My reason for purchasing a copy of The Den was because it appeared to be a combination of 2012’s Smiley and the recently released Unfriended. The subgenre of horror I’m officially dubbing “techno-horror,” one that combines violence with technology, has always been a low-key favorite of mine. Were my tastes satisfied after my viewing? Read on to find out.
The Den is written and directed by Zachary Donohue with Lauren Thompson. Cast members include Melanie Papalia (“Painkiller Jane,” Smiley), Matt Riedy (“Big Time Rush,” “Days of Our Lives”), David Schlachtenhaufen, Adam Shapiro, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Katija Pevec, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Anthony Jennings and Victoria Hanlin.
“After receiving a grant for her graduate thesis, Elizabeth Benton logs onto a video-chat site known as The Den on a mission to explore the habits of its users. During one of her random video-chats, Elizabeth watches in horror as a teenage girl is gruesomely murdered in front of her webcam. While the police dismiss it as a viral prank, Elizabeth believes what she saw is real and takes it upon herself to find the truth. Soon she finds herself trapped in a twisted game in which she and her loved ones are now targeted for the same grisly fate as the first victim.” – AMAZON
Interesting… All major review sites I’ve scoped The Den on have given it mid-score to slightly above average reviews. This is interesting to me because casual viewers who watch independent horror titles are usually slanderous and negative just to be negative. Given The Den‘s scores, you would think that it was a phenomenal title, but I don’t agree. I can excuse the decision to go the “found footage” route because obviously I knew that was going to happen going into my viewing, but I can’t excuse the lackluster suspense and thrills that this one offers. I was bored. Really, really bored. And there was a certain disconnect between myself and the characters. I didn’t give a crap about any of them, although they were all marginally likable, and I was just kind of “eh” whenever anything bad happened to them. The Den, if it were the living room of a house, served its purpose…to relax you enough to want to sleep. #snoozer
However, The Den still had all of the other components that could have made it a great feature in my eyes. I thoroughly enjoyed the acting from all the lead and supporting players, especially Melanie Papalia. Since most of the film was recorded through webcam there’s no shaky as fuck camera work which made for a viewing that didn’t turn my stomach. The plot was great, definitely marketable to the younger generation of horror viewers, and there was a lot of room for suspense… “When is the killer going to show up?” “Who is he going after next?” “How is he hacking her computer?” “Why is he hacking her computer?” Unfortunately the way in which the plot is carried out is completely void of any anxiety inducing elements and it doesn’t have a lick of terror, either. It’s almost like the mood of the film was disabled by a trojan virus and we were left with just the shell.
As with the last IFC release I watched, Would You Rather, The Den had all the capabilities of being a good horror flick, but the execution of the plot development killed it for me. I’m glad, though, that others seemed to have enjoyed it. Maybe I just missed “it” this time around.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 10
