Unfriended horror film starring Shelley Hennig really gets at you

REVIEW: New horror movie Unfriended is set entirely on the screen of a laptop computer. Once you get that, it really gets at you.

Really gets at you ... Horror movie Unfriended is set entirely on the screen of a laptop computer. Picture: Universal

Unfriended (MA15+)

Director: Leo Gabriadze (Lucky Trouble)

Starring: Shelley Hennig, Moses Storm, Will Peltz, Renee Olstead, Matthew Bohrer.

Rating: ***

Like. Unlike. Live. Die. What’s the difference?

Once you get where the new horror film Unfriended is coming from, it really gets at you.

So get this: Unfriended is set entirely on the screen of a laptop computer.

All you can see is a real-time feed of a single user continually switching between apps, message panes and social-media platforms.

Sounds about as creepy as looking over someone’s shoulder while they use the free internet at the library, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s exactly what the makers of Unfriended hope you’ll think.

Teen Wolf star ... Shelley Hennig stars in the horror movie Unfriended. Picture: Universal

For the more you underestimate this brutally simple cyber-shocker, the more disturbing it will later become.

The principal location where much of the action unfolds is a Skype window, where five teenage friends have convened for a nightly conference call.

One of them is named Blair (Shelley Hennig), and it is her home screen that we will be watching for the duration of Unfriended.

The conversation, if you could call it that, starts out as banal and frivolous as any typical teen confab. Everyone is rambling on about nothing in particular. Talking over the top of each other. Jokes. Insults. Banter.

Then Blair notices something peculiar. Someone else is sitting in on the group’s call. Everyone else can be seen live via webcam. This uninvited guest is represented only by a generic avatar, and the username Billie.

After a quick discussion, the group agrees to log off in unison, and log back on a few minutes later. That should get rid of Billie.

Err, no, it does not. In fact, Billie is about to take control of the Skype session for reasons best not revealed here.

Uninvited guest sitting on Skype ... A still from the horror movie Unfriended. Picture: Universal

All that can be revealed is that Billie — who communicates only by text — is a presence not to be taken lightly. He or she informs Blair and company that if any of them log off for any reason, they will die.

The group has one good reason to obey Billie, a secret they all share regarding an incident that happened at school.

While the thin plotting of Unfriended could break apart if too much thought on the part of the viewer is applied, the unorthodox visual and aural structure of the film rarely allows this to happen.

Working in America for the first time, Russian filmmaker Leo Gabriadze extracts optimum impact from the low budget and no-name cast that has been handed to him.

One of the best tricks Gabriadze has at his disposal — and is invariably used at exactly the right time — is his incorporation of software glitches into the look of the film.

A secret regarding an incident at school is revealed ... a scene from the movie Unfriended. Picture: Universal

Regular Skype users will immediately recognise the frozen screens and warped video effects that regularly occur on the platform. When they happen in the film, they somehow seem more demonic than digital.

Some may argue the cinema is not the place to be watching Unfriended. They could be right. If viewed late at night on a laptop with headphones on and wi-fi off, it could be the scariest film of 2015.

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Originally published as Unfriended horror film starring Shelley Hennig really gets at you