The Den

This movie was so disturbing for me knowing the dangers of the internet and that it seemed so realistic as if it happened for real. I liked the main character as well as the film it kept me in interest curious to see what's going to happen. I think that this movie has deep meanings as well especially to the young people that use these kind of sites.

The movie is an interesting commentary on the internet being a distraction of stupidity.

It leads people to their deaths, but people are addicted to watching others demise that it creates a sort of circle of dysfunction...

Ultimately, I was engrossed as a sort of VHS style found footage genre offering, but it did have a few interesting things to say on the entitled society we live in today, of easy gratification, replacement of impersonal and fear based living behind a screen for the beauty of the natural world.

It's available on demand, which is apropos to the plot point of the story.

The Den takes a lot of modern references such as social media quirks and web cam gimmicks to produce a unique kind of found footage film. It's similar to series of creepy pastas on internet, and even for those who are barely familiar with the technology, the film should be relatable. Unfortunately, the conclusion isn't as strong as the set-up and some of the plots developments are too far fetch.

Elizabeth (Melanie Papalia) is a student who investigates the behavior of web cam users in a website called The Den. It's a random streaming chat site, and just like the actual thing it has a lot of dubious people. Elizabeth begins to see a lot of strange things, including potential snuff video. It escalates very closely into her real life. The premise holds a good advantage since viewers will be familiar with this set-up.

Acting is pretty good for the lead, as Melanie Papalia plays the role of modern young woman who relies on this tech. For most part she seems identifiable, and the film is at its strongest at first act. Cleverly using bits of well-known jokes or internet sensation, it grabs attention very quickly. The horror aspect is handled very well as it's based on viral spooky stories or clips which already proved effective to attract attention.

Problem starts to show at latter half as the threat is looking very omnipotent. It's almost ludicrous how it can get to Elizabeth with near supernatural tech wizardly and seemingly unworldly power. The mainstay of found footage flaws reveal themselves later on as the visual gets muddled and slow, the vexing frame rate drop is real. It also doesn't make sense why there are conveniently placed cameras, especially in first person view.

The Den resembles internet sensation it's based on, interesting at first but stumble with glitches afterward. The material is spread too thinly and the last act falters, considering the film is fairly short it could've wrapped up nicer. If not for anything, The Den has a few good internet viral scares and they are better than most found footage has to offer.

For example, when she calls her friend at her house across town to warn her of the intruder: first of all, COME ON!-- who leaves their back door unlocked for anyone to come in when they weren't even doing anything out back to begin with? Secondly, no one would be so defensive about the warning to get out of the house, coming up with the ever-typical response, "What are you talking about? WHO'S in my house?" If someone got a warning like that, that person would be freaked out immediately and be out of there in a New York minute. To make it even MORE unrealistic, she turns around, worried, when she hears something after the warning over the phone, saying, "Hello?" This one's definitely sub-par.

I'll keep this brief but the film was very well executed! Definitely a unique and tasteful take on "found footage" even though this is no where near. The film tells the story from a first person narrative and delivers beautifully! The unfolding of events happens in a timely manner and is the farthest thing from predictable. The set design was phenomenal as well as the acting. I feel like these films have the potential to flop with even the slightest mistakes yet this gem managed to pull through with daring concepts and tie all all ends together nicely. I would recommend this to all horror connoisseur's and am fairly confident you will enjoy the ride. My one and only complaint is the gore. A couple shots were decent but for the most part it was lacking in believability.