David Pierdomenico
Back in 2014, Unfriended showed the world that an entire film could take place on a laptop screen. It wasn’t the first film to utilize this, but it was the first one to be so widely seen. In fact there’s another article entirely about that here. While the original film was loud and annoying, with unlikeable characters, it still had an interesting style. Unfriended: Dark Web, however, takes this premise and does it much better job handling it.
Supernatural vs. Real Life
While the first film displayed a unique concept (even if it’s not everyone’s cup of tea), it dealt with the spirit of a teenage girl seeking revenge. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this plot point for a horror film, in fact many horror classics involve some sort of vengeful ghost. But the whole point of having it take place over Skype was to give the film a realistic feel. So having it be supernatural sort of defeats the entire purpose.
Dark Web, on the other hand, takes place completely within reality. The main character Matias (Colin Woodell) “finds” a laptop from a café and begins using it to hang out with his friends over Skype. He then discovers that this computer has an entire drive filled with snuff videos involving some sort of circle of very dangerous people. Soon enough, they discover that he has their computer and he and his friends are in for some very real consequences. The fact that the threat doesn’t come from some angry spirit, but rather real people, makes this film all the more frightening. There is no suspension of disbelief required to imagine bad people sneaking into your house to kill you, because unfortunately this happens in real life.
Still Has Terrible Characters
Despite the improvements, particularly with the real world setting, Dark Web still suffers from many of the same problems as the first film. None of the characters are that likeable, and some are just downright annoying as hell. And the fact that the film takes so long to start killing them off, makes it all the more painful. One of the more fascinating characters is the villain whose laptop was stolen in the beginning. Simply referred to as “Charon IV”, once some of the mystique around him is dropped, he becomes more interesting and even relatable.
It’s a crime that he’s barely in the film, but perhaps having him in it more would have ruined the mystery that made him so compelling. However, when he first appears on screen, the film attempts to be dramatic and suspenseful by having the picture go blurry due to connection issues, accompanied by a loud static sound. It would be one thing to do this briefly, but the films drags on with this aggravating tactic for what seems to be five minutes straight.
But the Creepiness Makes Up For It
And to be fair, it does have other things going for it. Because of the non-supernatural, real world setting, there’s a much creepier, voyeuristic feel to this one. We see the villains, known as “the Circle of Charons” hijacking the characters’ screens and looking up their personal information right in front of them. All just to track and them down and send someone to kill them. The digital world in which we live, is filled with our personal information, and it’s quite unsettling to know how easily we can be tracked. Everything from people checking into places on Facebook, to the fact that Google knows everywhere we’ve ever been, we all leave a digital footprint. In addition, Dark Web has one of the most creative horror movie kills ever seen. Without giving too much away, the Circle of Charons figures out a way to kill someone off by using the police to do their bidding.
Overall, Unfriended: Dark Web is an improvement over the original, but honestly that’s not saying very much. It still has irritating characters (aside from Amaya and Charon IV), and still doesn’t feel very cinematic. It’s one of the few films that may actually be a better viewing experience to watch on a laptop. It still has its creepy moments, although its disappointing box office performance will most likely not warrant another sequel. The film isn’t terrible by any means, but it’s also far from great.
