by Mike Schoonveld:
This generation’s Scream Queen, Danielle Harris, steps behind the lens to direct her first full length feature, the entertaining horror comedy, Among Friends.
The movie is about a group of friends who dress up in full 80’s regalia to attend a murder mystery party. The party takes a horrific turn for the worst as the guests are paralyzed from the waist down, duct taped their chair and forced to watch surveillance footage of themselves committing despicable acts behind each others backs, all the while confined in one space.
Made on a small budget and tight shooting schedule, Harris manages to pull off the job of director rather easy. After years of being in front of the camera in some of the most entertaining horror films in the genre, she makes an easy transition from actor to director. Harris had wanted to direct after she got her first taste of it when she directed her short segment for the never released anthology film, Prank. Jennifer Blanc-Biehn who stars as Melanie and Danielle’s close friend and co-star in The Victim, pitched the idea after Alyssa Lobit, who also stars in the film, wrote the script. Danielle loved it and immediately jumped at the chance to direct. Working with her friends and a close crew made the filming relatively easy.
The film is loaded with references to films past, including April Fools Day and Clue. Among Friends also boasts many cameos including Harris herself (in a hilarious reference to Halloween 4), Kimberley McCullough, Kane Hodder and Michael Biehn.
Among Friends is one of those rare horror films that comes along and is meant to be fun, not taking itself too seriously, and Harris is one of those rare female directors that knows her shit and gets it right. You can tell that the cast and crew put a lot of their heart and soul into this film, and they did an impressive job. Danielle promised she would bring something “the fans of the genre wanted to see,” and she didn’t fail on that promise.
It’s a great kick start to a directing career and Danielle should pat herself on the back for making a movie we can all watch…among friends.
Among Friends is available now on DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
DarkMedia contributor Mike Schoonveld covers mainly movies, and there’s nothing that gets his blood going like a good horror film, old and new. When he’s not writing or watching horror, you can find him catching re-runs of television shows like I Love Lucy, The Simpsons, and Reba, among many. Last year, Mike was able to flex his writing muscles by submitting a screenplay to the Shriekfest Film and Screenplay festival where he was a finalist for “Best Feature Screenplay.” While he didn’t win, that hasn’t stopped him from pushing forward to establish a screenwriting career in horror. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @horrorguy30, Stage32.com and you can check out his blog at horrorguy30.blogspot.com.
Mike is currently working on two scripts: Slicer: The Sauk County Massacre (formerly titled Hell Weekend) and The Haunting of Willow Falls Manor.
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