Cybernatural is a 2014 American horror film directed by Levan Gabriadze from a screenplay by Nelson Greaves (short: My Bloody Madeleine: The Making of Swann’s Blood). It stars Shelley Hennig (Teen Wolf TV series; Ouija), Renee Olstead, Jacob Wysocki, William Peltz, Heather Sossaman, Courtney Halverson, Matthew Bohrer. It was produced by Timur Bekmambetov of Nightwatch and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
Plot teaser:
While video chatting one night, six high school friends receive a Skype message from a classmate who killed herself exactly one year ago. A first they think it’s a prank, but when the girl starts revealing the friends’ darkest secrets, they realize they are dealing with something out of this world, something that wants them dead…
Reviews:
“The film’s technical merits are outstanding as director Levan Gabriadze shapes the entire thing into feeling like a true 80 minutes of online activity — you may even find yourself reaching for your mouse once or twice — and the cast deliver as well moving from casual banter to fear-induced moments of stress to sheer terror. Less successful, and what ultimately holds the film back (and from reaching the terrifying heights of The Den) is the script.” Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects
” …there is a solid subliminal message here in the anti-bullying subject matter, and it prevails mightily amidst the horrors of possession and paranormal capacities. Director Levan Gabriadze, who up to this point had only served double-duty (acting and directing) while in Russia, gives the audience one more reason to peer over their shoulders while online because apparently the NSA aren’t the only ones spying on you while you’re bangin’ away on the keyboard.” Matt Boiselle, Dread Central
“The actors, also including Courtney Halverson as the group’s frenemy and all experienced but unfamiliar faces, have a thoroughly convincing rapport as they first try to figure a way out of the situation … Gabriadze and the movie’s visual design team do an excellent job establishing a palpably vindictive and dangerous presence through nothing more than a series of words and images—though part of the film’s constant tension derives from the threat that the bad guy or girl will eventually appear on one of those Skype feeds to inflict some physical damage.” Michael Gingold, Fangoria
Posted by WH
