Followers

"Followers" is the sequel to "Follower," a 2022 film about three girls who go hiking and are stalked by an mask-wearing incel who stalks them for "internet fame." All three of them survive the first film and are dealing with the aftermath of the events -- Sam has massive PSTD, Riley seems to be just moving on with her life, and Heather is milking the traumatic events for fame, including producing a documentary about the events. They are no longer as close as they used to be, so Heather invites the other two (along with their significant others) over to her boyfriend's house for New Year's Eve, unaware that they are being stalked again and these guys are determined to make them pay for thwarting their friend's plans...

I liked "Followers" more than I thought it would. Some awfully good direction and editing makes "Followers" fun to watch -- special kudos to one shot where Sam and her boyfriend are driving to Heather's house and there is a fade-cut that makes it look like they are going to drive off the edge of the earth, a wonderful foreshadowing shot. The acting is pretty good, there are some really tense moments, and it absolutely nails the ending.

Unfortunately, there's still plenty of eye-rolling things. People tend to be able to brush off major injuries. The plot requires two characters (not just one) to become sniper-level marksmen out of nowhere. And there is an attempt to make a twist that you likely will have considered earlier and said, "Nah, that'd be dumb."

Also, "Follower" was only an hour long. "Followers" is an hour and fifteen minutes long. But.... the first fifteen minutes is literally just the first film cut down to fifteen minutes. Then there's a documentary about the events of the first film with scenes from it. Then there are flashbacks to the first film (sometimes with alternate takes). So if you watched the first film (like I did) there's a bunch of filler. On the plus side, though, there's no need to have watched the first film before you see the sequel since so much of it is included.

But overall, "Followers" get a solid recommendation. Moves along quickly, entertaining to watch, and what else can you ask for?

The following has it's shares of problems. Bad acting, bad direction, bad story and zero character development.

The Acting: The protagonist comes across as angry at the world. She has no like ability and she was the best female actor. Her 2 friends lack any acting capabilities. The protagonist boyfriend and his buddies are complete jokes as actors. The boyfriend of her friend is not the best actor in the movie, but his character is one dimensional and has little screen time.

The direction, story, character development (writing): We are given nothing about the characters. Who were the followers? Where did the protagonist learn how to "fight". Was the blonde some kind of social media influencer? She lacked any personality, so it's hard to tell. Is the other friend a lesbian? They gave zero attention to it, but seems she had a girlfriend(?).

The single best part of the movie came at the 73rd minute and that was the end of the credits and the movie was finally over.

After surviving an encounter with a killer, a group of women trying to live their lives afterward gather together at a remote house in the countryside to try to heal, but when they find a cult of psychos has invaded the house in retaliation for their actions, they must try to escape them.

This was a rather troubling and underwhelming effort with very little to like about it. The main aspect to be had here is the immensely fun second half when the actual invasion occurs at the house. While there are a lot of issues surrounding everything else, the type of action featured here is quite fun as there are some decent attempts at stalking and chasing around the house before turning into the more barbaric pieces that take place with the captive group. This is all handled with a grim tone and some nice brutality in the interactions here as this has the kind of energy and tempo to make for an interesting time, being the only likable quality on display here. There are a multitude of issues bringing this one down. One of the biggest drawbacks against it is the absolutely moronic main concept on display that's absurdly over-the-top and not in the slightest bit realistic for anything that goes on. The whole idea of the influencer culture mindset to take the incident and capitalize on their popularity in the aftermath of surviving everything is fine enough but just makes everyone so unlikable it's hard to imagine anyone being won over into the line of thinking that would generate a popular documentary on the experience making fur such a thorough slough that the first half might put people off before anything happens. On top of that, the utterly non-intimidating or threatening group of psychos trying to carry everything off. The type of loser mentality that they try to preach as a form of empowerment is so haphazardly explained and introduced that it tries to make a grand statement on the nature of this type of figure but just comes off so overtly lazy that it's hard to feel anything from them. Combined with the flimsy masks, propensity for using guns during the invasion, and laughably unimposing physiques for trying to accomplish the physically intense material required, these factors all manage to hold this one down the most.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

If you like the movie You're Next, then you'll hate this movie. It's a though the creators thought they had the responsibility to make a sequel to You're Next but failed miserably in doing so. I love independent movies, especially indie horror movies but this just missed all the marks. I don't know what they spent to make this movie but I feel like it could've been made for less than $10,000. The acting, story, direction and cinematography is simple but not in a good way. It's like watching a high schooler with a camcorder make a movie with friends and relatives. I hope the next attempts prove better. I wish them luck!

A Spoiler-free Review

This movie is better than a 3/10, this movie is worse than a 3/10. There are moments of high-quality film-making and moments of amateurish flubbing.

If inconsistent cinematography and missing (?) sound elements bother you, you're going to have a bad time with this movie. In the first 15 minutes, multiple people experience a great deal of pain without making a peep. Foot stuck in a bear trap? 'Oh, hey, would you look at that. Weird.' Almost as if someone forgot to add some of the tracks. I should know, I am incompetent at audio editing!

There's some attempt at stereotypical tension building. There's a missing inhaler and an 'OMG, you guys, I accidentally went swimming in scalding hot dirt-water with my phone and our only charger in my pocket!' The pay-off is a few minutes later, when someone's phone runs out of battery at a moment that... doesn't matter...

Oh, and remember the inhaler? It never matters.

At times, the camera work is dazzling. Other times, it seems like they could only afford someone who knew how to use a camera for a few shots, and the rest of it was done by whoever happened to be around at the time.

There are moments of actual tension, or there would be if the actors and director could collaborate to create even one emotion. The setup is there. The concepts are there. It's just so hard to appreciate them through the fog of bad acting, bad filming, and bad writing.

No one really knew what to do with their hands.

It's bad enough that it makes me not trust this movie. The way the female characters are portrayed makes me wonder about the intentions of the movie-makers. The female characters are vapid, lifeless idiots. There's no one to root for, which is fine, until the end of the movie seemingly gives us the wrong person to root for. I don't think that's what's going on, but that's what it feels like. The meta-commentary on the matter was especially gaggy.

The ladder stunt was nice.

Overall, there were moments that shone with emergent film-making skill and I'm sure these actors could produce believable on-screen emotion if given a chance. There's potential here for better movies on the horizon for a lot of the people involved... maybe not working together, though...

• Josh from Loathsome Things: A Horror Movie Podcast.