#AMFAD All My Friends Are Dead

#AMFAD All My Friends Are Dead had a seemingly fun premise, combining a modern slasher concept with a talented director. The story follows a group of teenagers who rent an Airbnb to attend a big music festival, only to be threatened by a masked killer. The film hints multiple times that the group's past plays a role in why they are being targeted, with the murders loosely based on the seven deadly sins. I usually enjoy these kinds of movies, even though such "dumb slashers" are often flawed and not very good. However, they are usually entertaining and a fun way to pass the time. With Marcus Dunstan as the director, known for movies like The Collector series and the underrated horror thriller The Neighbor, I was intrigued to watch this film. Unfortunately, the result was more disappointing than I expected.

The characters are absolutely unlikable, which is not uncommon for this subgenre. However, the audience needs to connect with the cast on some level to create tension. Without that connection, you do not care when a character dies and cannot root for them. Sometimes, in such cases, you can root for the killer instead, but even that was difficult here. The masked killer lacked depth, and while the motive was clear, the villain was not interesting or memorable enough to root for. The mask itself, a modern slasher design with LED lights, did not stand out or leave a lasting impression.

The acting was subpar, though I would not have minded that too much, especially for a low-budget slasher. The movie is marketed heavily around JoJo Siwa, with her name prominently displayed on the cover. However, she has a very minor role, so if you are watching solely for her, you will likely feel let down.

Despite its terrible characters, uneven script, and predictability, the movie was entertaining. I do not regret watching it, and I can understand why others might hate it. That said, you can still have a decent amount of fun with it despite all its flaws. Overall, it is a slightly below-average slasher for genre fans and might be suitable for watching with a group of friends, especially if you are barely paying attention and laughing at the characters' absurd decisions. While I hoped this movie would offer much more, it fell short of my expectations. Still, in my eyes, it is a watchable flick. [5.4/10]

Sure, it's not the best horror ever, but nonetheless, in a non pretentious way, pretty enjoyable. There's the well known premise of a bunch of college kids stranded in a remote villa, and then a masked killer starts hovering round the house and slashing one by one, up until (of course) a last one standing. They did put in a few nice plot twists, like the identity of the killer that I (stupidly) hadn't seen coming at all, and another surprising one in the end, keeping you on the edge of your chair until the credits start rolling.

The acting is just so, so, but in this kind of movie: who cares?! All characters are equally unsympathetic, so you couldn't care less what happens to them. Which is quite a lot, since they didn't hold back on the violence and gore, with pretty original killings, it's definitely not for the tender hearted.

If you want deep dialogues and impressive cinematography, you'd better skip this one; but if you're in for some 80 minutes of pleasant old school slasher fun, you won't be disappointed!

Not too shabby. Adding energy to the generic formula while being little more than an ode to 80's horror. What makes it work though is the energy picking up in the second to latter half of the film, some hilarious kills coupled with the type of characters you can't help but hope will meet a grisly end and a conclusion that's surprisingly effective. Predictable? Yes. But it's elevated by a team both in front of and behind the camera that genuinely put in the work and with an ending leaving room for a sequel, I actually wouldn't mind another go around to see what else they have up their sleeves..

Horror films, as a genre, have always cannibalized one another. It's a fairly rare thing to see an actual new idea in horror. When a new idea does come about, the film makes a mark.. and is then copied repeatedly. This film is NOT one of those unique horror films.

If you've ever wanted to explain how horror films cannibalize each other, this film is a PERFECT example of creating a horror film without one single unique idea and just using a collection of stolen plots and motivations from OTHER films strung together.

This film starts with 10 minutes of just random back story to try and set up some history - using a concept taken from the movie "Seven".

Then it goes on to a typical young adult road trip ultimately ending up in a "Cabin in the Woods".

It's a very odd choice to put the title sequence here..... 20 minutes into the film.....

Then the story continues a la "I Know What you Did Last Summer" in addition to borrowing heavily from the "Saw" and "Scream" franchise.

.... a callback to "Seven" (Or perhaps "The Collector")... and then "Scream" again.... and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" Again...

Acting was a mix of terrible to passable. But as a story it was just a bad copy of every popular horror concept from the past.

------- Pass -------------

The movie was well acted by a pretty decent ensemble cast, but the writing made every character extremely unlikable and took away any regret the viewer might have at their demises.

The viewer ends up asking themselves a question from scene one...are college aged people really that shallow, mean, self-centered and dumb as these characters??? They are clueless in every step of the movie and of course break every rule of the "Surviving a horror movie" rulebook. Situations which normal intelligent people would be wary of; they jump into without any bit of caution!

The LGBT underlying theme is somewhat of a surprise, but it also paints a pretty negative picture of same-sex people, in fact this film paints a bad picture of LOTS of people, young people are flakey and unintelligent, guys are all horndogs, girls are addicted to social media exploitation and are constantly looking for a sexual hook-up even if they dislike the partner!. It also leaves a VERY strong negative impression of the police!

Wow! Talk about insulting every group of people equally!!!!