What originally started back in the summer of ‘99 with The Blair Witch Project slowly evolved into the threshold of the found footage sub-genre, sparking the craze of: Paranormal Activity (and its five sequels), Devils Due, The Last Exorcism, and last summer’s As Above, So Below. They are made (fairly inexpensive) and can usually tune a fine profit margin for any studio willing to produce the flick. Just when I thought I had seen the sub-genre die a slow, painful death with the likes of The Devil Inside, the good folks over at Blumhouse productions, the crazy cats behind such hits as Sinister and Insidious, have done the unthinkable. Created something fresh, yet deprived, but so original. Unfriended is a terrific step in the right direction for any studio looking to pump out a new take on the horror sub-genre that is ‘found footage.’

Told over the course of 82 mins, Unfriended follows a group of friends, Laura (Heather Sossaman), Matt (Matthew Bohrer), Val (Courtney Halverson), Mitch (Moses Jacob Storm), Adam (Will Peltz) and Ken (Jacob Wysocki), being stalked by an unknown user who goes by the seclusion of ‘Billie.’ Scary, right? Not really. At first, it seems as though another run of the mill schmuck is just trying to play games with a group of dimwitted high schoolers, but as we progress…Well, things escalade. Turns out ‘Billie’ is actually Laura Barns (or posing as her), a teen who committed suicide a year ago to this night, and she is seeking to exact her revenge on her follow peers for leaking a video that humiliated her, thus leading to her suicide.

A cat and mouse game then ensues over the next hour, as the friends slowly start to unravel secrets about their respective pasts, all the while, they adhere to the wishes of this unknown user, who uses threats like “Hang up, and your friends die” and controls a snarling game of “Never Have I Ever” that really strikes a cord about the obtainable dangers related to cyberbullying.

What distinctly sets Unfriended apart from other horror fare is the tension, as well as the point of view. The film is told through first person, as if you were Skyping someone or on Facebook perusing through your news-feed. The unsuspecting teens type messages in real time and speak as if the conversation is natural (which I feel as though was fairly accurate). The kids act and talk like themselves, which as a whole, adds the extra layer of believability. The actual structure of the framing device manages to amplify rather than suppress the impact of the shocks and scares.

Once the tension builds, all the while friendships are being tested over what is easily one of the more encapturing horror set-thrillers of the last few years, effortlessly besting the indie-hit It Follows, which opened just earlier this year. The ending takes a turn you might suspect, but the secrets that are brought to fruition make the audience weep with bewilderment. As each second ticked down, my heart was palpating almost consistently with where the plot was headed.

Thanks to strict attention to detail (the blurry lagging of a computer screen, waiting for something to buffer. etc), Unfriended takes the genre to new places not yet seen for human eyes, and it is a film that checks all morals out the door and uses its visual thrall to host enough ‘spooks’ to subdue even the simplest of complexities. You don’t need to be a horror cinephile, like myself, in order to enjoy this flick. Even though some of the cuts are cheap and dated, I still found more than enough excitement to “like” the overall finished product. Do you see what I did there? “Like.” Grade: A-