An empty theater, rows of unoccupied seats, dim lights, and the scent of buttered popcorn fills the air. All to see the newest horror movie:Friend Request, IT, Happy Death Day, all hitting theaters in quick succession (transition into the first review)

Friend Request: Laura Woods, a popular college student, receives a friend request on Facebook from a girl in her Psychology class, Marina Mills a social leper. Mills gets a little clingy, video chatting and messaging constantly, photoshopping an image of them together, and posting it on her timeline. Its then announced to the school that Marina Mills committed suicide and filmed it on her laptop, the video was then published on the school’s website, and later mysteriously on Laura Woods’s timeline. Mills’s Facebook page is still active, posting gruesome photos and animations, all surrounding black wasps. Wood’s friends then begin to go crazy and die or kill themselves in equally gruesome ways. One by one Mill’s causes these deaths from beyond the grave because she wants Woods to feel what it’s like to be completely alone. Woods, her friend Kobe, and boyfriend Tyler try to find where Mills’s body is so they can destroy her laptop. Mills was abused by her peers and turned to her computer and witchcraft for comfort.

Have you been waiting to see the perfect social media based horror movie? If so, keep waiting. With cheap jump scares, unforgettable characters, and predictable plot, Friend Request isn’t anything to write on your Facebook wall about… While the movie does have some interesting animations, and a unique back story, it’s all very rushed and unforgettable. Almost as if it wasn’t scary enough, I left the theater already forgetting the characters names and the movies exposition. I give the movie 2.5/5 stars for leaving me wanting more from the film itself.

IT: From hit horror classic to current gory bombshell, IT(2017) is a must see this spooky season. A unique plot with talented child actors are two uncommon things in film nowadays. But IT really pulls through. I was enveloped in the story and thoroughly spooked. The best part about this film was probably the comedic relief that  was actually comical. I found myself laughing aloud more than once and it’s part of the 4.5/5 star rating. While the movie was scary at some parts it found a balance with the humourus, making it an enjoyable cinematic experience  

An innocent opening of two brothers quickly turns around when young Georgie meets Pennywise the clown (aka: IT). A disturbing encounter turns gruesome when Pennywise bites off Georgie’s arm. He then disappears down the sewer with Pennywise, and the setting jumps forward a year to Georgie’s older brother Bill on his last day of school with his friends.The fun doesn’t last forever though, not long after school’s out the kids are haunted by Pennywise and the different nightmares IT shifts into. From a contagious leper, to a creepy painting, even an abusive father, IT has no shortage of costumes to scare the kids with. Bill and his friends, deemed the Losers Club, dig into the town’s history to discover the origin of IT, and IT’s purpose. Eventually confronting the monster, the Losers Club ban together to prevent IT from hurting others, and facing their fears. At the end, the misfits promise each other that if IT returns to their town of Derry, they would return to fight it again. An ominous “Chapter 1” title card appears just before the credits, letting viewers know this won’t be the last we’ll see of IT or The Losers Club

Happy Death Day. Tree, a carefree sorority girl starts her birthday off fairly normal, waking up in a strangers dorm room. Heading back to her sorority she has a day filled with upsetting others and irresponsibility. On her way to a party she meets her killer, dressed in a creepy baby face mask. After being chased and stabbed Tree wakes up back in the dorm room. Going through her day with the strangest sense of Deja Vu until she’s walking to the party, again, and comes across her killer. After waking up a third time Tree begins to freak and try to reason out what’s happening. Suspect list in hand she tracks anyone she believes could be her killer, while living each day to the fullest.

While entertaining, the movie does get a bit repetitive, as it should. Once again I found myself laughing in the theater instead of covering my eyes in fear. The film does offer some suspense-filled scenes, and the twist at the end is expected yet executed nicely. The movie gets three stars because it wasn’t a horror movie. I felt like it was more of a thriller, which was disappointing. All in all, a funny movie that’s appropriate for most audiences, with an interesting spin on the movie Groundhog Day