I got turned onto these indie horror fillum via the magic of YouTube where following one movie preview link can quickly send you tumbling down a rabbit hole of celluloid "delight".
The problem with trailers is that they can make you think you're watching the greatest film ever...till you watch the ACTUAL film and realise that you've already seen all the best bits in the trailer. Or, worse still, that what you saw in the awesome trailer is NOTHING like the actual movie.
The trailers for Unfriended and Cooties (both USA, 2014) promised good things, so when I scored free preview discs of them at work a few months later, I eagerly popped them in my DVD drive and checked them out.
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And then........
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The problem with trailers is that they can make you think you're watching the greatest film ever...till you watch the ACTUAL film and realise that you've already seen all the best bits in the trailer. Or, worse still, that what you saw in the awesome trailer is NOTHING like the actual movie.
The trailers for Unfriended and Cooties (both USA, 2014) promised good things, so when I scored free preview discs of them at work a few months later, I eagerly popped them in my DVD drive and checked them out.
What’s the guts?Six high school friends are chatting online one evening when their group conversation's gatecrashed by a mysterious person using the online accounts of a dead schoolmate, Laura, who committed suicide one year earlier. Despite their best efforts to get rid of the intruder, they can't shake her and they soon reach the awful realisation that the mysterious person is the vengeful ghost of Laura. Before the night is over, the friends will be forced to reveal their darkest secrets to each other or face horrible deaths.
Anything else? The unknown cast are very good in maintaining the fear and tension in this innovative movie shot essentially in real time. Using just Skype, Facebook and text messages, the movie's cheapness isn't apparent and the brief scenes of violence are shocking and potent. Death by blender, gun, knife, curling iron and bleach - enough is shown to be very nasty. And, to be honest, by the end of the flick you realise that these teens - who all seemed so innocent and nice at the start of the flick - are a bunch of cunts who deserve everything they get from the demonic Laura.
Final word: With friends like these...
And then........
What’s the guts? A lethal virus spread by tainted chicken nuggets turns a bunch of schoolkids into fast-running zombie cannibals who attack their teachers with intestines-flyng results. Adults are immune to the virus, so you wind up with an incredibly un-PC scenario of the teachers having to bash, burn, stab and annihilate a bunch of pre-teens to survive the apocalypse. It's fucking wrong and fucking hilarious.
Anything else? Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Jorge Garcia and Aussie Leigh Whannell have a field day with the ludicrous material. It's dumb, blood-spattered fun.
Final word: These zombie nuggets are pure gold.
