Unfriended: Dark Web Horror Movie Review

If there's one thing you can expect from a dark web horror movie, it's stupid characters making dumb decisions. It's one of the genre's many appeals, after all.

When Matias purloins a snazzy laptop for online game night with deep web URL friends both local and far-flung, he opens himself up to a seedy underworld of mercenary sociopaths.

What Happens?

The original Unfriended was a decent horror movie that took the haunted item subgenre to an interesting place by having everything happen on a computer screen. The sequel takes a different approach, and it's not necessarily for the better.

Mattias steals a laptop from a lost and found bin at a cafe, and when he and his friends log on to play Cards Against Humanity, they discover that the previous owner has illegally downloaded a slew of disturbing files. These files are made up of snuff films of people being tortured, kidnapped and murdered in horrific ways. As they go through these disturbing images, the group realizes that their own lives are being threatened as well.

What happens to the group from here on out is pretty much what you'd expect, with each character being picked off one by one. The ending is a bit of a letdown and the film feels a little too far stretched for its own good at times.

One of the things that I found most annoying was when the characters started to get killed off, it was a bit too cartoonish for me. When you have a character being strung up by their legs or forced to sit in a bucket of corrosive acid, it's a bit difficult to take that seriously.

The other problem is that the film just doesn't have enough scares to work as a horror movie. There are some genuinely creepy moments and some decent performances, but it just doesn't quite add up to anything that is worth seeing. It's not as entertaining or scary as the first film, and I'm not sure it has enough wit or innovation to make up for that. It's still worth a look if you're interested in this type of movie, but just don't expect too much. I give it a 4/10.

The Plot

While Unfriended may not have been a perfect film, it did create a fairly unique sub-genre of horror with the whole story taking place on a computer screen. Its sequel takes many of the same gimmicks but also ditches the themes of supernatural haunting and instead opts for a more realistic look at online snooping, seedy underworlds and the very real world of murder for entertainment purposes.

Mattias takes a laptop that doesn’t belong to him from a cyber cafe and begins to research its owner, finding that they used it for shady Dark Web activity. This leads to him stumbling upon a folder of made-to-order snuff films that show girls getting killed by everything from trains and rooftops, to being pushed off cliffs and into water tanks. The movie then turns into a very violent and very bloody cat-and-mouse game, with the laptop owner, their group of hackers and a number of other members of their cabal all targeting Matias one by one.

While the movie can be a little too farcical at times, it is still a lot of fun to watch. The plot is pretty predictable and there are some stupid character decisions that can lead to things going pear-shaped, but the action is slick and fast-paced. There is also a lot of great sound effects and music that can add to the tension of the scenes. The use of a low continuous droning noise that is heard whenever the bad guys are doing their stuff, for example, or corrupted versions of normal DM sounds to communicate with Matias and his group all works well and helps create an atmosphere of dread.

The movie is also surprisingly good at sucking people in to its world. It’s very similar to alternate reality games and other social media-based interactive experiences in the way that it sucks its viewers in to its events and keeps them on the edge of their seat. The pacing is just right, the camera work is crisp and clear, the acting is strong and there is an abundance of very effective jump scares.

The Characters

If you were to list the basic rules of horror movies, having characters do dumb things would be pretty high up there on the list. That’s why it’s so much fun to watch the characters in Unfriended: Dark Web do some really stupid things. Stuff that wouldn’t fly in any other genre of movie. Things that cause you to scream at your screen.

The story starts when Matias finds a new laptop in a cyber cafe’s lost and found bin. Impressed with the computer’s superior speed and performance compared to his old one, he decides to log in to Facebook, iMessage, and Skype to chat with his friends Damon, AJ, Serena, Nari, and Amaya. Little does he know that the previous owner of the computer left a cache of secret files filled with snuff films and information about a group of criminal hackers known as The Circle who will do anything to get their computer back.

What follows is a nefarious web of horror that unfolds like a tantalizing mystery thriller, with each new detail becoming grimier than the last. The performances remain convincing, even if the film often struggles to convince us on some of the characters’ decision-making with a lot of the clicking, downloading and digging that happens online feeling as dumb as a creepy basement investigation in a more traditionally presented horror movie.

But the real thrill of this film is the twisted sense of fun the actors have in playing up some truly awful people doing extremely bad things. There are also some of the most creative horror movie kills ever seen. One of the most interesting is when a character is hacked and forced to interfere with city grids and cameras. This is a great example of how the internet can be a terrible place to live.

The Dark Web is the sequel to 2014’s Unfriended, which was itself a decent horror movie with an excellent premise and a very good cast. The plot of the original was a bit too convoluted for a true horror movie, but this sequel does a pretty good job at being disturbing and exciting.

The Final Verdict

Following up 2014's "Unfriended," and a standalone sequel to 2015's "Searching," Unfriended: Dark Web follows the same formula as its predecessors. The movie takes place entirely on a computer screen, which limits the film's possibilities but still manages to create some pretty creepy scenes. It also plays on the paranoia of hackers and the fear of privacy invasion. This is what makes it such a successful horror movie.

The film begins with Matias logging into a laptop that he purchased off Craigslist. He is joined by his friends Serena, Nari, DJ Lexx, and Damon for a Skype call. But the night quickly turns into a nightmare when they discover that the computer belonged to a dangerous hacker, and he is now tracking their every move.

When the hackers start to threaten the group's lives in real life, it adds another dimension to the film. It is always more terrifying when someone is actually trying to hurt you, and the fact that it could be happening at any time online adds a layer of suspense and dread that makes the movie all the more terrifying.

The movie is definitely a fun ride, but it does lose some of its scares towards the end. The last act is a little bit silly, and it is hard to take some of the events seriously. One scene in particular, involving a psychotic killer with a microphone and video camera attached to his face, is just straight up ridiculous.

However, the movie is still worth a watch. It is a great example of how a horror movie can be done in the age of technology, and it manages to keep you on the edge of your seat. It is also a good example of how the right cast can make any movie work. So if you are looking for a good horror movie to watch this weekend, then I highly recommend Unfriended: Dark Web.