Genre: Horror

Director: Letia Clouston

Cast: Jamie Bernadette, Chantelle Albers, Dominique Swan, Jessica Morris, Tania Nolan, and Monique Rosario

Studio: The Asylum

Runtime: 85 minutes

Release Date: In theaters January 11, 2019

Rated: Not Rated

Review Rating ★★★★★ ✭

One important lesson I’ve learned is always being wary of films being released in January. From past experience, movies released during the first month of the new year are usually the ones studios want to get rid of so they release it in January because there’s little to no competition. However, in the last year or two, there have been some solid films being released in what I consider to be the cinematic dumping group. With that said, screening The 6th Friend, a throwback to old-school slasher films, I was cautiously optimistic.

In The 6th Friend, directed and co-written by Letia Clouston, stars Jamie Bernadette, also co-writer, as Joey. She and her five best friends suffer a violent traumatic experience at their college graduation party. Now, after five years, the friends decide to get together for a weekend of fun and hope to put the past experience behind them. Their weekend quickly turns horrific as they find themselves being relentlessly haunted by someone or something from that fateful night.

While The 6th Friend has all the makings of an entertaining slasher film perfect for a Halloween night, and shows potential for something deeper than the usual horror movie fare, the film is unfortunately a dull and frustrating experience.

It’s clear from Bernadette and Clouston’s script that they have an affinity for slasher films of yesteryear. The 6th Friend shares similar characteristics to horrors such as the Friday the 13th series. The issue with this approach is that the film feels largely familiar and repetitive. Everything from the cabin in the woods, the killing, and the most cliched of tropes – the car not starting – leaves you with the sense of déjà vu. It’s one thing to pay tribute to these tried and true methods but it seems like their script is more content with playing these beats straight without a sense of irony, satire, or creativity.

Despite these flaws, there are some great ideas at play, such as how a character deals with trauma and how the killer could be allegorical to this trauma, but these trains of thought are never explored further which becomes frustrating.

Clouston’s direction is sadly pedestrian. While she does display talent for her storytelling, letting the film slowly build and waiting to reveal plot points to the audience, allowing the tension to simmer, The 6th Friend is visually uninspired. Scenes of conversations are filmed simply consisting of front and back shots of characters. A close-up of one character speaking followed by another close-up of someone else speaking making it repetitive and lackluster. There are also several sequences that don’t follow this pattern, including a few long, unbroken takes during the latter half of the film. Clouston’s decision to have the camera so close that the actors take up the entire frame undercuts the purpose of the scenes making it’s hard to tell what’s going on in the background.

At its core, The 6th Friend is a slasher film and there is a hefty body count. Thankfully the deaths in this film are uncomplicated yet entertaining, and oftentimes brutal. There is one particular kill scene involving a frying pan that stands out.These murders are elevated by some impressive practical effects, like someone reaching their untimely demise via a bottle in the neck, that accentuate the brutality of them.

Bernadette does give a grounded performance. She portrays Joey with a sense of brokenness that’s subtle yet gives her character extra layers making her empathetic to the audience. The rest of the cast are serviceable making it difficult to care about any of them because they’re not given much of a backstory or development. They exist solely to be picked off by the killer. I was hard pressed to remember any of their names while watching.

The 6th Friend is watchable enough to warrant a rental for horror fans until it reaches its last act. The film decides to pull the rug from underneath you and goes into a direction that’s bewildering as much as it is infuriating. It’s an ending that cares more about being clever than being logical. As a result, it causes you to reflect on the rest of the film and you start to realize giant portions of the film do not work at all due to this ending. The film leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth and it’s hard to recommend it even to the most hardcore of slasher film fans. You’re better off watching (or re-watching) one of the films The 6th Friend draws inspiration from.

For more on this film visit:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The6thFriend

Twitter: https://twitter.com/the6thfriend

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2891234/

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