Among Friends (2012)

A bit of a fan favourite in the horror community, Danielle Harris takes a turn in the director's seat for this enjoyable horror comedy. She doesn't take any great risks - it's firmly planted in the genre that made/kept her a star, and a few of the people onscreen seem to be people that she's been friends with for a while - but that doesn't make it unworthy of your time.

It's a familiar scenario. A bunch of friends are all invited to an evening out, and it's not long until everyone realises that someone has an axe to grind. Once things start going painfully wrong, the guests are offered the chance to either take some punishment or allow someone else to be dealt with, similiar to the sadistic, twisted fun of films such as Would You Rather.

The assembled cast, featuring the likes of A. J. Bowen, Jennifer Blanc and Brianne Davis, all do decent work here. Nobody is going to the Oscars on the strength of this movie, but they're all having fun, and many of the faces will be recognisable to horror fans. There's also a cameo by Kane Hodder that some will enjoy, although I just found it a bit irritating.

Alyssa Lobit is always enjoyable whenever she's onscreen, and she also wrote the script. Unsurprisingly, she gets most of the best lines, although she shares a number of enjoyable dialogue exchanges throughout the movie, allowing everyone to have at least one particularly good utterance.

As for the actual direction, Harris does a decent enough job. The movie is small, keeping a tight focus on the dinner table and the people in attendance (with one or two flashbacks making use of different rooms), but it never feels dull, or even claustrophobic. I guess that's to do with the character interactions, and the way in which the plot is teased out, despite the predictability of the individual moments.

Horror fans should still get enough enjoyment out of this to make it worth at least one viewing. It may be lightweight, and it may not deliver anything original, but it still manages to entertain, and the first third of the movie lets horror fans feel as if they actually ARE among friends.


6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Among-Friends-Alyssa-Lobit/dp/B00D920HT0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401499507&sr=8-2&keywords=among+friends

The Victim (2011)

Based on a story by Reed Lackey, The Victim is written and directed by, and stars, Michael Biehn and provides a lot of fun for horror fans and, of course, fans of the leading man.

The movie begins with a surprising and sudden death before cutting to a young woman (Annie, played by Jennifer Blanc) running through some woods in a state of fear. Typical horror/exploitation movie fare. She then finds a cabin in the woods, knocks on the door and meets loner Kyle Limato (Biehn). He doesn't want to be bothered and he certainly doesn't want any trouble, which is what he suspects he's in for when Annie tells him about police officers chasing her through the woods after the accidental death of her friend. Kyle really doesn't want to get involved with this situation, but when the police officers (played by Ryan Honey and Denny Kirkwood) come snooping around he starts to think that Annie may be telling the truth and that he might be able to help her. It's not long until both of them are in danger as the two men in pursuit of Annie grow more and more desperate.

While it doesn't quite overcome its limitations - low budget, small scope, relatively small cast - I was pleasantly surprised by how much The Victim gets right. Biehn obviously knows his stuff and he gets it all in the movie in just the right mix. There's some violence, a bit of nudity, more violence and plenty of gruff one-liners delivered by the reluctant hero dragged into the big mess.

Ryan Honey and Denny Kirkwood are very enjoyable as the two men trying to cover up one horrible mistake, with the latter at least showing some regret as things spiral further and further out of control. Jennifer Blanc is fine as Annie and Biehn is his usual good self as Kyle. There's also a fun role for the lovely Danielle Harris, who has her most memorable "screen entrance" to date.

I can't think of anything more to say about the film, really. It doesn't want to be anything deep and meaningful and it isn't. That's not damning the thing with faint praise. On the contrary, The Victim is slightly refreshing in its approach, coming along after so many movies that have felt the need to emulate old film stock, throw in fashions and props from decades gone by and take any opportunity to nod and wink at the audience while often failing to get the basics right. This film gets the basics right and also contains a few nice references to past classics. It's not unmissable, it's not great, but it is good enough to watch and lend some support to. Do it for Biehn.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Victim-Blu-ray-Michael-Biehn/dp/B0084DOK9W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1359392744&sr=8-2