The Story:

Nev has one of his photos published in the New York times, and is sent a painting of that photograph by someone named Abby.  He links up with her via Facebook and continues to send her his photographs for her to paint.  This relationship continues for months, Nev adds the rest of Abby’s family to his friends list and begins talking with her Mom Angela and Sister Meg on the phone. His brother uses Nev and Abby’s relationship as a basis for his documentary film project and chronicles the correspondences between the two parties for their initial eight month duration. Oddly enough, every time he calls Abby is not around or able to come to the phone. Nev’s crew begin to get suspicious after they catch the family in a bunch of plagiarist lies, but decide to ride it out and see how far the relationship will go and to what extremes the family will go to in order to maintain the charade.

Characters:

Nev is the main focus of the story, and is filmed by his brother Rel and another guy that shares their office and wants to be part of the project. Nev is a nice guy and supports Abby’s artwork and seems very proud of what the little girl can do, and has a genuine interest in her family and developing their relationship.  I was rooting for him, hoping things worked out in his favour throughout the first hour of the film.

Gore/Special Effects:

The special effects of this film are very much of an Internet source.  Scenes of Facebook, Google Street View, Google Maps & more are interlaced into the film showing up frequently and constantly keeping the viewer reminded of the films Internet origins.

Lasting Appeal:

The movie is extremely deceptive and feels like a cash grab. Had I paid to see this film, I would feel extremely angry and ambushed, like the film-makers just dipped their hands into my pocket and pulled out my $15. I’m sure there is a lot of rage on the net right now, millions of viewers lighting it up, expressing their extreme hatred for this film all brought on by the false expectations by the ad campaign in general.  Which brings me to my next point…

The poster art of the Catfish dripping red paint, with it’s “Don’t Let Anyone Tell You What It Is” tagline is an incredibly deceptive piece of marketing.  It leads audiences to believe they are in for an old school Argento-esque Giallo, a modern Hitchcockian thriller, a film that will have it’s audience gasping in terror and averting their eyes from the violent end our likable friends meet.

I’m not going to go into the plot twists, and ruin the film for anyone wanting to give it a go, but I will add this heavy disclaimer for any of our horror friends out there:

THIS IS NOT A HORROR FILM AND HAS BEEN MARKETED AS SUCH. DO NOT GO INTO THIS FILM EXPECTING ANY SORT OF VIOLENCE, GORE OR SCARES.

Those expecting to see a thriller or any sort of violent, exploitation flick would be wise to avoid this film and spend their time and cash elsewhere.

Final Head Count:

The first half of the film I was engaged.  I couldn’t wait to see what Evil was waiting for Nev and his band of would be documentary film-makers as they got closer and closer to the “Facebook family”. We all waited with baited breath for the big payoff, and it never arrived.  I, and the rest of audiences worldwide were duped by clever advertising.  For this one reason, I hate this film. You seduced and teased with visions of Leatherface and delivered Jon & Kate Plus 8. Shame on you Catfish, I hope you are caught and gutted promptly before doing any more damage!

0 out of 5.  (The first and only 0 I have ever given)