Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Shelley Hennig, Moses Storm, Renee Olstead, Will Peltz, Heather Sossaman, Courtney Halverson, Matthew Bohrer, Jacob Wysocki, Mickey River, Cal Barnes, Christa Hartsock.
The abundance of the Horror film is almost reached a point in recent years where there is almost nothing new to in which to truly be seen as a unique angle. The Blair Witch Project and possibly the original Saw were arguably the last of the genre to put a completely new spin on the subject matter and other since have been pale imitations, with just a few coming through that have captured the imagination for the way they dealt with the isolating factor that fear holds.
Unfriended, whilst not exactly unique, is one of those films willing to take the genre on and gives what is essentially a very good account of itself. The atmosphere alone makes up for the lack of true suspense and whilst the reveal never strictly reveals itself, the build up is one that rattles the spirit enough to hear the sound of an audience scream as the lights flicker and the sound of heavy breathing and the audible whimper down the ear is a little close for comfort.
The film itself deals with the online aftermath of a young suicide, a girl driven to the extreme due to the pressure of her life. As a group of friends meet online and chat, the past, the lies and the cheating soon catches up with as a cyber stalker invades their lives and claims revenge.
What makes Unfriended place its feet into the unique camp is the way that it was filmed, with virtually all the action being seen from the perspective of the keyboard and the webcams of the various P.C.s. It takes the horror out of the lonely cabin in the woods and puts it squarely into the modern era. The disquiet felt when someone new comes into your cyber life and you don’t know who they are or what they are capable of sits somewhere in the primeval centre of the brain, it is the urge to reach out and be liked but with all the terror of knowing that being bullied, terrified and stalked is only a click of keyboard away.
With an exceptional performance by Shelley Hennig as Blaire Lily, one that really strikes home the growing paranoia and dread as events spiral out of control, Unfriended might not go down in cinematic history as the finest example of Horror but it certainly is one of the best illustrations of the new breed that the 21st Century has to offer.
A gem of the modern age!
Ian D. Hall