Among Friends

source: Among Friends

Bernadette (Alyssa Lobit) a psychologist throws a party for a group of friends, a theme party where they have to solve a murder. The movie becomes one of those everyone sitting around a table, secrets being revealed, and people being tortured type film. This one attempts to "go deep" by turning "inaction" into a horrible deed deserving punishment, although I think "Seinfeld" did it better. With the exception of Jules (Brianne Davis) on mushrooms, the film was a bit boring as we watched films of wrong doings etc. This type of film works better as a forced game or a brutal "truth or dare." Makes for a decent rental. Not on my keeper list. Guide: F-bomb, sex, rape. No nudity.

Jeffrey Dahmers twin sister stars in this one. Bernadette. A psychotic senseless spinster plays judge, jury & cctv yawn~ecutioner... With "friends!" that wank, rape, cheat, abort, puke, do dope & overlook most of the above! Worst of all they yell at the least appropriate times. Tending to hire a fleet of buses to throw each other in front of... No one stopped to inquire about their life expectancy... Dimmer switches galore!

The director debut of Danielle Harris the film Among Friends is her first offering in the horror/comedy genre. The story follows six main characters who get ready for an eighties themed party. When they all arrive at their friend Bernadette's house they take part in a murder mystery game where they go around looking for various clues. Once the group feel as though they have completed the game the lady of the house, Bernadette quickly drugs them all and straps them to chairs in the dinner room. It is then that Bernadette shows her true colours and informs the group of her intentions when her games take a twisted turn and before long she has them confessing their deepest and darkest secrets. The actress Alyssa Lobit who plays Bernadette does an exceptional job in humiliating each of her so called friends and successfully turning them against each other through not only a series of violent and sick mind games but also some video taped scenarios which expose their sins. She is prompt when informing the group of party goers on the lessons of their lack of morals whilst saving the best until last! I did expect to see more violence in this film although on the several occasions it does happen it is memorable. Bernadette herself does not have any real justification for extracting revenge on the group however another friend of the group Lily played by Dana Daurey, who is briefly mentioned early on does have a few things to settle particularly with one person. The film itself goes from having horror,comedy, thriller and drama moments so it has a little something that should please most viewers. The film progresses to become much more serious within the last fifteen minutes when one character who may appear innocent becomes the most guilty of them all! I would rate this film 6 out of 10.

I heard about this through an online review on YouTube which was very positive and given the fact that it was directed by one of my all-time fave scream queens Danielle Harris, who has entertained us for years with some brilliant turns in (Halloween 4, 5, Hatchet 2, 3 & Bloody Hatchet); even in crap she always does a decent turn. Now with her solo directional effort "Among Friends" that despite having almost no budget, she managed to turn in a very decent slasher movie. The plot focuses on a group of 20 something's who attend a murder mystery dinner party hosted by one of their friends, but things take a sudden turn for the worst when they are drugged and tied up and forced to watch all their past mistakes on hidden camera, and end up going through hell and torture by their twisted hostess as the night goes on. This is a very good movie, the set up is very interesting and the performances are also really good, it was nice to see everyone involved making an effort. The build up was pulled off effectively as we see at first the group having fun with the party games, then sitting down to the dinner table where the real fun is to be had, wasn't rushed it allowed us a decent amount of time to get to know the characters and the fact that everything mostly takes place in one room, never gets boring, in fact you never lose interest as each secret is unfolded, adds more suspense and drama. Okay there is one or two shortcomings to this, but that's mainly down to budgeting reasons, like firstly the movie doesn't have a great look to it, looks kinda cheap at times and the ending which was so annoying as we didn't get to see their fates and should have went on a bit longer. But besides that, it's still a great watch. Alyssa Lobit who plays the hostess Bernie does a stand up job, conveying true menace and authority to her twisted role, the fact that she also wrote the script shows she has definite talent. She loved every minute of it and it shows, you never know what's she gonna do next, which was thrilling and well and truly steals the show. Brianne Davis was also another standout; she was very funny, especially in her tripping out scene, where we get awesome cameos from Danielle Harris and Michael Biehn, which was awesome. Kamala Jones also gives a very noble turn as Sara , and also the cameo by Kane Hodder was also another fun moment in this. All in all a very decent flick that may lack scares, but doesn't lack fun.

Back when I was around 10-12 years old, in the glorious early nineties that was, I had two celebrity crushes. The first one was Christina Ricci, based on her inimitably stoic performance of Wednesday in "The Addams Family", and the other one was Danielle Harris, based on her appearances in the "Halloween" sequels 4 and 5 (which I actually wasn't yet allowed to watch) and the Bruce Willis vehicle "The Last Boy Scout". I was completely mad about little Jamie Lloyd in her eerie jester costume, and that cherubic yet mysterious face always remained printed in my pre-adolescent mind. Then we didn't hear or see anything remarkable from Danielle Harris for about fifteen years, until she made a phenomenal horror comeback in Rob Zombie's "Halloween"; ironically enough the remake of the original of the franchise that made her famous. I'm very happy that, since 2007, Danielle became a very frequent and reliable horror leading lady/scream queen. She starred in a handful of really entertaining movies ("Hatchet II", "Stake Land", "Blood Night") as well as in a couple of disappointing duds ("Shiver", "Camp Dread"), and in 2012 she brought her career to the next level by making her debut as a director with "Among Friends". In all honesty I have to say that, based on the plot description or encountered reviews, I probably never would have bothered to seek out this film if it weren't for the fact that Danielle Harris directed it. "Among Friends" objectively looks and sounds like a mundane and conventional slasher, and it really is just that. No wait, I'm mistaken… In a mundane and conventional slasher, most of the characters still get killed in a gory fashion, whereas in "Among Friends" the vast majority of them only get wounded. A six-headed group of friends meet up at Bernadette's house, in a fancy rented limousine, supposedly for a murder-themed game night. Before they are properly installed, though, it turns out that their hostess has a much more sadistic and realistic game in mind. They all wake up tied up and semi-paralyzed around the dinner table and get confronted with a whole lot of intrigues, hidden affairs, betrayal and dark secrets. There's a little bit of torture and mayhem to enjoy (for example half of a scalping), but the blood hunger of rabid horror junkies will definitely not be stilled. Most of the film is uninteresting drivel and bickering between unlikable characters you don't care for anyway. Danielle Harris' direction is competent, but she doesn't really put her mark. The performances vary from average to poor, and the proudly announced cameo appearances (Michael Biehn, Danielle Harris herself) are barely noticeable. Only Kane Hodder has a remotely fun supportive part as the limo driver. I hope Harris will take another shot at directing a horror movie, this time with a slightly better script.

Well I didn't expect that! It was a decent movie! The story is really interesting and it keeps you watching it till the end. Oh, the end! I really loved it! I didn't expect it to end the way it did! The plot is really great. You get to know the characters more and more as the movie continues, and you get mixed feelings of love and hate on the same time. The director did a good job and the acting was really decent. So in overall I think you will enjoy watching it. A plus is that Kane Hodder has a cameo appearance here so it is a bonus! So as far as the story goes: friends meet up to play a game of mystery, clues and murder. Things don't turn out the way the planed really quickly and the real story begins. A lot of well buried secrets see the light and their relationship is put to a test.

"Among Friends" is the directorial debut of scream queen Danielle Harris and if that isn't enough to spark your interest take a look at some of the other super talented people involved. Alyssa Lobit penned this little gem and is slowly proving that she's a rock star screen writer headed for the top. Lobit also stars in the film and carries herself well amongst a troop of indie horror veterans. The film also stars horror genre icon Kane Hodder, Christopher Backus, Jennifer Blanc, Dana Daurey, Brianne Davis, Chris Meyer, and of course the great A.J. Bowen. A.J. Bowen is swiftly becoming a horror genre icon himself. I can't believe how many truly awesome films Bowen has starred in over the last five years or so. "Among Friends" is probably best described as "Misery" meets "The Breakfast Club." The film kicks off with what appears to be a tight knit group of friends attending a retro eighties party. The group is taken hostage by an insane and apparently jilted Bernadette that wants to show them the error of their ways. It doesn't take long before the secrets and lies binding the group together begin to tear it apart (literally). I really liked this film for a lot of different reasons but the truth is there's not much here that we haven't seen before. Harris does a very solid job in her first time behind the camera. There are several instances in the film where one of the characters has drug induced delusions. Harris is especially impressive in these moments as she is able to set those scenes apart from the story we're watching and then pull us back at just the right moment. Although the film is decent in all aspects it never really seems to decide where it wants to go or even how far. This is very evident in the films last twenty minutes which make little sense and almost completely stomp out any fire we had burning here. The production value here is unfavorable and I say that having just had a similar retro eighties party for my daughters sweet sixteen. Honestly the party cost us a couple thousand dollars and would have made twice the set produced in this film. I have to nitpick a little bit that's just my nature but let me counter that by saying my two girl's ages 16 and 11 absolutely loved this film, so what do I know. Through it all the film tries hard to stay interesting, bloody, and pure fun. It's not a great film but it's a great start and hopefully we'll get more of Harris behind and in front of the camera. I give this film 6/10 and recommend it to all off-beat horror fans. Let me know what you thought about this group of friends and there dirty little secrets.

I was looking forward to see the debut of Danielle Harris as a director. She should know what should be in a horror flick because face it, she's in the scene from her youth (Halloween 4 (1988)) until today and has been seen in a few classics within the genre. But I was left with a bitter feeling at the end. I liked it somehow but I also had a few problems with this debut. I liked the story and the way it was shown. But I had troubles with the editing somehow. It's clear that reaction shots were inserts and the inserts are edited to slow. The reaction of some doesn't fit into the fact or reason why they should react. On the other hand, the torture that we do see is okay and it all looked good but once one of the friends is tortured he or she just staid in the game. When fingers are being cut off or even one his testicles they all stay alive. maybe I don't get it and it's all part of this flick but for me that teared this flick down. It's funny to see Kane Hodder and Michael Biehn here in a cameo which is normal, Danielle worked together with Hodder in Hatchet to Hatchet 3 and her best friend is Jessica Blanc, who is married with Micheal Biehn. Due the way the torture and the afterglow was presented I also had a bit of a problem with the acting. Still, Danielle did well and there are a few rare scene's to see especially when Lily is tripping on paddo's. Is it a must see for the geeks of the genre, well, I understand that a few did have actual problems with Among Friends. It never really becomes gory and there's no nudity even as there are a few erotic scene's and the ending, there's a lot to say about that part too. Among Friends, you love it or hate it, sadly I'm in between. Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

This movie is pathetic. I THINK its supposed to be a cheap Horror-Comedy type of nonsense film that, assuming that is the case, completely misses on the humor, lacks originality, and lacks effort. The dialogue from the get-go is terrible and cliché beyond words. Characters saying the ol' "what persons of this age/socioeconomic status would say in this situation who are best friends but so terrible to each other!" Again, If the supposed objective is spoofing movies in a campy horror movie style, it doesn't work at all. If the objective is to make the audience laugh on its merits, I can't imagine who's laughing. What was with the limo driver addressing each character exiting the limo? That early scene was Unforgivably unoriginal/unfunny to the point there's no redemption possible for me (I did continue watching however). The acting for the first 30 minutes of the movie is noticeably uninspired as if they did it on one take at the end of the shoot. Oddly it becomes better as the movie progresses, as if only the second half of the movie was actually the movie and the first 30 minutes was written in 30 minutes, filmed in 30 more and never revisited, revised or edited. Last items -The use of the F curse is, again, over-exposed, unoriginal, and ruins a lot of scenes for me. Its overuse doesn't come off as adding comedic value, rather, annoying and unoriginal. -Having one character tripping balls on mushrooms; sooooooo overplayed come on this is he best you could do? *One funny moment is the playing of the privately incognito sex tape. The bad part about this; proving this movie is capable of entertaining the audience if it wants to. If Danielle Harris wasn't attached to this picture you wouldn't be seeing anything above a 3. Keywords; unoriginal, not funny, lack of effort toward script/acting. Why would you want to watch a movie with these attributes. The 4.5 aggregate rating is for Danielle Harris' name.