31 Nights of Halloween Horror - Night 27 - Unfriended: The Dark Web


Unfriended: Dark Web
92 mins
Dir. Stephen Susco
2018/USA

If you are not a fan of POV films you may not dig this, as the whole movies takes place via windows on a laptop.  It is literally first person viewing a computer screen going through Facebook Messenger, Skype and other various programs.



Movie starts out with a log in screen, our main guy Matias, is trying to log into a computer that is obviously not his as he keeps typing in different passwords until he figures out the correct one.  Once he is in he logs in, he talks to his girlfriend on facebook while getting all these other messages from other people he does not know.  Eventually he hops on messenger and links up with a bunch of friends as they begin to play Cards Against Humanity via Skype.  As they are all chatting Matias realizes that there is deep hidden files on this lap top.  Through further investigating he finds information about a secret club via the Dark Side of the Web.  Yes, this is a real place, yes there is some wacky shit going on there.  I got stuck in a rabbit hole of stuff just grazing the surface once.

Anyway, blah blah blah, he eventually comes clean with his friends, they screen share, find a video of a girl who is missing.  The kidnapper is aware that Matias has his stolen laptop and through the magic of the internet and screen sharing or whatever, finds out a bunch of info about Matias like who is girlfriend is and where she lives.  On camera he threatens to kill her unless his laptop is returned.  Meanwhile this whole story unfolds via a computer screen and different windows opening and closing.  Matias gets more involved with this secret club and drags all his friends in with him as accomplices.  Lucky for us there is no Hollywood ending.  For all I know this type of shit could happen, I barely know how to turn my computer on let alone access hidden files and find all kinds of weird stuff on the internet.  So this could all be true as far as I know.



In actuality this is a pretty creative way of storytelling that I can’t say I have seen before or done as well.  It’s never too annoying with a shaky cam or people not putting their camera down in a situation no one in their right mind would be filming.  With that being said it is also not super compelling in the character department, as we are mostly just looking at people in small windows and reading what people type throughout.  We do get some character background, but it’s not anything that is going to make this a memorable movie.  Unfriended: Dark Web is sequel; however you don’t need to see the original, which I think only shared the fact that kids spend their time on the computer and someone tracks them through it and kills them all or some shit I don’t know.  Like I said, the first one doesn’t matter, this one stands alone.  Maybe there are some links between the two but nothing that will get you lost over.


This one may not give you nightmares, but it will definitely make you think twice about all your personal information that is roaming around out there in cyberspace for hackers to steal.  Or in worse case scenarios set you up to take a fall.  Also it is sad, kids these days interacting and playing games online instead of in person.  Fucking millennials.  Sad world we live in when computer hackers are scarier than ghosts.



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