This Movie Took A Truly Inventive Approach To Horror (And The Sequel Is Great Too)
The found footage genre of horror has been around for quite a few decades now. Typically, it's a genre that features the camera as part of the film. Often it's staged as a documentary, or sometimes in cases like Paranormal Activity, the film is meant to just be a series of shots that someone recorded on a camcorder or security camera as the story unfolds. It can be a clever format when working with a low budget and, though it's hard to master a good found footage film, it can sometimes aid in telling a story that feels very authentic and effective.
As the times change and technology naturally advances, the found footage genre has in some ways become very different. It's not really normal for people to whip out a camcorder anymore, so unless films are set in the past they don't totally work the same. It often now takes the form of found footage using vloggers with high-quality cameras or phones, which can be fun but it doesn't really feel the same. In 2014 though, a fun and interesting film was released that in a way spawned a subgenre of a subgenre, and possibly changed found footage horror films forever.
Unfriended follows a group of seemingly high school-aged friends on a Skype call, on the anniversary of the death of their friend. A mysterious person joins their chat pretending to be their friend and starts instigating not only drama and trouble, but violence and death. It's a bit cheesy, a bit of a teen scream, and the characters are stereotypes. It's far from a perfect film. But what makes it very interesting and different, is how the found footage element is captured and displayed. The entire film takes place essentially inside of a screen recording, with the audience seeing everything play out on the MacBook screen as if they are part of the call.
This was not the very first film to take on this format, however it did popularize it so most would say it is the film that started the trend. The format makes for such an interesting visual experience. A lot is happening on the screen so if attention span is an issue, there are many things to look at as well as many real-time messages to read. It's a great way to keep audiences engaged and captivated. The story is a little predictable and the characters aren't incredibly likable, but fans of found footage and teen screams will surely really enjoy it as it's just a fun and interesting watch. The film also has incredible rewatchability potential, because so much is going on on the laptop screen that viewers are almost certain to miss something the first time.
The movie also has a very interesting story behind its production, which was done in a pretty unique way. They filmed it like a real Skype call, with all of the actors in different rooms on different computers. After actors struggled with having very long ten minute takes that they had to keep their energy up for, the lead actress suggested filming the entire movie in a single take so their energy levels would be consistent. Though the film isn't fully one of those single takes as they did a few of them and cut them together, along with the ten-minute takes. The ending shown in the film though is confirmed to be the ending of one of these 80 minute takes.
Unfriended did spawn a standalone sequel called Unfriended: Dark Web which took the same format and completely changed the plot and direction. This film isn't supernatural in the slightest, and it's also not a teen scream. It follows a group of adults having a virtual game night. The main character is using a brand new laptop that he got used, and users of the dark web start to interfere with the crew. In many ways, this film is even better than the first. The characters are way more likable and the plot is very unique and truly scary. The change in tone is welcome. However, some of the elements of the story seem a bit too far-fetched and it's kind of a slow pace at some times. It's definitely worth a watch for fans of the first film though.
To give credit where credit is due, films like The Collingswood Story and The Den were released before Unfriended and also used the screen recording format. However, the credit still goes to the later film, because of how it truly popularized and started the trend. Many films using this format have come out since Unfriended, which is still the most well-known and successful horror movie in this genre. Films like Searching even have subtle nods to Unfriended within the movie to give credit. Unsurprisingly, a couple of films using this format were released this year due to the ability to film socially distanced. Because of this, as the world is still very much in the thick of the pandemic, it's entirely possible that this trend will just continue to explode.
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