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Starring: Alyson Walker, Tony Giroux, Meelah Adams
Director: Erdal Ceylan
Running Time: 73 mins
Selfie From Hell is an American film about a woman who finds herself bombarded with strange messages after her cousin mysteriously falls ill.
It would be mad to go into a film called ‘Selfie From Hell’ expecting any sort of a good movie. And so proves the case, as the film proves a tedious, unimaginative and painfully generic watch.
Its saving grace? Fairly decent production values and fine performances that prevent it from falling into the realms of so-bad-it’s-good hell.
But then again, sometimes that’s just what you want, and surely a movie called ‘Selfie From Hell’ is the perfect opportunity to give us a little bit of moronic, hilariously dumb horror thrills. It’s not fair of me to say that the film is too good, but it could certainly have done with a more throwaway sense of fun.
And that’s what proves so frustrating about Selfie From Hell. It’s not a good film, and it’s never going to be a good film, but it still takes itself way too seriously. Thinking of itself as the Blair Witch Project for the social media generation, the film attempts to craft intrigue and uneasiness throughout, but always comes up short.
The main themes seem to touch on modern society’s obsession with technology, as well as the danger that poses for our private information. So it’s clear that there are actually intelligent and timely ideas at play, but the movie never, ever puts them to any use.
With that, there’s little that separates Selfie From Hell from the awful likes of Slender Man. It relies on a potentially interesting idea, but does nothing with it. So, there’s nothing worth mentioning about its terrible plot.
It’s a long way from the tense and dynamic Unfriended, but lacks any of the same energy or excitement. It’s far from a thrilling watch, and bores even more with each ridiculous revelation that it throws at you.
In short, it’s a really dull, pointless horror-thriller. However, it’s not so-bad-it’s-good. The production values are okay, the performances are fine, and the ideas at play are moderately intelligent.
With that, Selfie From Hell is more of a frustrating missed opportunity than a hilariously bad horror. It’s by no means a good watch, but nor does it have the memorability of something truly atrocious.
In short, this is a dull, pointless film through and through. Doing nothing with potentially interesting and timely themes, it’s a frustrating and boring watch from beginning to end. And that’s why I’m giving Selfie From Hell a 4.9 overall.
