Unfriended (DVD REVIEW)
Unfriended
DVD
Review by Kam Williams
On
April 9, 2013, Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman) drank too much at a
high school classmate’s unsupervised keg party, and promptly passed
out and pooped on herself. Time was when such immature behavior might
be forgiven as a youthful indiscretion and quietly swept under the
rug just as soon as the hangover wore off the next morning.
But
then came the unforgiving Digital Age during which the slightest faux
pas can so easily come back to haunt you forever. That’s precisely
what happened to Laura, thanks to the mean-spirited fellow reveler
who, instead of coming to the assistance of a damsel-in-distress,
whipped out a cell to record an embarrassing video of her sprawled on
the ground with her skirt hiked above the waist.
The
initial invasion of privacy escalated to cyber-bulling when the movie
was posted online followed by a thread of cruel comments. After
several days of mercilessly teasing, the tortured teen finally took
her own life with a gun.
Now,
it’s exactly one year later, and we find Laura’s former BBF
Blaire (Shelley
Hennig) flirting with Mitch (Moses Jacob Storm) via Skype. Their
sensual exchange comes to an abrupt end when they are joined in the
chatroom by a trio of friends, Jess (Renee Olstead) Adam (Will Peltz)
and Ken (Jacob Wysocki).
Next
thing you know, an anonymous intruder claiming to be Laura announces
her presence and starts
divulging deep secrets about each of them.
The spooked quintet assumes the uninvited guest to be their prankster
pal, Val (Courtney Halverson), until she pops up on a separate
screen. Then,
when “Laura” starts knocking them off one-by-one, it becomes
clear that they are dealing with a disembodied spirit bent on
vengeance.
Directed
by Levan Gabriadze, Unfriended is a found footage horror flick
ostensibly designed with Millennials in mind. For, this novel
genre-bender unfolds on a computer from beginning to its terrifying
end. Although most folks over 30 are apt to find the hyperactive
adventure visually-disconcerting, the up-and-coming generation weaned
on screens is likely to be right at home, given how they’re glued
to electronic stimuli, 24/7.
Revenge
as a dish best served pixilated!
Excellent
(4
stars)
Rated
R for
violence, sexuality, teen drug and alcohol abuse, and pervasive
profanity
Running
time: 83 minutes
Distributor:
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
To
see a trailer for Unfriended, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgj4GjqCFlY
To order
a copy of the Unfriended Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, visit:
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