2015 had a lot of great, and not so great films released. To find some good ones, Buzzfeed put together a list of The 19 Best Horror Films Of 2015. A lot of filmmakers tried to follow current trends to attract viewers, and Unfriended is not any different. Unfriended is a horror film that takes place completely on the computer screen of a teenager. A young teen Laura commits suicide and her friends try to uncover who leaked the video that leads her to kill herself.
This film is extremely experimental, but continues to play on some trends we have seen in the past like "found footage" films. Films like Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity have found new ways to create horror films that seem more authentic to the viewers. The idea is if even in the moment the viewers can believe the film is real or based on real events, and then they can enjoy the film more.
Another very large trend that is current is social media. It is fair to say that most people use social media and are affected by it. The creators of Unfriended had a great advantage with their marketing, being as they were able to use social media to advertise a horror film about social media. The filmmakers were able to get extremely creative with their marketing to attract their viewers to see the film. They also did a lot of marketing at Playlist Live, which is a very popular convention for people to see Internet celebrities or YouTube stars. They also used the popular app KIK for marketing. They created a profile with automated responses where people could have conversations with the girl who committed suicide in the film. The primary market were high school kids who actively used social media who could relate to the films topic more.
The film has a sequel set to be released this year, and will be released by Blumhouse Productions.
Hey Criag,
ReplyDeleteMaybe, I am too old, but I have not heard about Unfriended. In your opinion is a movie like Unfriended a worth watch movie? I know social media has become the way of advertisement. Do you think more movies will start using apps like KIK more often? I feel like going to applications to advertise upcoming might limit the reach of audience. Instagram is beginning to have a lot of movie trailers. For instance, Dirty Grandpa coming out next week picked up a lot of traction on Instagram and Facebook ad placement. Also, The Secret life of Pets has gotten much anticipation from Facebook ad placement as well.
Hope you are having a wonderful month!
Best Regards,
Karin Shaw