Unfriended – APRIL 17th 2015

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Unfriended unfolds over a teenager’s computer screen as she and her friends are stalked by an unseen figure who seeks vengeance for a shaming video that led a vicious bully to kill herself a year earlier.

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

I saw this movie without knowing too much about it, and even after seeing the trailer, I thought to myself, “Well there has to be more than some kids video conferencing. The story seemed pretty simple, a bunch of friends get on Skype and eventually start talking about Laura Barnes, a student that killed herself at school due to bullying. So I expected to see the usual stuff, an introduction of all the kids at school and how they interact with one another. That didn’t happen, and as I was still waiting for the usual movie plots to show up, it never happened. I sat there watching a group of people talking to each other on Skype for almost 90 minutes and for the entire time,

I went through a series of emotional complexity. My internal thoughts were as follows; “What the hell is this,” “Is this seriously all this is,” Why am I still watching this,” “So that’s what this is about,” “Why are they still on Skype,” “What just happened?”. There was more, but you get the picture. Unfriended is the movie of the social networking generation and therefore, it makes sense by default. Past generations would sit around the radio and listen in awe and anticipation. The next generations had to be home in time to see their favorite program. After that generation, the next group recorded everything on VHS, cassettes, Tivo and DVR. Today, it’s all about me. Today’s generation does everything on their time. They watch whatever and talk to whoever when the mode fits their schedule. So to have a movie about friends talking to each other via the internet and then have it turn out to be a horror film was the next progressive step.

I didn’t like Unfriended in the beginning, but halfway through, it started to grow on me. By the end, I didn’t love it, but I liked it more than I think I should have. It was different, and there was no other horror movie using social media throughout to scare its audience. I applaud this movie for its relevance within the “ME” generation by producing a film that showcases what this decade has to offer to the horror genre.

DVD/BLU-RAY/DIGITAL

Genre – Horror

Street date – August 11^th 2015

Video – 1080p

Screen size – 1.78:1

Sound – English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles – English SDH

Extras – none