‘Mean Spirited’ Review
Stars: Charlie Pollock, Daniel Rashid, Maria DeCotis, Michelle Veintimilla, Neville Archambault, Will Madden, Will Martin | Written by Jeff Ryan, Joe Adams | Directed by Jeff Ryan
Horror movies about ‘influencers’ seem to be getting made more and more. If you are unsure what an influencer is exactly then a quick Google search will show you – ‘To put it simply, an influencer is any person who influences the behaviour of others. In a marketing context, influencers are individuals who collaborate with brands to promote products or services to their audience.’ Perhaps unsurprisingly, influencers in most films I have seen, come across as generally unlikeable. And that’s pretty much the case with Mean Spirited.
In the movie, a struggling YouTuber spends a few days with friends in the middle of nowhere in the hope of proven that his former friend (now a moderately famous actor) is an awful person who left him high and dry. Unfortunately, during the making of this ‘vlogumentary’, a demon joins the party.
Almost all the characters are similarly unlikeable in Mean Spirited, which is the main problem I had with the film. I never really wanted anybody to ‘survive’. Maybe it’s my age but egotistical, loud-mouthed characters aren’t the people that I want to be rooting for. The film does put in some effort to counter this. Some of the characters do garner some sympathy as the movie goes on and the one cameraman, Tom (played by Daniel Rashid) remains the one likeable person throughout. Rashid can take some credit for this, but a lot of his likeability comes from the fact that he is mocked by everyone else in the movie.
Shot in the found-footage Internet age-style, there’s a variety of different camerawork. From dash-cams to hand-held cameras to selfie video shots. It all feels very natural for the characters involved and you can’t question too much about ‘why are they still filming?’. There’s even a clever use of the supernatural element of the movie and the camera work towards the very end.
The story as a whole though just seems to take a few horror tropes and throw them altogether often without much explanation. Obviously, we have a found footage movie but throw in a quick exorcism, some animal masks and folk horror red gowns, a demon, black eyed people and you have a horror movie. Well, I guess that was the plan anyway, but it doesn’t completely work. It all feels a bit forced but I do see what they are going for. If, influencers were trying to ‘do’ horror, then this is the things they’d go for, I guess.
Mean Spirited is at least well-made, it looks good, the cinematography is solid and the lead guy, Will Madden who plays Andy puts in a believable and enthusiastic performance. But it’s never quite enough and while the ninety-six minute flies by quickly enough, you’ll left think that this could have been more. Could have been better and in fact, you’ve probably seen something similar but better. It’s all ‘nearly good enough’ but when the jokes are barely there and the horror isn’t scary or gruesome, it’s hard to recommend to genre fans.
Mean Spirited screened as part of both this year’s Frightfest London in August and as part of Screamfest LA next week.
