Unfriended: Dark Web review

UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB:

LACKING IN PURPOSE BUT IS MADE UP FOR WITH CREATIVE CHILLS AND EFFECTIVE SCARES!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

BLUMHOUSE

Matias O’Brien got a laptop with a dark secret in Unfriended: Dark Web

            The terrors of the internet return along with producers, Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity franchise, The Purge franchise, Get Out) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, 9, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) in the standalone sequel to the 2014 (released widely in 2015) horror smash, Unfriended. The first film was a basic low-budget slasher/suspense flick in the same vain as the Paranormal Activity films, however there was one brilliant catch, the whole movie is shot on a computer screen and managed to have both a frightening and tragic story behind it.

            Upon its release, the first movie gained a mostly positive reaction from both critics and audiences and was a huge box-office success. And suddenly Jason Blum realized the Paranormal Activity franchise is done so he must squeeze all the money out of another movie, so it was given a sequel, Unfriended: Dark Web.

            I had low expectations when I first saw the trailer and if you remembered my review of the movie, Upgrade, another Blum produced movie, you’ll know that I ended it with a mostly humorous rant about why we’re getting a sequel to this. Nevertheless, I tried to keep an open mind and perhaps it would be something like Paranormal Activity 2 where it was legitimately scarier, had a better plot, and debatably surpassed its predecessor in every way…not exactly.

            Unfriended: Dark Web isn’t bad, and I’m relieved it doesn’t rehash the first film, but it feels pointless in existing and the plot isn’t as chilling or engaging as the first one. But with that said it offers some genuine scares and some clever plot elements to make it stand on its own, even if the first film was better structured.

            The film follows a 20-something man named Matias O’Brien (Colin Woodell) on a Skype chat with his friends, Nari (Betty Gabriel-The Purge: Election Year, Get Out, Upgrade), Serena (Rebecca Rittenhouse-Red Band Society, The Mindy Project, Suits), Damon (Andrew Lees-Rescue: Special Ops, The Originals, Mortal Engines), Aj (Connor Del Rio), and his deaf girlfriend, Amaya (Stephanie Nogueras) on his new laptop previously belonging to someone named Norah C. IV. Matias discovers a cache of hidden files on his laptop of mysterious videos and he soon realizes that the laptop holds a dark secret involving criminal trades through an unknown group.

            A member of the criminal group stalks Amaya and demands that the laptop be returned, or he will kill her. As the clock starts ticking other mysterious users pop up during their Skype chat and play a few “Games” of their own.

            Overall, Unfriended: Dark Web is a serviceable follow-up to Unfriended though you pretty much don’t even need to see the first one to understand what’s going on. It’s kind of like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jurassic World, or the Star Wars anthology films or more infamous examples such as Evan Almighty, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, or Son of the Mask where they are follow-ups to a movie but don’t require much knowledge of the first film to know what’s happening.

            None of the characters from the first film appear in Dark Web nor does Laura Barns’ spirit, in fact there’s no supernatural element anywhere in this one. It’s just a creepy gang that you never see that just wants the laptop with all their information on it back, it’s basically Unfriended by name only.

            Despite the plot having nothing to do with Unfriended, its fingerprints are all over the film, like its predecessor it’s shot on a computer screen and the characters are shown through Skype cameras with cheap, low-budget scares. Had this movie went for a supernatural approach similar to the first film it would have been much closer to an Unfriended sequel than what we got.

            I will give the film credit for making it look like actual web cameras were used to shoot the movie. Even though the first movie was better executed and yes, it was made to look like the entire film was shot on a computer screen, but it had the same frame rate as every other movie, this one however actually looks like Skype videos or videos you’d see on YouTube which makes it look more real by comparison.

            Unfortunately, neat camera tricks and cheap scares don’t quite make up for its irrelevant plot which feels like it was meant for a completely different movie, but the Unfriended label was slapped on the front just for marketing and its flat, uninteresting characters. I’m serious, none of the characters grabbed me and I could care less if any of them died.

            If you just want to see some low-budget scares and the Unfriended legacy continue then you might find something to enjoy in Unfriended: Dark Web. Honestly, I would just recommend skipping this one and just watching the first Unfriended again, yes it was flawed but it’s more interesting, scarier, and impressive from a filmmaking standpoint, whereas Dark Web left me feeling empty by the end.