#HORROR (2015)

Written & Directed By: Tara Subkoff 
Cinematography By: Learan Kahanov 
 Editor: Janice Hampton & Catrin Hedstrom 

Cast: Emma Adler, Jessica Blank, Sadie Jensen-Blank, Haley Murphy, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Chloe Sevingy, Lydia Hearst, Balthazar Getty, Timothy Hutton, Taryn Manning, Natasha Lyonne 

#HORROR is a film about the lives of six young girls, Sam, Georgie, Sofia, Francesca, Cat and Eva. Their world is one of money, success, leisure and decadence. This film is an integral insight on the pressure that girls take on as they grow in a world that is increasingly dependent on the promotion and attention that social media platforms provide yet prevent bullying. as well as the roles that parents must play regarding controlling their child's use of the internet and bullying plays such a terrifying role in society. 


This film is pretentious and feels condescending. It feels more like a film that is trying to have a message while trying to ape a horror trend.

As pretty much the film opens with a murder and almost nothing as far as horror seems to happen for the next 60 minutes. Except for some creepy shots meant to either give a sense of doom or some thrills. Then once the film realizes it has only less than 30 minutes left. Then the killings start to happen.

Most of the film is supposed to be leading up to the horror and giving us a list of characters and suspects. The film builds up the teens girls though half of them seem so interchangeable. The main ones get a time to shine but that seems just to through us off and give us main characters to follow.

The only innovative scene in the film happens when a character is found dead and then later the other characters watch her murder on their smart phones. The only other death that is notable is the one on a enclosed tennis court. Though that is part of the film's problems it reaches for grandeur and trying to be artistic when it is either not needed or hasn't set precedence. As the character make illogical decisions and the only excuse the film gives is that they are young. Which doesn't exactly explain why the adults act the way they do.

The shame of this movie is that without all the gimmicks the film has a spine storyline that could have been effective and good about cyber bullying amongst a group of teenage girls. That they could have used the grizzlier aspects of the film to slowly focus on. While staying in the rules and traditions of most horror tales. It tries to do that but chooses to focus somewhat on the effects and repercussions of it. Though without any real strength. So that it feels disposable as a reason

Unfortunately the film gets as distracted as it's cell phone graphics and videos and hashtags that pop up that get annoying quickly and are hard to read in the first place. So that by the end you don't even really care who the killer is.

The film's Director Tara Subkoff is an actress and fashion designers and you can tell a s everything here tries to be heavily stylized even the acting. Timothy Hutton is the only actor who bothers to give a performance of any substance. Where as there are plenty of recognizable names in the cast they are here it seems more as a favor to the director as they are merely cameos and not given much to do or in the case of Chloe Sevingy she is given more a supporting role her she plays over the top and is never believable. As again her performance seems more styled than real and for no reason.

The film seems to seek to have some kind of satire or say something about itself. It might just be trying to be all spectacle and no depth be more of a presentation than anything else. If so it achieves that. As there is truly nothing to see here. If the film had tried some effort or had any passion within it. It could have even been just a basic slasher film, but it seems to seek something more. Which it fails at and if anything more repulsed the audience.

You find yourself bored easily which is why it seems there is all these visual distractions that are accompanied by loud songs to startle and wake you.

The film has a working style but it indulges in impulses that are not needed and comes off more comedic at times unintentionally more than scary. The film just needs more of a focus.


Grade: F