{"id":3538,"date":"2015-05-09T13:17:49","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T13:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/?p=3538"},"modified":"2015-05-09T13:17:49","modified_gmt":"2015-05-09T13:17:49","slug":"unfriended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/thriller\/unfriended\/","title":{"rendered":"Unfriended ***"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"unfriended\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Making a 90-minute horror film set within the confines of a computer screen sounds like a challenge, especially one trying to replicate the tired \u2018found footage\u2019 theme and scare the living daylights out of you. Unfriended<\/em> by director Levan Gabriadze and screenwriter Nelson Greaves does just this, not necessarily feeding off the visual chills its cluttered windows pop up to reveal, but that foreboding sense of lack of control in the online world, where innocent acts can turn ugly and destructive in a split second.<\/p>\n

After attractive pupil Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman) gets drunk and passes out in an ungracious fashion, a video of her antics is posted online, triggering an online hate campaign that eventually ends in tragedy. Her school friends regularly meet in online chat room Skype, until a mystery caller enters their group chat one evening to haunt \u2013 and taunt \u2013 them through their dead friend\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

Unfriended<\/em> plays to an online generation, many of who conduct their everyday lives through social media on a device screen \u2013 and it\u2019s clever in this sense, placing a socially accepted existence in jeopardy using the horror genre. Another smart thing the film does is play out the dangers of putting everything online that may come back to haunt you. Whether this warning sticks with some after watching, long enough before that itch for some social media interaction is anyone\u2019s guess, but there is a strong message of \u2018be responsible\u2019 for what you make public, without taking the moral high ground.<\/p>\n

The film is like \u2018The Digital Blair Witch Project<\/em>\u2019, using the standard distorted images of scared young faces, lit by torch light \u2013 or screen light here, and helpless screams of terror. What it also does to initially heighten tension is mix real-time pauses with frantic on-screen activity and mood music tracks to give a very genuine sense of the lead character\u2019s emotional state at any one moment. Ironically, that lead is called \u2018Blaire\u2019 (commendably played by Shelley Hennig), perhaps in honour of the 1999 film, her fate predictably sealed last as we need her screen functioning for there to be a film.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the course of Unfriended<\/em> unfolds just like any other in the genre, with each caller picked off one by one. The only thrill is correct-guessing who\u2019s next from each character\u2019s fears, neurosises or unattractive traits. Indeed character richness is thin on the ground, and Unfriended<\/em> fails prey to playing to type (the beauty, the jock and the nerd etc). However, the online activity is virtually non-stop and covers up this fact. There is also an engagement in watching exactly how to cope with each online threat that pops up \u2013 educational for those who aren\u2019t social savvy.<\/p>\n

Unfriended<\/em> offers some half-decent scares inside a rather claustrophobic environment, with the usual sacrifice of attractive teens. Unsurprisingly, it\u2019s not unique in that sense. What is noteworthy is taking the social media platforms\u2019 functionality and accentuated sounds to trigger its suspense. In this respect, Unfriended<\/em> grabs and retains our curiosity.<\/p>\n

3\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

By @FilmGazer<\/p>\n

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