Chain Letter Review

So everyone has gotten those text messages that have to be passed along in rather annoying fashion every now and then right? Well that's exactly plot of the horror movie Chain Letter. 5 kids get pulled into a horrific game of "pass the text" as a deranged serial killer stalks those who do not pass the chain letter along. Simple enough storyline but the genius part is how the killer uses their cell phones GPS signal to track them all down. Also instead of using a knife (Which has been done to death) or even a machete, this killer's weapon of choice is none other than a steel chain. A steel chain to counter the letters he sends out via text message and email. Genius I tell you. Pure genius!

Now this movie had its fair share of gore like every horror movie does nowadays but Chain Letter seemed to go a little overboard. With the killer coming off as a wizard of technology, he didn't put as much effort into actually killing his victims. The use of GPS gave him the ultimate advantage and the element of surprise but once he actually had them in his grasp he seemed unsure of what to do next, looking around as if he needed directions. The many ways in which the killer used the steel chain was both vicious and unimaginative. There's only so many ways you can kill a person with a steel chain and this killer tried them all.

Nikki Reed of Twilight fame starred in this movie and if these are the types of roles she has to look forward to after the whole Bella-Edward saga is over then she better pray for at least 10 more sequels. Brad Dourif also made an appearance in this movie. It's always interested to see Brad appose to hearing Brad as the voice of Chucky for all those years. The horror movie castoffs kept on coming as Saw fans will get to see Jill Tuck AKA Jigsaw's wife AKA actress Betsy Russell. She's on the opposite side of the law this time tracking down the Chain Letter killer as a police detective.

Chain Letter had a chance to make this movie a good one but as soon as the movie faded in that chance was chained to a car and dragged along the road kinda like the plot of the entire film. The kills were mediocre as well as the acting. The killer wasn't believably terrifying just big, ugly and overbearing-- for compensation purposes only. The movie could have worked if it would have just kept things simple. GPS mounted virus sent through text message from an uncoordinated but technologically sound serial killer? Not in this lifetime. Someone should have pressed the delete button with this movie altogether. Instead it was chained up and left for dead-- and rightfully so.

2 out of 5 stars