The Den

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.

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.

Elizabeth "Liz" Benton (Melanie Papalia) convinces her Research Advisor Sally (Saidah Arrika Ekulona) to research every type of strangers in the social media "The Den" to her project. She has conversation also with her boyfriend Damien Clark (David Schlachtenhaufen), her friends Max (Adam Shapiro) and Jenni (Katija Pevec) and her pregnant sister Lynn Benton (Anna Margaret Hollyman) through The Den while collecting data for her work. Liz does not note that her computer is hacked by a stranger without webcam, and hers records Damien and she while having sex. Out of the blue, the stranger shows a gagged woman being murdered to Liz and she shows the video to Sgt. Tisbert (Matt Riedy). Although he says that the video appears to be genuine, he tells her that most of them are fake, and he does not have resources to investigate. Liz asks Max to hack the user, but he says that he is probably using VPN making impossible to track him down. Soon Damien, Jenni and Elizabeth are abducted by hooded men and brought to a derelict building in a junkyard. Who are they and why are they so interested in Liz and her friends?

"The Den" (2013) is a good movie using the terrible found-footage style with a good plot about the dangers of social media and hackers. The story follows the graduate student Elizabeth that proposes to research users of social media to analyze their behaviors online and stumbles upon a gang of filmmakers of snuff films. She is hacked and endangers her sister and friends. The plot has creepy and gruesome moments, and how the police is not prepared to handle cybernetic crimes. The hopeless conclusion is sad and will certainly not please some viewers. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Clausura" ("Enclosure")

Cause I really love found footage horrors) This little movie is not something extraordinary , but it's definitely a decent one time watch ! And a we all can't live without new technology and social media , the closer to home this movie feels)

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.