Rotten Tomatoes Rating: NA (Critics) / 38% (Audience)
Directed By: Danielle Harris
Written By: Alyssa Lobit
Starring: Alyssa Lobit, Jennifer Blanc, AJ Bowen, Christopher Backus and Kane Hodder
Studio: Grindstone Entertainment

Synopsis: Scream queen Danielle Harris steps behind the camera to direct this horror comedy about a group of young friends who are drawn together for a murder mystery party that quickly becomes a bloodbath. – (Source)

The Good:
The only reason I bothered to watch this movie at all was because I saw that it was directed by Danielle Harris. I am a huge fan of Miss Harris and consider her the reigning scream queen of horror films today. So the idea that she was going to be directing a horror movie intrigued me. To her credit, Harris has a good feel for this type of movie and she made pretty good choices for the most part. Plus the drug-fueled fantasy scene that featured Harris in her clown costume from her HALLOWEEN films was a cool moment.
And we got to see Kane “Jason Voorhees” Hodder bust a move. That is an automatic plus for any movie.

The Bad:
The actors were so bad. I mean so very bad. Especially Alyssa Lobit (who also wrote this movie) who was mindbogglingly bad in the lead role that required far more acting talent than she was capable of producing. Maybe she should have stayed behind the scenes and let Harris take this role. It could only have improved the finished product.

The Ugly:
The ending seemed tacked on at the last minute and came across as pretty damn stupid to boot.

Final Verdict: AMONG FRIENDS is not a good movie by any measurement but it is also not really a bad one either. It is a concept with potential that was hampered by obvious budget restraints but what it did clearly show was that Danielle Harris has potential as a director and with a decent budget, better actors and more compelling script she could conceivably produce a quality horror film. I hope she gets her chance.

Grade: C-