31 Days of Draughts
and Darkness: Volume III
"The Den" (2013)
Okay, here we go again with found-footage horror. It's a
tough sell. After all, so much has been done in so short a time with this
subgenre. We've covered monster movies, possessions, ghost stories, serial
killers, and all other manner of grim subjects.
Tonight's feature is a different take. It's focal
point is the internet, specifically chat functionality, as a source of hidden
evil. We've all seen our fair share of creepy posts online. With the wall of
anonymity the internet offers, it can be hard to tell the legit weirdos from
the pranks.
That's where tonight's feature comes in. With all the prank,
meme, and general shock videos to be found online, who's to tell whether what
we see is real or some sick act of trickery? More frightening, what if
the vast sea of online information acted as an unintentional cover-up to
legit murder scenes?
If snuff films where to masquerade as YouTube jokes, would
you be able to tell the difference?
The Plot:
Taking place
entirely via webcams, camera phones, and other portable recording devices,
"The Den" follows the social project of Elizabeth Benton. She's received a grant to perform research on a massive online video chat service
known as The Den. Think ChatRoulette, with twice the perverts. Her research intends
to explore this world-connecting service and its social impact through recording online communications with hundreds of users over the world. She'll document each conversation, no matter how
lackluster or obscene, and use the resulting information to form an almost
psychology about communication on a global and instantly-accessible scale.
As she embarks on this research,
she runs into the sort of crowd you'd expect. Some online chatters are
interested only in pranks and scare videos. Others ask for sexual displays, or
provide demonstrations of their own unfortunate anatomy. Many are scam artists
out to make a buck. And then there are the regular people simply intrigued by
the novelty of speaking with someone across the world.
Problem is, with the instant and
random nature of the video chats, how do you know who you're speaking with at a
given time?
Liz's dive into the seedier realms
begins to reveal a much darker world than she'd intended. A private chat message
shows what appears to be an execution. The cops have no way of knowing the if
the video is real or fake, but Liz spreads the word online. Soon her webcam
begins to activate without her knowledge. Someone appears to have very intimate
access to her online passwords, address, and other private information.
Then, just when she's about to
pull the plug on her experiment, someone starts going after her family and
friends, recording a video of each attack for her to witness, horrified. If Liz
wants to save her loved ones, she'll have to keep playing the game of whatever
twisted person is responsible.
The Flavor:
While the idea of a found-footage serial
killer is nothing new, the nature of the slasher is what makes this film
unique. Throughout the movie, you're shown glimpses of some masked figure as
they stalk victims. Because everything is filmed via webcam or camera phone, we
only get bits of footage from the angles the director wants us to see from.
Lots of details are obscured. Most of what we do get to see is what Liz does,
so we're close to her as she makes her way through the dark mystery.
The message here isn't subtle. The level of detachment Liz
starts to show from the real world as she conducts her research illustrates how
dependent we all are on the internet. It only gets worse, as Liz's pleas for
online help are met with a wave of apathy. Everyone online just sees her as
another user name, either out for 15 minutes of fame or looking to make money.
Even when her loved ones go missing, internet users still think nothing of
trolling her.
That disconnect from humanity, that lack of empathy built by
the digital wall, that's the real horror of "The Den".
Yes, there is a killer afoot, but who they are is largely
irrelevant. The masked psychopath isn't the point. The terror comes from how
they go about their bloody spree unchecked. With the sheer volume of
information online, much of it junk, the killer is able to cover their tracks
with ease. And the masses who use the internet? They're so jaded and used to
the B.S. that they either ignore the trends or make fun of them. Even worse are
those who seek this depravity out. Who's to say it's not all spam, anyhow?
"The Den" has a few inventive scares, even beyond
the jump variety. I enjoyed the creepy and invasive atmosphere it establishes
before bringing out the gore. Much of the film's violence doesn't take place
until the final act, making it hit harder when the blood begins flowing. Until
that point, we're left with a slowly building sense of dread, that something
has access to our personal lives, and thus everyone we know is in danger.
The film's real punch comes not from gore, but from
implication. When everyone is anonymous, when there's no accountability, how do
you sort the real atrocity from the illusion? And even if you manage that, how
do you spur people to care as they watch from the comforts of their own
living room?
Best Paired With:
There's a brutality and rawness to
"The Den" that I can see being too much for the casual viewer. While
the message is a good one, and the film's execution of that message is far from
subtle, I can envision someone unused to horror being overwhelmed by the grim
subject matter. The lack of human empathy is important to making the horror
work, but that same lack of empathy leaves you wanting to take a
shower shortly after viewing. Especially when you see the final ending, the final nasty
point that drives the whole message home.
Horror fans and those seeking an intellectual bone to chew
on (a bloody one, at that), will likely get the movie and enjoy it for what it
has to say. Just know, going in, that the ride is a dark one with some weighty
themes. You won't find much here in the way of hope. "The Den" is
more bitterly concerned with skewering the nastier sides of human behavior.
It's always funny, how as grotesque as some horror can be,
it also has a warped way of delivering a moral. Even if the methods aren't
pretty. The big message here: be good to each other, folks, even when swimming
through the murky waters of the internet. Hell, especially when swimming through the murky waters of the internet.
We went in expecting a basic found-footage
film. What we got was a wholly different flavor. What brew fits that theme,
especially with a bitter ending message?
Name: Hop Knife
Brewery:
Troegs
Where
Brewed: Hershey, PA
ABV:
6.2%
Style:
"Harvest" Ale
Color: A lovely
golden hue, much like how the sun looks just prior to setting in the Fall.
Aroma: As you take in Hop Knife's scent, you're able to note
just the slightest bit of malty sweetness. The rest of the aroma is a swirling
mixture of citrus and piney hops, almost evocative of a West Coast-style IPA.
If you're a hop fan, the scent will have your mouth watering.
Taste: Most striking about each sip is the transformational
sort of flavor profile. You go in expecting hops from the get-go, having been
primed from the smell factor. But for the first few moments, Hop Knife comes
off more like a dry, crisp blend of a golden ale. There's a mellow malt
presence that hits the front of the tongue and teleports you into warmer
weather, as if the beer were meant to be consumed grillside. As the brew
travels across the mouth, a hint of hoppy zing begins to show up, but the
crisper flavors remain the center of attention.
Then the beer hits the back of your mouth, and things
metamorphosize on the palate.
As each sip flows towards the back of your mouth, a wave of
hop aggressiveness kicks back. It's surprising at first, as by the time the
hop-factor kicks in, you feel as if you've pegged Hop Knife as a nice, mild
session sort of ale.
But then an blastwave of pine and cirtrus erupts and fills
the entire mouth. It's almost as if an IPA disguised itself as a golden ale to
sneak in. Don't dismay, my dear reader, as this means you get the best of both
worlds, flavorwise.
Aftertaste: Unsurprisingly, once the hop-wave shows up, it
has no intention of sharing party space. It's here that you'll really be
reminded of the aforementioned West Coast-style IPA. The hop bomb isn't going
anywhere.
Body: Packing it's bitterness towards the end of each sip
gives Hop Knife a surprisingly-high degree of drinkability. With many potent
IPA's, the strong nature of the brew gives you a natural inclination to sip and
savor. But here, your first flavors are smooth and crisp, with the beer seeming
almost light in body. It's only a moment later that the veneer is pulled away
for the hop bomb to erupt.
Pair: This Jekyll- and-Hyde sort of brew demands salt. The
combo of bitter and slightly earthy calls for savory, salty flavors. Load up
that pizza with pepperoni and crack a few Hop Knives to contrast the flavors.
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