#AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead (2024) Review
Sarah (Pettyjohn) and her aspiring influencer friends spend the night in a holiday rental on their way to a music festival, but unbeknownst to them they’re being watched on hidden cameras. Their weekend of partying suddenly takes a disturbingly gruesome turn when an uninvited guest arrives with one mission in mind… to make these sinners pay for their wrongdoings.
One by one, they are hunted down. Alone and afraid, with no followers to save them, they are brutally bumped off at the hands of a masked murderer. When a former friend’s (Siwa) dark past becomes known, can Sarah and her few remaining friends stop the crazed killer before they too meet their bloody demise?
From acclaimed director Marcus Dunstan (SAW IV, V, VI, 3D) and starring social media star JoJo Siwa, #AMFAD: ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD is cited as being a wickedly knowing gore-fest that brings the much-loved slashers of the ‘90s bang up to date with a group of social media obsessed students fighting for survival. Following its lauded world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, the hair-raising horror is set to slay with its UK debut on digital from 18 November courtesy of 101 Films.
#AMFAD: ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD is a slasher flick that is elevated above the norm by director Marcus Dunstan’s known customary flare when it comes to delivering gruesome and effective murder sequences. The visual aesthetic is all garish, cartoon-colours, like a throwback to the Eighties, and the cast hit their marks when it comes to portraying ghastly, vapid people/potential victims all of whom you are just itching to see meet an untimely end.
However, it is to this film’s detriment that the characters keep referring to ‘that’ other movie where victims are murdered in accordance with the seven deadly sins. By reminding viewers that there was a far better movie (in this case David Fincher’s 1995 classic SE7EN) with a similar basis for despatching victims, the viewer is likely to think ‘oh yes, that was better than this’ and consequently have their opinion of this flick tainted. On the other hand, it is also likely that the demographic of younger adults that #AMFAD: ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD is aimed at might not have a clue about Fincher’s movie.
There are a couple of twists delivered late in the day, with there being perhaps just that one too many, but otherwise this is another solid genre flick from Dunstan – his original THE COLLECTOR movie is still my absolute favourite of his – and whilst it does not break new ground there is plenty of fun to be had marvelling at the inventive kills onscreen.