Creed II
Ralph Breaks the Internet
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Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (18) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (14) | Rotten (4)
Zach Donohue's debut feature ingeniously uses only computer images to tell its tale.
False leads superfluously string the protagonist along; it feels as though the writers have padded the script rather than showed off their cleverness.
There are almost no real shocks or scares to rattle you out of the stupor that inevitably develops from observing someone else fiddle with their laptop for much of the running time.
Scenes pulse with the Internet's speed and sprawl, aided by clever editing that pops.
The Den's commitment to its presentational conceit leads to a number of implausible scenarios, but what's more disheartening is the gore-fest it turns into once the curtain is thrown back on the mystery propelling both Elizabeth and the narrative.
The film is neither compelling or innovative enough to justify sitting through its torture porn-y moments.
It's mean-spirted, vicious and twistedly entertaining, the kind of film that will make you think twice about being left alone and vulnerable in front of your laptop.
...a superior found-footage endeavor that's often as unnerving as it is timely.
The results are a paranoid thrill ride into twenty-first century manipulation and exploitation, a pseudo snuff film whose very making we witness, and whose impact comes from our awareness of its chilling plausibility.
taps into contemporary anxieties about both the very public nature - and anonymity - of the lives that we lead online, building towards a sadistic, cynical ending
Cowriter (with Lauren Thompson)/director Zachary Donohue puts a new spin on the 'found footage' genre with this incredibly clever and creepy film that delves into our worst online fears.
"The Den" is unsettling without being excessively gory, building legitimate dread rather than resorting to cheap scares.
The webcam found-footage is well done and the concept is quite disturbing considering the horrors that must be really found inside the deep web; the only problem is that the clichés are sometimes infuriating, like no one believing the main character and thinking she is crazy.
Super Reviewer
A 21st century horror that deals with plausible issues with using technology, but an unsatisfying and unscary horror makes this movie a snore fest.
Imagine Hostel with webcams and that is exactly what this movie is. Of course, I'm not saying it's a shameless ripoff, because it does have its own identity, what with the film being completely comprised of webcam footage. While this webcam usage does serve a purpose in the story, as Elizabeth is performing a study on people who use these social media sites and their behavior, and that leads her to uncovering a brutal murder. But I'm not sure if it was chosen for purely story purposes or because it was cheaper to make that way. I'd like to think it was more of the former than the latter. With that said, I think the film does a perfectly good job at showcasing the goofier side of the internet, with the cat videos and people humiliating themselves for others' amusements, to the more darker side of murder videos being very easily accessible to whomever wants to watch them. It's probably one of the better movies at this because so many films, based around the internet, only focus on the negative aspects of it. This movie makes sure that you can see that the internet is a place where you can have a lot of fun and be able to meet new people from all over the world, but it's also a place where you can find incredibly ugly and disgusting things. I liked this movie, it's certainly not even close to the best horror film of the year, Cheap Thrills takes that honor, but it is an entertaining horror film to watch for its brief running time. That sounds wrong considering the fact that the film isn't selling hope, far from it as this business where people's lives are showcased for others to see, before they're kidnapped and murdered, will continue on into the future. In many ways, the reveal that this is a business, where people pay to watch the lives of others shortly before they're murdered is an indictment on most horror fans. We're part of that endless cycle of violence, as we demand to see the suffering and death of these fictional people. Again, this applies to some horror fans, not all of us. I do enjoy myself a good, bloody and gory horror film, not gonna lie. But this commentary was good, not necessarily clever, but good enough to make you think. The acting is solid for a horror movie, but not out of this world. It's good enough that you won't notice it at all while you're watching the film. That said, this film isn't the most inventive, or clever, of horror films. But it does offer an entertaining and smart experience. It's also incredibly short, so you can't really go wrong with this movie if you're looking for a quick horror fix.
The Den is a ferociously brain-twisting and intricately written thrill ride. Who knew webcam found-footage horror could be so good?
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