Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)

'Unfriended: Dark Web' was a surprise sequel that nobody asked for, but it does improve on the many negatives of the 2014 original, while keeping some of the basics intact for better or worse. While advertised as a sequel, the film is actually a separate story but using the laptop interface that made the original visually unique. I still can't tell if they really used an Apple desktop or some other computer trickery, but even though I disliked the original it's a very cool way to set up a film. The concept of the dark web is one that truly scares me. It's a disturbing reality that hits close to home for everyone and it can and does affect many if not all people of the world. So to make a horror movie that revolves around it could be good in theory, but fall flat on its face if handled in a silly way. 'Unfriended 2' does well enough with the source material but while it doesn't fall it does stumble.

The best thing the film did in my opinion was give us good characters this time around, and it really made the difference to my overall enjoyment of it. Despite one being too similar to one from the previous entry, these characters are so much better and more fleshed out particularly our protagonist Matthias whose relationship with his girlfriend is much more sympathetic. I also enjoyed everyone else here and you get a good grasp on each of their personalities which makes it much more tragic when they meet some grisly fates. The overall tension and thrills of the film are much stronger, partially due to the plausibility of it but also the film thankfully avoids using only jump scares or gore and genuinely builds tension and had me shifting nervously in my seat at times.

What I didn't like though was the overall revelation behind the film which kinda drags it down. While the film has a basic motive behind the sinister group stalking the friends, it works and really I feel the film didn't truly need a motive so seeing the ultimate revelation not only seems a little silly, but overall it's far too similar to many found-footage horror movies. In fact, it's exactly like a couple of them and it really make me facepalm during those credits. I still have to admit, I enjoyed 'Dark Web' far more than the original 'Unfriended'. It fixed a lot of the character issues, script issues, and overall felt far more tense and scary but that damn ending feels rushed and cliche for the genre and I'm sick of seeing the same climax over and over.

6/10