(Contains spoilers. Read only if you have watched or don't care about spoilers)
This is one of the movies that I want remade. We are introduced to this new video networking forum, 'The Den' and this girl Elizabeth who takes up a job to study people all over the world through this software. The movie is shown through her web-cam, which I thought was a very new and innovative concept which worked very well too. We also see Elizabeth in her daily life, chatting with her boyfriend, friends and family. I love watching movies where they show casual conversations. Elizabeth going about her life felt very heartening and Elizabeth herself was a likable character - charming, quirky and sincere.
Then came the psychotic murder. That was fine too. But after that, we witness a series of bizarre, horrific events which slowly destroys the life of Elizabeth. Throughout the second half, I was left searching for meaning. We see Elizabeth trying to make sense of the things that happen around her. As the movie progressed, I increasingly, desperately hoped for things to become clearer and move towards a conclusion but no, they became more and more mysterious and chaotic. Finally, she is killed with utter nonchalance which makes us go, "Okay? What? That's it?" and we end up seeing a father watching videos of people getting murdered, the final message being that the internet is a sick and horrible place and the world is full of sick people, perhaps asking internet users to be more careful.
As far as I know, Elizabeth didn't do anything that could get her killed in the real world. She wanted to explore but she wasn't compromising security. Revealing name and face does not get you killed. Sure, the internet is a dark place but certain things were portrayed just to make sure that the movie follows the genre of horror. I would've made this movie into a thriller where she figures out the one behind all this and the culprit is captured. Clichéd perhaps but that would've been so much better. I had hoped, if not for a happy ending, a reasonably logical ending which would've given me closure. Even if they had wanted to make this into a horror, they could've at least stuck with her life throughout. We are thrust into her life with everything happening from her point of view and suddenly she's getting tortured everywhere and then she is just a body in a video. Ridiculous. It's sad seeing such good potential go haywire.
I give it a 6 on 10 for its promise in the first half.
This is one of the movies that I want remade. We are introduced to this new video networking forum, 'The Den' and this girl Elizabeth who takes up a job to study people all over the world through this software. The movie is shown through her web-cam, which I thought was a very new and innovative concept which worked very well too. We also see Elizabeth in her daily life, chatting with her boyfriend, friends and family. I love watching movies where they show casual conversations. Elizabeth going about her life felt very heartening and Elizabeth herself was a likable character - charming, quirky and sincere.
Then came the psychotic murder. That was fine too. But after that, we witness a series of bizarre, horrific events which slowly destroys the life of Elizabeth. Throughout the second half, I was left searching for meaning. We see Elizabeth trying to make sense of the things that happen around her. As the movie progressed, I increasingly, desperately hoped for things to become clearer and move towards a conclusion but no, they became more and more mysterious and chaotic. Finally, she is killed with utter nonchalance which makes us go, "Okay? What? That's it?" and we end up seeing a father watching videos of people getting murdered, the final message being that the internet is a sick and horrible place and the world is full of sick people, perhaps asking internet users to be more careful.
As far as I know, Elizabeth didn't do anything that could get her killed in the real world. She wanted to explore but she wasn't compromising security. Revealing name and face does not get you killed. Sure, the internet is a dark place but certain things were portrayed just to make sure that the movie follows the genre of horror. I would've made this movie into a thriller where she figures out the one behind all this and the culprit is captured. Clichéd perhaps but that would've been so much better. I had hoped, if not for a happy ending, a reasonably logical ending which would've given me closure. Even if they had wanted to make this into a horror, they could've at least stuck with her life throughout. We are thrust into her life with everything happening from her point of view and suddenly she's getting tortured everywhere and then she is just a body in a video. Ridiculous. It's sad seeing such good potential go haywire.
I give it a 6 on 10 for its promise in the first half.