FRIEND REQUEST is another pointless, pathetic slice of teen horror with various 21st century twists on an age-old theme. It stars Alycia Debnam-Carey, of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD fame, playing another gormless and pouty character as unsympathetic as they come. The Facebook-focused storyline is about a malignant friend whose suicide begins a plot of murderous revenge, but it's all done in a cheap, digital style which makes it horrible to watch. Pity poor old William Moseley, who went from THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA to this tedious addition to the wave of Internet horror flicks that they never should have bothered making.
Friend Request
2016
Action / Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Friend Request
2016
Action / Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Plot summary
Popular college student Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey) has tons of friends, both on Facebook and IRL. She graciously accepts social outcast Marina's (Liesl Ahlers) online friend request, until Marina crosses the line and Laura unfriends her. To everyone's shock, Marina takes her own life in a ritual meant to torment Laura, which appears in a video posted on Laura's profile. Even though it wasn't Laura who posted the video, or other creepy content that begins appearing on her page, her Facebook friend count begins to dwindle as a result. When her real-life friends start dying mysterious, cruel deaths, Laura must figure out how to break the deadly curse before it's too late.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Tedious
dumber than dirt
Laura Woodson (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and her college friends all live online as most everybody else at school. She gets a friend request from fellow student Marina Mills. She notices that Marina has no friends but has created intriguing spooky art. She accepts the friend request and is quickly flooded with Marina's attention. She grows frightened by the nightmarish posts. Marina is angered when Laura fails to invite her to Laura's birthday. Laura decides to unfriend Marina setting off supernatural retributions. The class is told that Marina committed suicide but evidence of her has disappeared.
At first, I confused Alycia Debnam-Carey with Taissa Farmiga. It's symptomatic of this movie. It reminds me of bigger and better names. This is a B-movie version of better movies. There are issues holding it back. First, what's up with the boyfriend's apartment? Is he a millionaire? That's some view. For a more serious problem, the movie needs to foreshadow its supernatural bent earlier. I was expecting a more Single White Female situation. Also how do the cops figure out Marina had committed suicide if everything goes missing. And the cops are dumber than dirt. They keep accusing (not accusing) Laura. It's all ridiculously fake. That goes for everybody. I know we roll our eyes when people claim their dick pics are the result of hacking. It doesn't mean that hacking doesn't exist. I can't believe that Kobe is the only person to look into the code and find the witchcraft text. Every college has tech departments. It'd be cool to show this weird coding to computer students and professors. It's all dumber than dirt. There are two good things I got out of the movie. Black Mirror is one of my favorite shows. I figured it's a reference to the blackness of a computer screen but I didn't realize its old origins. Secondly, I got really excited by Kobe's solution to his problem. I hadn't thought of it but it's completely logical. It's a great twist but not nearly enough to save this dumb horror.
Unfriended
Just as the film Unfriended, this is another movie about people being stalked by the other worldly in cyberspace.
Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is a popular student at college who accepts a friend's request from a lonely girl at the same college, Marina who is talented at art. However she unfriends her once Marina's behaviour becomes obsessive.
Then Marina commits suicide live on her webcam which is then uploaded on to the net. It looks like Marina has unleashed a demonic force which goes after Laura and her friends. Her friend's grotesque deaths are uploaded on Laura's Facebook page. She is unable to delete the videos or closer her account.
The film might give you a few mild jumps but is not scary even though it relies on some unsettling images just to remind you that it is a cyber horror film. The film soon becomes illogical that makes little sense as the evil spirit just goes haywire.