By Colm McCall
Not to be confused with the 2014 found footage horror film Unfriended, Friend Request is the latest techno-horror to come our way. With its likeness appearing so strikingly similar to the former, one cinemagoer actually asked for a ticket to Unfriended. Last time I checked my time machine didn’t work and we haven’t had the fortune to travel back two years! However, the sales assistant must have previously encountered the same misunderstanding as he knowingly carried on regardless. I will always have a soft spot for horror films; as a staple of cinema from almost the very beginning, they epitomise everything a trip to the movies should be about. They invoke fear, engage and above all, create a reaction. Sure, they may not be always the most wildly financed or star studded, but they embody the very essence of cinema as an entertainment medium.
Unlike cyber thriller Unfriended, which plays out entirely via social media on computer screens, this film centres on characters and the repercussions their online activities and relationships have on their real lives. One such character is Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey Fear the Walking Dead), whom following her decision to unfriend the reclusive and worryingly clingy Marina, finds herself descending on a steep downward spiral which leaves a great deal of horror and bloodshed in its wake. In a way this film critiques modern society’s inability to log off and how anonymity is essentially dead.
Speaking of spiralling out of control, this film unfortunately symbolises said aphorism. Whilst its build makes for a very intriguing first act, it loses the run of itself very quickly. Its similarities to many noteworthy features which have come before it are undeniably obvious. Its probably best described as a cinematic smoothie, ingredients including The Social Network (2010), The Final Destination (2009), Candyman (1992) and Orphan (2009). All that was really missing was kiwi or grape, for in the final act, director Simon Verhoeven throws everything at the wall in the hope that something will stick. What originally built with such mystique totally loses sight of what had the potential to be memorable. Instead it detours down the all too familiar roads of present day horror mediocrity.
Unlike the classic slasher flicks of the 70s, 80s and 90s, the characters here are really void of any real likeability. It was difficult to suspend my disbelief in the main female protagonist, who just came across as spoiled and vain. It is so tough to get behind a character who doesn’t display any likeable or relatable qualities. Debnam-Carey as Laura Woodson is a far cry from Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott in Scream (1996).
As previously mentioned, this film opened with a relevant and interesting premise, it’s just too bad its execution became muddled as the story progressed. Very few instances in recent years have film fans been able to really get excited about the horror genre;
Sinister (2012), The Conjuring (2013), It Follows (2014) and The Babadook (2014) have been diamonds in the rough and welcome exceptions. But unfortunately, despite being a relevant and apt tale about the evolution of digital life, Friend Request falls short. I’m sure there are many who will have fun with this, but for non-horror fans in search of something a little more high brow, I would definitely advise to stay away.
Friend Request scores 5/10 on the MACmeter.
