Unfriended

Unfriended is a low budget horror film about a ghost terrorizing some kids on the internet. The whole thing is shot on a computer screen. A mac computer, sweet ad placement there apple. It is also done in a guess you would call a continuous shot. The camera/screen capture really never cuts out.

The big things that we really need to be talk about with this film. Is its style and how it is used very well. The director was a very smart one when it came to this film. He used the fact that we are a laptop to give a little bit of character touches. Like what tabs are opened up on the main character's screen to learn more about her. Like I can tell you, that she likes Johnny Cash and Teen Wolf (another solid ad their MTV). He also lets the actors type something in and before they hit send go back erase it. It uses a lot these gimmicky "its a computer ideas" but it's not just a gimmick. The film story really centers around a main theme. Which would be secrets and cyberbulling. This film would do great as a PSA against cyberbulling. It really focuses on this and scenes really bring out these themes in the 2nd half of the film. Which is much closer to a thriller than a horror film and actually the better half of the film. The film is also very fast and very well paced. You will never be bored with this film. Its always moving the story forward and the viewer is always learning new things. 

The biggest problems with the film is the characters and the ending of the film and some of the acting. The characters are very stereotypical teenagers, but I can tell that is something they were going for. They just aren't that interesting of people or do you really ever care about any of them. The acting is okay for what it is, some are just bad, but others are good. Like the main girl. Easily the best acted out of them. The ending of the film I think would have been stronger, if was a little different. It really would have just driven home its themes. Their is a  problem with the rating of the film. It's R rated which is good and it uses it to its advantage, but if this was a PG-13 film it really would have found the target demographic at which this film is clearly aimed at. This doesn't affect the film at all, just a thought I had about it. Overall, Unfriended is a solid film that uses its gimmick smartly and for a reason. So if a film like this makes you start to think I say go see it.

RATING

3.25 out of 4 Ticket Stubs