Alycia Debnam-Carey and Liesl Ahlers star in a scene from the movie "Friend Request." The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. (CNS/Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures)

By Catholic News Service

Second-rate horror flick in which a popular college student (Alycia Debnam-Carey) briefly befriends an isolated peer (Liesl Ahlers), dumps her when she behaves too strangely, and then is shaken to hear that the young woman has killed herself. But death fails to stop the occult-loving loner: Wreaking revenge from beyond the grave, she targets a succession of her erstwhile buddy’s closest pals (Connor Paolo, Brit Morgan, Sean Marquette and Brooke Markham) as well as the aspiring coroner (William Moseley) with whom the heroine sometimes cohabits.

Lots of blood and little sense characterize director and co-writer Simon Verhoeven’s routine creeper, which includes a few genuinely jumpy moments but fails to establish any grounding in logic — and becomes ever gorier as it unspools.

Excessive bloody violence, a suicide theme, a premarital situation, some gruesome images, several uses of profanity, occasional rough language, a few crude terms. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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