Dead in the woods

The story has the potential to expose and, to some degree, exploit very poignant and timely subject matter echoing from the #metoo movement. A group of women forced into a horrible situation at the hands of a really bad dude, lives changed at a fundamental level, then reuniting once more only to have a new nightmare unfold. The concept just begs to perform. Unfortunately none of the material is truly developed enough to really bring life to this cultural battle cry.

The cast do their best to breathe life into the characters, but it soon becomes clear that they don't get it- not completely anyway. The social interactions of these friends feels made-up. The dialog isn't smooth enough to convince me that they experienced the original nightmare and maintained a bond strong enough to reunite. I mean there are moments of strong dialog and gritty story telling, but not consistent enough to maintain cohesion.

The horror elements and actual thriller edge was a bit to dull to sell me on the "new nightmare" situation that the group deals with in "The 6th Friend". Most of the scenes meant to provide chills and thrills seem placed as overworked tableaus. They looked good but in a film where things are already falling apart, they just aren't enough to save it. Overall I didn't enjoy this one, I wanted to, thought it was gonna be good, but it just wasn't.

Sorry to say so, but boy The 6th Friend was a swing and a miss. How could this script possibly get green lighted is beyond me, because it has close to nothing to show for. The ending was easy to anticipate, the deaths quite weak, a lot of focus on dialogue, somewhat of a Tarantino style, but none of the substance.

It just wasn't enough to make a movie, out of a thin idea, poor execution, none of the key ingredients here, just some harsh mix of uncooked ingredients. Not good enough even for a side dish.

All in all The 6th Friend deserves more to be ignored than watched, just put your eye on something else and most likely you'll do better.

Cheers!

Arriving at a remote cabin, a group of girlfriends looking to help one of their members get over a traumatic event that happened to them years ago, which turns into a nightmare when they find the killer they stopped years ago might have returned, forcing them to stop him again to get away alive.

Overall, this was a massively underwhelming if still decent enough effort. When this one manages to get going, it has quite a lot to like with the idea of what's going on at the cabin and whether or not the killer is actually after them. Although the stalking and slashing start in earnest just shy of the halfway point of the film, this manages to signal the start of the film turning into a genuinely enjoyable thriller involving the group coming together to realize they might be targeted by someone they know and have to band together to survive. The start to this with the discovery of their friend attacked and bearing signs that it's him, this takes on a slew of intriguing setpieces where they take the fight to the masked madman hanging out around the cabin and the surrounding woods leaving this one with a frenetic and vicious finale. Beyond that, there's not a whole lot here to enjoy. The main issue with the film is the absurdly long time it takes to get going, with the film attempting to shine a light on their friendship quirks and traumatic behavior but doing nothing else interesting with that material. Featuring interminably long scenes with the group sitting around the house talking about drinking, how catty they are being with each other, or their disappointing sex lives that are designed to give a bit of insight into their personalities yet do little beyond stretch out a running time that didn't deserve it, the first half is a struggle to get any kind of interest going for it. That goes along with the series of issues involving how the killer can get the drop on them, which gives the scenes some underwhelming focus, with the whole thing being quite obvious and painful to sit through. That goes for the other big issue with this one in a lackluster story that doesn't make for all-that-interesting a time here. The central setup is so confusing and poorly explained that it's hard to tell what's going on with the group as the whole setup for why they kill the guy at the party is such a clouded incident for everything, it sets the group up to be hard to get behind. Likewise, with the entire rampage so clearly attributed to one of the group members despite setting up plenty of evidence to counter everything, there's so little to this one that strikes as original or creative that it tends to hang over the film as a whole which, along with the other drawbacks here, do hold it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

This is not the worst film I have ever seen. I would consider it to be a strong contender for the worst film I've seen this decade.

The writing is bad, the acting is worse, and the camera-work is nauseatingly wobbly. It might be intended to feel organic, like we're watching through someone's eyes, but if that's the case the 'camera/person' is very short and dangerously drunk.

Absolutely every one of the main cast feels wooden and unconvincing. They deliver lines in ways that would make a high school drama coach despair. Seriously. I have seen school plays with better acting.

The lighting and sound are clear and the director of photography has framed a lot of the shots normally. The editing is mediocre, but serviceable. The plot is a mash-up of several horror tropes, which is fine, but I cannot tell if the dialogue or overall direction is the worst thing about this.

I enjoy slow burn horror, but this wasn't that. The 6th Friend is a by-the-books paint by number cardboard cutout of a horror movie, and that seems almost intentional. If you have ever seen a horror movie, then you have seen this one. And you can rest assured that what you have already seen was better. It takes dedication and genuine effort to stay awake for the duration of this movie, and sleep is much more entertaining.