Before we get into this review, let’s have a chat. I’m sure by now you know that I watch a ton of horror flicks and listen to a pretty eclectic mix of music. What you may not know is that I dig the fuck out of internet horror stories; I listen to some talented folks narrating stories on YouTube more often than not. Hell, most of the time I would rather kick back with a Dr. Creepen or Corpse Husband story than watch TV. It doesn’t matter if they’re about ghosts and ghoulies or human monsters, creepypastas or true events, I’m there for it. One of the categories of stories is “Let’s Not Meet”, pretty much true encounters with weird motherfuckers or dangerous motherfuckers. Sometimes the motherfuckers are both weird and dangerous and that’s when the stories are really interesting. So, when I saw that there was a horror flick being made called Let’s Not Meet and it focused on a pizza girl and some folks camping I was all about it! I contacted the good folks behind the movie some months back and a couple days ago, they got back to me, sent over a screener link, and well…here we are.
                So, like I said, Let’s Not Meet tells the story of the badass pizza delivery girl, Aya, who gets lured into a trap and in trying to escape stumbles upon a group of campers who are living their own Reddit-worthy nightmare. Shit just keeps getting worse for everyone as they slowly put together the pieces and realize that their fates are intertwined.
                Let’s talk about the positives in the movie first. The writing is solid. I really love how the two stories merge into one bigger narrative and the character development is nicely done. The body count on this one is pretty low, which is fine, and the effects are very minimal but well executed. This whole film is a master class on making a horror flick on a shoestring budget. I’ll take some clever lighting and cinematography and some off-screen violence over poorly done effects any day. Not saying they would’ve been poorly done but we’re all familiar with low budget horror so you feel me.
                There’s another thing I love about this movie, though. The group of campers has two strong males who are park rangers that are familiar with the forest where they are camping. Who do you think the heroes end up being? That’s right! The pizza girl and one of the friends who is always taking shit for being a Girl Scout when she was young. It’s so cool to see women in horror not treated like fodder for killers or props with tits. I mean, I’m all about the old tits and gore formula but I really enjoy seeing bad ass women saving the day too. Horror, she is a fickle mistress.
                I’ve got to be honest, though, I felt like the story ended before the movie did. I understand the reasoning behind the last few scenes but they’re just kind of jarring and I feel like it would’ve been more effective if the last twenty minutes or so were cut up and rearranged. That’s my only serious gripe with this film. I wasn’t super excited about the low body count because there are a couple of the main characters that I really wanted to die within the first couple minutes of the movie. Spoiler alert: the people you want to die in this movie make it to the end. They are, however, less bitchy and way closer to being likeable in the end so there’s that.
                All in all, would I recommend this movie? Shit yeah I would, especially if you can appreciate some low budget horror. I think my favorite thing, even more than the writing or the bad ass women, is the spirit of the film. As I mentioned, I love internet horror stories and Lets Not Meet is full of that spirit.

 

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