Fans of ‘Unfriended’ and ‘Host’ will like ‘The Den.’ Everyone else should also like ‘The Den’, because it’s really good.
Synopsis
A young woman studying the habits of webcam users witnesses a murder online and becomes the killer’s next target.
My Thoughts
The Den centers around a grad student named Elizabeth who’s conducting a research project on online chat behavior using a video chat site called, wait for it, The Den. The premise reads pretty much like your classic cautionary tech-horror film: girl chats with strangers, things get weird, and people start dying.
The film also manages to avoid most of the usual pitfalls we normally see with these kind of movies, which is nice. The entire film is presented through the screen of Elizabeth’s laptop, and her desktop becomes the frame. Emails, video chats, pop-ups, Google searches, much like in Unfriended (2014), which was released after The Den.
Pacing wise the film is pretty good, and there’s humor sprinkled in now and again too, which is sometimes subtle, sometimes jarringly crude, but it’s pretty effective. You laugh, you relax, and then the movie punches you in the face. And once it goes off the rails, it really goes.
The sound design, especially the mismatch of audio and visuals, is used cleverly to try and unsettle you. It’s not just jump scares and glitches (though we get those too), it’s that feeling of seeing something almost normal, and realizing just how wrong it is.
And then, in a rare moment of horror movie competence, the protagonist actually calls the police. Like, right away. She doesn’t run into the woods or try to take on the entire internet death cult solo, she does the smart thing.
Unfortunately, the police are basically useless, but the movie earns points for letting her act like a rational human being first. Of course, by the end, they’ve devolved into the standard “hands in pockets, shrugging” brand of law enforcement.
As for the ending, it’s a bit long, a bit implausible, but it was OK. It stuck the landing emotionally, if not logically. Horror doesn’t always need to make perfect sense. it just needs to leave you feeling like the world is a little less safe than you thought.
The Den is still one of the best found footage films in my opinion, and it’s a film that understands the digital age in a way that’s genuinely scary. It doesn’t preach or moralize. It just shows you the dark side of something you use every day, and then it lets your brain do the rest.
Surprisingly sharp. Surprisingly scary. And very much worth watching.
The Den Trailer
The Den on IMDB
Good Points
Effective Pacing – The movie builds slowly and effectively, mixing mundane internet interactions with some escalating dread. It gets the balance spot on.
Clever Use of Sound – Some of the best sound work you will hear.
Social Commentary Without Preaching – It presents a look at online culture without ever moralizing. It just shows you stuff and lets you decide what to fear.
Bad Points
The Ending – I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, but it wasn’t bad in a way that ruins much, but found it a little undermining.
Overused Effects – The movie relies quite heavily on digital static effects, a bit too much I think.
Is The Den Worth Watching?
Yes, it is. I think it’s pretty damn good overall.
It was ahead of its time when released (I think) and it does do a lot right despite a few little annoyances. Fans of the above mentioned Unfriended or Host will like it a lot….Probably.
Just remember to put a sticker over your webcam from now on, yeah?
Where To Stream
Director and Cast
Director – Zachary Donohue
Main Cast – Melanie Papalia, David Schlachtenhaufen, Adam Shapiro, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Matt Riedy, Katija Pevec, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Anthony Jennings, and Victoria Hanlin.
Found Footage Horror Movies 
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