Review of Frayed (2007) by Julian T — 05 Dec 2011

The absolute epitome of cliche horror film. It tries so so hard to be 'Halloween' or 'Friday the 13th', but lacks any sort of creative flair, originality, scariness, competency, or story telling skills.

Without an ounce of exaggeration, I figured the entire movie out 10 minutes into it. No joke. I don't say that to pat myself on the back, I just want to reiterate how cookie-cutter this movie is. The 'twist' ending is abundantly clear within the first 15 minutes, as is the second 'twist'. Nothing here distinguishes it from any one of a countless number of questionable at best horror films.

The characters are all horribly written, and even more horribly acted. Another one of those movies where you are just praying for everyone to meet a quick and painful demise. The lighting is amateur, as it is either to dark or too light in seemingly every scene, and I have a hard time believing this was a co-directorial effort. You would think one of them would know how to frame a shot or utilize an off-kilter camera angle.

With all the negatives I've mentioned, I can't completely and totally trash this. Despite being a total rehash/rip-off, it fulfills that cookie-cutter horror flick tag very well. There is a reason that this plot has been done before, and that's because it is at least moderately effective. I'd never recommend it, but it is a step ahead of terrible.