Polaroid

Bird Fitcher is a high schooler in a small American town. She is a keen photographer but is less keen on being photograph. One day she is given an old 1970s Polaroid camera by a co-worker at the antique shop where she works. She takes his picture and notices a strange shadow on the image; as it is an old camera she doesn't think much of it. That evening friends drag her to a party where she takes a group picture and her friend Avery takes a selfie. Later she gets a call telling her that her co-worker has died... the shadow is no longer on his photograph; it is on Avery's picture! After she dies Bird makes the connection between the shadow and the deaths. Is the camera cursed and if so will they find a solution before those in the group photo all die?

This is a pretty decent little horror film. The premise may be more than a little similar to that of 'Ring' only involving having ones picture taken with a cursed camera rather than watching a cursed video. The idea is obviously fairly silly but it is effective and provides plenty of good scares, as well as the expected jump scares. The explanation for the camera's deadly properties is good and features a nice twist. There is a fine atmosphere; outside snow is always falling and indoors are mostly quite dark... you'll certainly want to watch in a darkened room to see everything. The cast is solid; Kathryn Prescott in particular impresses as Bird. The special effects are mostly pretty good and while the deaths are fairly scary they aren't gory. Overall I wouldn't say this is a must see but it passes ninety minutes well enough if you like horror movies.