UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB REVIEWED
“Unfriended: Dark Web” is the film equivalent of your friend’s first creepypasta. They have a working idea of what the Dark Web is and the various trademarks of Dark Web stories. But, Unfriended gets everything else wrong. Sure, it’s still a cheap horror movie about the dangers of technology among teens. It’s just that nothing imaginative happens. A creepy cult is going to get the lead hero because he stole a laptop? What else?
Horror is such a wide-open playground and everyone keeps hanging within the same couple of yards. What do I care if a couple of teens are going to cut up by some maniacs? These maniacs are only defined by your aunt’s understanding of what happens on a part of the web she’s never visited. Hell, the Charons (this movie’s version of The Dark Web) work as a Final Destination oriented society. They find neat new ways to use society’s hang-ups to murder kids. This was a Blumhouse production…right?
The modern era is seeing horror take on bright new forms. Why are we still trying to backslide into familiar tales that were going out of style in the 00s? Also, don’t get suckered into the two endings marketing ploy for the film. While inventive, the endings feel more like a studio that couldn’t decide what belongs in the film and what belongs on the disc. This isn’t Clue, people.
FILM STATS
- 1 hr and 28 mins
- R
- Universal/Blumhouse