Unfriended is an interesting concept, told in real time and based around the internet conversations and actions of a group of friends. The problem is that, while most of us use apps, chat boxes and video clips every day we don’t sit watching other people use them and this is where the issue begins as, while the plot may be novel, it’s not very interesting in theory.

The premise is based around the death of Laura, a girl who this group of friends all knew. Laura took her own life after a video of some embarrassing drunken antics is posted online in a poor show of extreme cyber bullying so during an online conversation between these friends they get an uninvited guest who they just can’t seem to get rid of, also this person seems to know an awful lot about them and their interactions with Laura and also seems to have control over their computers.

With echoes of I Know What You Did Last Summer, it then becomes a game of trying to find out who is sending the more and more aggressively threatening messages until it reaches a point where one of the group kills themselves (or is killed) during the course of their online conversation. Once this occurs the survivors realise that this game iis real but unfortunately it’s a game who’s consequences are always shown after the fact rather than letting you see the horror occur as it’s a case of build up, build up, cut, dead body, which is disappointing.

Credit must be given for some of the tension that is built, as you are waiting on the inevitable cliche jump scare to occur but since the movie is told through mostly webcam images you start to look behind the webcam shots of the characters for some background indication of what is going to occur next and the game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ excellently brings out the darker side of each character and shows exactly what kind of people these really are.

Unfriended is a horror story with a moral message is just too dull in parts to elevate it into memorable status but it has opened a door which I’m sure will be opened many times again in this genre in the near future

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 Out Of 10