Can Friends Be Friends Forever?

Can Friends Be Friends Forever?

Bruce Von Stiers

Four friends get together at an abandoned farm to throw a party. But this celebration with three of them leaving for college ends different than they expected. That is the basis for the short horror film Friends Forever.

The film opens in October of 1957 at a farm. A family is sitting at the dinner table, with the father entertaining the others with a marionette. Then, through a short sequence of events, mom slits the throat of her husband, her daughter and then her son. And finally, the mother slits her own throat.

Flash forward thirty years. Four friends end up at an abandoned farmhouse. It's the same farm where murders and suicide occurred. The four friends are Lisa, Cassandra, Erica and Ryan. Two of the young women, Lisa and Cassandra, along with Ryan, are set to leave town for college. Erica is somehow being left behind.

They explore the farmhouse, seeing about getting things ready for the party. But there is a strange vibe reverberating throughout the house. And there are a bunch of bizarre looking dolls scattered around the house as well. Cassandra seems very freaked out by the dolls.

Later, during the party, the four friends get together and toast each other as “friends forever.”

But things aren't what they seem. Strange things begin to happen and suddenly there is someone roaming the farmhouse with murderous intent.

Kevin Rife played the son that got murdered at the first of the film. He starred in the comedy short film Dinner at 5. Christy Carson played the daughter. She starred in the comedy short film Dinner At 5. Julia Carney was the murderous mother who killed her family. She starred in the comedy short films The Dinner Party and Drunken Inheritance. Timothy J. Cox played the father. He has over a hundred fifty screen credits, including Creatures of Habit, After and Static Cling.

Paige Hoover played Lisa. She also co-wrote the screenplay. She starred in Snowy Glades and Hard Truths. Mark Murtha played Ryan. He's been in three Halloween short films and had an uncredited appearance in A Man Called Otto.

Ashlee Lawhorn played Cassandra. She co-starred in Never Eat Soggy Waffles and starred in the H20 inspired film The Last Nightmare Part One.

Colleen O'Morrow played Erica. She starred in the horror short film Chickaboom and the drama film Out of the Darkness.

Thomas Angeletti was the director and cinematographer. He also co-wrote the screenplay. His previous directorial screen credits include the short films After, Snowy Glades and Sundays With Dad. Tyler Ronk also helped with the cinematography. He was the cinematographer for The Slasher '78. Jared Richard Acker helped write the screenplay. He also did special effects and helped edit the film.

The film was produced by Angeltti's production company, Alysm Films.

Friends Forever was an interesting film. It took the angst of a friend left behind and manifested into a decent horror slasher film. We never learn why the mom murdered her family and then killed herself, but it set things up well for the other part of the film. O'Morrow played her character with maniacal glee and Lawhorn was really good, playing the freaked-out friend, especially at the end. Both Hoover and Murtha did well in their roles too, as friends who just wanted to get together one last time before leaving for college.

If you want to watch a horror slasher film that has a good plot and isn't over the top, check out Friends Forever.

You can watch Friends Forever for free on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ob_a3Ntkk

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