Smiley (2012)
Average Rating: 3.2/10
Reviews Counted: 21
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 18
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 4/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 4
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.4/5
User Ratings: 4,097
My Rating
Movie Info
After learning of an urban legend in which a demented serial killer named "Smiley" can be summoned through the Internet, mentally fragile Ashley (Caitland Gerard) must decide whether she is losing her mind or becoming Smiley's next victim. -- (C) Official Site
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Cast
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Caitlin Gerard
Ashley -
Melanie Papalia
Proxy -
Shane Dawson
Binder -
Andrew James Allen
Zane -
Roger Bart
Professor Clayton -
Toby Turner
Mark -
Destorm Power
Decepticon -
Liza Weil
Dr. Jenkins -
Keith David
Detective Diamond
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All Critics (21) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (3) | Rotten (18)
The storytelling gets repetitive, but there is enough here to make Smiley feel fresh and more or less satisfying as a low-key creeper.
Top CriticThis remainder-bin horror movie is impossible to take seriously.
Internet chat rooms provide the dubious hook for this generic slasher movie.
[A] by-the-numbers slasher pic.
Smiley's face, or lack of one, is the single creepy effect in the limited trick bag of first-time writer-director Michael Gallagher, age 24, who otherwise relies, again and again, on false-scare musical shrieks to make audiences jump.
While it's easy to appreciate Gallagher tackling the fruitful subject of Internet urban legends...it's a scratch on the surface. Maybe he's just looking to get the ball rolling, but Smiley is likely to be buried in the bargain bin.
Feels like a late-arriving film class homework assignment that the students didn't really care about.
It's amazing what a killer mask and a smarter than expected ending can do to a mediocrity like Smiley
A thunderously stupid horror movie of slapdash construction and ping-pong tonalities.
A genre failure on every conceivable level...
Mostly it fails, due in large part to the poor acting, low production values, and a weak script that bogs down what might otherwise have been an interesting film.
YouTube transplant Gallagher's freshman effort is doggedly formulaic -- his blood-smeared Smiley is a sock-puppet boogeyman, a low-rent knockoff of Candyman and Ghostface.
It's nice to see that Gallagher may be trying to tap into something that will talk specifically to his generation but at the same time he's not willing to cop out to all the current horror trends in making his film.
Just about any of the films it rips off would be superior choices.
One of the most inept movies of 2012. The only thing truly scary about this terror film is that somebody paid to have it produced.
Smiley's story is wasted on terrible horror execution, creating a frustrating and tiring watch filled with inside internet jokes most older viewers will not be LOL-ing about.
Smiley the boogeyman may or may not be a joke, but Smiley the movie definitely is.
A modest, low-budget horror movie with some effective ideas and an engaging lead performance but it clutters itself down with too much dialogue about its title character and the very concept of evil being potentially brought to physical life.
This film will not do for the Internet what Psycho did for showers-no more computers have to be smashed because of it.
The chances of seeing a bunch of people dressed as Smiley this October 31st is giving too much credit to a project that will be forgotten before it has any chance of becoming more than a minor pop-cultural footnote.
Audience Reviews for Smiley
Super Reviewer
Yep, it's "Candyman" for the Skype generation. Director Michael Gallagher started out making popular YouTube videos which is exactly what this movie looks like with it's garish lighting and minimal set dressing. In fairness the script does manage to tie up all it's loose ends which is more than can be said for most big-budget flicks today.
Super Reviewer
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- Ashley: Is that some sort of asian dating site?
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- Ashley: What's bee?
Discussion Forum
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Latest News on Smiley
October 12, 2012:
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