Over the years, there have been multiple trendsetters in the horror movie genre. In the 80’s, “Halloween” kicked off the heyday of slashers, and then in the 90’s we saw “The Blair Witch Project” create the found footage style of horror movie, most recently made famous with 2007’s “Paranormal Activity.”
Now we have another trend on the rise with “Unfriended,” a cyber-natural horror film taking place over a multi-way Skype call.
On the anniversary of Laura Barns’s suicide caused by cyberbullying after an embarrassing video is posted, a mysterious username begins to terrorize a group of friends, all in the name of revenge for Laura. The format of the movie takes place on the desk top of Blaire’s (Shelly Hennig) computer, which is really the film’s only gimmick.
Everything is shown through Skype, Facebook and other internet pages on screen. To put it simply, it’s like watching someone else’s computer screen as they web surf and chat with their friends. It’s something never seen before, which is a big plus for the film.
Overall, “Unfriended” was just okay. I went in with low expectations, and it didn’t go below those expectations, nor did it rise above them. It was exactly what I thought it would be, and that left me oddly satisfied.
There’s really no surprises, no twists; just jump-scares or jarringly gruesome deaths.
The acting is nothing spectacular, especially when a majority of the actors are shouting and getting mad at each other while the mystery Skyper threatens them with death if they sign off.
It’s a little surprising that a movie like this hasn’t been thought of yet, but it comes at a good time. The tech savvy, multitasking younger generation will flock to this movie to see the next big thing since “Paranormal Activity.” Also, it touches on the theme of cyberbulling.
However, there are more bad things that make up this movie than good. It’s actually a little hard to call it a movie, as nothing moves cinematically, and it’s just a single live capture of a monitor for 80 minutes.
Should you see “Unfriended?” If you like the gore and jump scares that make up a majority of stale horror movies nowadays, yes. But, that’s really all there is to it. It’s just presented in a unique way.
