Somebody Help Me is a smart take on classic horror films, and although it does have some issues, those issues are minor when compared to the film as a whole.
The plot revolves around Brendan Young (portrayed by singer/actor Marques Houston, who had roles in You Got Served, Fat Albert, and the television shows Cuts and One on One, as well as Sister, Sister and A Different World) and Darryl Jennings (portrayed by singer/actor Omarion Grandberry, who also had roles in You Got Served, Fat Albert and the television shows Cuts and One on One). The pair head off with friends and their respective girlfriends for a weekend stay at a remote cabin in the woods to celebrate the birthday of one of the girlfriends.
While the rest of the film features mostly new faces, Jessica Szohr, who plays one of the girlfriends, does stand out, having had prior roles on Gossip Girl, CSI: Miami and What About Brian.
The film, directed and written by Chris Stokes (writer and director of both You Got Served and House Party 4) boasts strong writing, and manages to poke a little fun of both itself and the genre in general through lines such as: “We’re a bunch of black folks in this white town, we don’t want to scare everybody,” and “What’s the worst that could happen?...I’m not trying to find out!”
In addition to the snappy dialogue, the use of music in the film is also noteworthy. From the get-go, there are cool opening camera shots and great music, and this is just during the opening credits. In fact, throughout the film, classic “scary movie music” is used to build tension.
While using one of the most relied on horror film setups, in which young people plus sex equals death, Somebody Help Me also flips the scripts, killing off Caucasians and leaving the African American players as the heroes of the story.
Article comments
1 - dj
I was pleasantly suprised
2 - J Malka
Apparently the reviewer did not watch the film. The acting was horrible. It wasn't fluid, it wasn't even semi-good. It was plain bad. The dialogue was atrocious, even by horror standards.
"What's with choo, we need to schtick together" "It's shomething I gotta do alone"
It's terrible. People go missing and they just ho-hum it. One of the female "leads", while concerned about being left alone - decides to go to the toilet.
Worst Film Ever