Average Netflix Rating: 2.9
Smiley is one of those movies that I have been waiting and waiting for. When it was screened in 2010 it achieved a lot of buzz around the horror community but no one gave very many details of what Smiley was all about. Smiley was pushed away onto some dusty shelf and left there until 2012 when the studio was doing a little spring cleaning and decided to just give the film a quick and limited theatrically release - and now 6 months later, the films is finally widely released for home viewing... so after all that, is it worth watching? Yes and no... but first a quick synopsis...
Mentally unstable Ashley finally moves away from home and is excited to be starting a new life away from her family tragedy. Nerdy Ashley answers an add for a roommate and is moving into hip and edgy Proxy's home right on campus and the unlikely pair instantly hit it off. Proxy introduces sheltered Ashley to drugs, drinking, and the world of anonymous online posting chatting, and partying - yes partying. No real names at these parties just online handles and instead of beer pong and flip cup everyones on computers or watching projected images on the walls. While Ashley is getting used to this new world, she learns about the urban legend of Smiley - when you are video chatting with someone, if you type "I did it for the lulz..." 3 times Smiley will appear behind the person and kill them...Ashley's already unstable minds begin to crack as she see's more and more proof that Smiley is real and is now after her...
"I did it for the lulz..." Did I lose you yet?
I will admit that I was having a hard time getting on bored with a horror movie that wants me to be be afraid of the line "I did it for the lulz..." BUT I actually found myself enjoying this movie quite a bit. This movie NAILS the jump scare - some people hate the cliche jump scare and think of it as a lazy copout but I think its actually very difficult to pull off a good jump scare as most horror fans can see them coming a mile away, but Smiley got me more then once... Bravo Smiley, Bravo... Other then then that - don't look for a lot of terror or gore here. Its your standard slasher flick with a techno twist. The plot of the movie is nothing that you haven't seen before - its a mix of a bunch of movies that you have already seen and its not even remotely original in anyway, shape or form - but it knows it and it embraces it. I look at it as a love letter to the techno/horror movies of the past. Most of the actors do an ok job with the script they were given --- 2 of the actors stick out in my mind as scene stealingly terrible but on the flip side I really think we are going to see more of the girl who played Proxy. The movie kept me (kinda) guessing until the end as to what was going on and while the end wasn't the end that I wanted - it has set the tone for what could be an even better sequel.
Rating - 4/5
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