actors largely do fine, and heck, I did enjoy going through the screen, trying to look at the various details about Blair. What did I learn? Well, she likes Johnny Cash, and Teen Wolf. That was interesting. She also likes indie rock. I admit, when she occasionally types a message, and alters it before posting, it was mildly interesting.Also, there is a small twist at the end, which works well, even if you see it coming.
The filming of a single computer screen.This is a gimmick. An annoying gimmick. I mean, I watched the Modern Family episode that did this, and it was irritating then. I don't know what exactly irritates me about it. Maybe, it's the fact that seems so "trendy." Like, they, in their pretentiousness, decided that they should film a whole movie, and its told through the perspective of a laptop screen. There's just... Something off about that, for me. Also, it wasn't scary. Let me tell about another movie I saw a few weeks ago: It Follows. Another low budget indie horror film. The horror in that film was based off tension. It built up a lot of tension and menace with its monster, and made you unnerved. It didn't use any jumpscares, it used little gore, and it utilized graphic scenes spaciously. It just had a single figure, walking omniously towards the main character. That is scary, because you a.) don't know when a scare is coming, or b.) know a scare is coming, and is waiting for it to happen. That kind of terror actually, in a way, follows you out of the theater. This film doesn't do that. It relies on graphic violence and jumpscares. And let me tell you about jumpscares. There is a difference between being mildly surprised and actually frightened. This film had me mildly surprised. And after that wears off, you stop feeling scared. There is a very cheap jumpscare at the end, and it wore off very quickly for me. Also, the characters were just horror cliches, most deeply unlikable. You kind of stop becoming interested in this characters. I actually started rooting for Laura towards the middle of the film. That's how unlikable these characters are. Only Blair is somewhat sympathetic. I also thought that maybe there was going to be a twist about supposed account. Maybe it wasn't Laura at all. Maybe it was something else, something more intriguing. Spoiler: that's not true. It is Laura's Ghost doing all this.
If you could tolerate the gimmick, and enjoy cliched horror films, or if you just want to see a movie, just 'cause, I suppose you might like this. However, if you are looking for a subtle, shocking, and terrifying horror film, go watch It Follows. That is more subtle, more interesting, and much more terrifying. It definitely deserves your ticket, and in my opinion, will be a modern classic. This film will be largely either considered a relic of the times, or forgotten. Unfriended from the general public if you will. Thank you for reading. I will post a brief preview post for Tomorrowland, and will post my review for Age of Ultron (which, given I have exams and graduation that month, will probably be my only post.)
