Friend Request: Movie Review

If the concept of spirits murdering teenagers via facebook sounds familiar, that was pretty much the plotline for 2014’s “Unfriended”.  The latest supernatural-social-media-flick, “Friend Request” could have easily been re-titled, “Unfriended 2”. Unfortunately, there is already a sequel to that film in the works.  Admittedly, “Friend Request” is a superior film, but not by much.  Things start out mildly entertaining, but it doesn’t take long for things to fall flat.

Alycia Debnam-Carey (“Fear the Walking Dead”) is Laura, a popular student who catches the attention of Marina (Liesl Ahlers), a friendless student who is new in town.  After Laura accepts Marina’s friend request on facebook, it doesn’t take long for her to regret that decision.  Marina begins stalking Laura and when Laura rejects her new unwanted friend, Marina commits suicide which she posted online.

It turns out Marina was hiding quite a bit about herself, and she is much more powerful in death than she was in life. One by one, Laura’s friends are being picked off and Marina’s spirit is using facebook as her outlet for revenge.

“Friend Request” has a few decent jump scares scattered throughout, but not enough to warrant shelling out $10+ at your local multiplex.  With great horror films released over the past few months like “Annabelle: Creation”, and “IT”, something like “Friend Request” should have been selected for a VOD release.  With October almost upon us, let’s hope we get at least one more decent horror film this season.  “Friend Request” doesn’t cut it.

By: Marc Ferman