#AMFD: All My Friends Are Dead review by Bobby Blakey
I have been a fan of director Marcus Dunstan since his Feast films and as a massive SAW fan loved what he and Patrick Melton did with the franchise. In 2009 he stepped into the director’s chair for the awesome flick The Collector and has been on fire since. Now he is back with his latest horror flick, #AMFD: All My Friends Are Dead starring Jade Pettyjohn, Jennifer Ens, Ali Fumiko Whitney, Michaella Russell, Julian Haig, Justin Derickson, Cardi Wong, Jack Doupe-Smith and Jojo Siwa. Could this slasher bring something fun and new to the genre or will its sins be unforgivable?
#AMFD: All My Friends Are Dead follows a group of college friends who rent an Airbnb for the biggest music festival of the year. A weekend of partying quickly takes a turn, as the group is murdered one by one, according to their sin.
This is one of those films that takes on the classic slasher genre and instead of trying to create something different, leans into the tropes to make something all its own and fun. There is a distinct direction here that works and makes sure to let us know that it knows the movie they are making. Despite things you think you know it still manages to have its own voice and deliver a fun new flick to the genre.
The story is simple enough in set up and brings all the familiar types of characters in the genre with some likable and some frustrating. The tone tries to keep things seemingly light initially before it unleashes and starts the whodunnit nature of it all with a nod to Scream offering up the opening kill catalyst.
The big twist offers up some fun that some might figure out and some may not, but still works especially with the after-credit tag that digs in even deeper. For
this kind of film to really deliver we have to get some fun kills and there are plenty of them. With Dunstan at the helm, it is no surprise that there is a SAW level tone to some of the kills and I was all here for it. On some level I hoped for more but was still satisfied with the final product.
This film won’t work for everyone as some may find it to cliché in its execution, but I love that element to it and that it knows exactly what it is. It’s fun and gave me everything I had hoped for in a film that I didn’t know I wanted. I hope Dunstan is able to dive back into this world to give us more fun, but hopefully after the next chapter of the Collector.
Decide for yourself and check out #AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead released In Select Theaters, On Digital, and On Demand now.
You can also check out our interview with Marcus Dunstan here.