Selfie from Hell

There have been a spate of short horror films that got made into features by the original creators over the past few years. For example the likes of Lights Out (2016) and the fantastic Martin Freeman zombie film Cargo (2017).

Selfie from Hell is based on the short film from the same people made back in 2015. Sadly however the short was considerably better than this which is a demonstration that some concepts don't suit 90 minute outings.

With the same creators and the shorts star I was shocked how low its rating was going in. At time of writing we're talking 3.1, that's incredibly low and I didn't expect something that bad! Well, I get it I really do the film is quite dire.

It tells the story of a girl who gets caught up in the dark web and a possible supernatural presence when her friend falls sick while visiting.

The whole thing starts interestingly enough but spirals out of control. By the time you're hit with the finale it's truly seven shades of awful, barely makes sense and just doesn't make for an entertaining watch.

This is one of those films I wanted to like, but the concept simply doesn't work.

The Good:

I genuinely can't think of anything

The Bad:

Some elements are beyond stupid

Offensively ridiculous pseudo computer science

Awful ending

Ok the acting was good except for the sister character, and cinematography solid enough.

But... oh no, no other redeeming features. Lots of silly jump scares and a real paint by numbers approach to horror. Oh let's go on the dark web, and I'll talk to myself as I'm on google so the audience knows what's going on. It was like copy-paste from lots of better films with no heart or originality. This social media horror genre is one I'll be avoiding, too many turkeys.

.Really horrible in every regard, from the terrible score to the painfully bad acting. I dont wish this 'waste of my time" movie on anyone, lest it be someone that has no concept of what a well concieved and thoughtfully made movie is. This was neither.

A film with a title like this can go one of two ways.

It can be quirky and inspired, not afraid to poke fun at itself and deliver a self aware dose of horror fun.

It could also be bottom feeder 'appeal to the kids' effluent.

Guess which path this film took?

The horrible latter that's what...there's nothing really wrong with any of the surface elements and especially early on in the film you could sort of see some effort put in, but this doesn't last as the ludicrous plot and motivations come to the fore.

Nothing really wrong with the lead actress who does try and make the best of what she's been given...but all the other actors are not convincing in the slightest and only sought to worsen the already broken atmosphere.

Plenty of really loud jump scares...none of which are in the least bit alarming.

When this inevitably appears on Netflix I would avoid it like the plague.

Girl has her cousin coming to stay and is supposed to be bringing her new boyfriend. Boyfriend's ill so he didn't come and her cousin is distracted by something sinister going on in her life connected to the dark web...

This goes all out for horror atmosphere and, by and large, succeeds in this endeavour, though I do find jump scares a cheap, unwelcome, and unnecessary tactic in horror movies.

The acting is okay, certainly nothing that would warrant a bad review.

The writing and directing were a bit irritating like, for horror effects, leaving rooms in the dark when any normal person would put a light on - especially if there is any chance there's a demonic presence in your immediate vicinity. Also, if you have someone visiting it would be polite to call an ambulance if they are catatonic. It's those kind of details that see the rating stars dropping swiftly by the minute as the movie unfolds.

Would I recommend it or watch it again? No.

This is all about horror sequences so if you like that and don't worry about the mindless plot holes and irrational behaviour then give it a go.

One other thing that springs to mind is the music score which at one point I think they actually tried to drive the viewers mad with a ridiculous heatbeat-like clanging sound that was far too loud and went on for so long that I had to remove my earphones.