Unfriended (2014)

A group of young people are haunted during their Skype session by a vengeful spirit who they wronged in the past in 'Unfriended', a film from 2014 that honestly came and went in my mind until this weekend's upcoming sequel/not sequel began promotion and if you've seen the film yourself, I think it's easy to understand why.

The film's setup and overall style is without a doubt it's best aspect, shot entirely as if we're watching someone's computer monitor while chatting online, looking up photographs, or even looking up searches on Google (or whatever fake browser they tend to use). Without a doubt in my mind, if it weren't for this photography style the film really has nothing beyond some decent but very limited gore scenes and some slightly tense moments with most of these coming from the unseen ghost of Laura, represented only by a red blank Skype page.

The film's worst aspects are sadly everything else, especially our protagonists who are all complete assholes with no redeemable quality in their bones. They never seem to feel true regret for their actions, they're selfish to the very end willing to sacrifice their so-called friends so easily it's sickening, and overall they deserve every bit of hell they go through in the film. Even with the film's final girl, I feel that she just feels bad because she is threatened and not because she truly feels regret. It's a very sorry/not sorry attitude throughout that makes me feel nothing for any characters onscreen. So without that, what do you have? Well as I said, the film has some memorable death scenes for a couple of these wretched people with the standout kill involving a broken blender to the neck but at the end of the day, it's very minimal and doesn't even attempt the 'what you don't see' angle with them either, making them just everyday horror movie kill scenes.

The thing that we seem to never get the full grasp of here in the states when it comes to the 'cursed ghost' sub-genre is that you can't just have the ghost attacking people and no substance. The only film that comes to mind that tried was the 2002 remake of 'The Ring' and it all comes down to the other characters and not the killer or antagonist. These curse films need sympathy for the characters and regret or redemption from them. This is the most common aspect and may come off as a trope to many, but it's a very important piece of the puzzle if you want a decent film. It makes the horror moments more tense and gives the viewer something to root for or look forward to. But when you make a movie like 'Unfriended', you just want everyone to die and that's boring and sadly all too common with films in general let alone the horror genre, which is all-too commonly plagued with it.

'Unfriended' is perfectly competent in its setup and structure, but that all crumbles before the halfway point thanks to unlikable characters and a weak climax that sets up an obvious sequel (though to be fair the upcoming 'Dark Web' has really no connection other than the similar Skype chat scenes) rather than focusing on a more solid first entry that could have been something truly unique.

4/10