‘They Are Watching’ (2023) Adds More Fear to Found Footage Horror & The Terrors of The Dark Web
In recent years there have been horror movies centered around the dark web. These particular horror movies weave a chilling tapestry of suspense and technological terror. Narratives like these often take their audiences into the sinister underbelly of the internet, where anonymous encounters and clandestine activities become the breeding ground for some extremely nightmarish scenarios. Characters in these horror movies unwittingly navigate a treacherous maze of virtual malevolence, stumbling upon encrypted horrors that blur the boundaries between the deep bowels of the online world and the visceral horrors of reality.
‘They Are Watching’ is the newest dark web horror film to terrify us of the internet's dark corners here at Macabre Daily. This movie stars Keegan Macy, J.M. Stelly (who also wrote and directed this movie), Jared Bankens and Mary Cazes. The synopsis of this movie is as follows:
“Two friends who run an online channel decide to search the deep underbelly of the dark web for something known as “Dark Web Mystery Boxes”. Soon they find themselves stalked by a group who run online torture rooms known online as “Red Rooms”. Terror continues to grow as Daniel ignores the warnings and keeps making videos exposing the horror from their mysterious online provider of the dark web mystery box.”
Let’s jump into the biggest (and one of the best ) things about this movie, the story. It is a terrifyingly curious look into what modern-day content creators will do to gather many followers and skyrocket to internet stardom. Our main characters Daniel (portrayed by Keegan Macy) and James (portrayed by J.M. Stelley) are two YouTubers who focus on all things spooky with their channel ‘Dark Legends’. Daniel decides to step things up a notch by ordering a mystery box from the dark web. Despite many protests from his friend James, he ends up ordering one and they make a video for their channel.
Image courtesy of Terror Films Releasing YouTube Channel
The way that the movie unfolds as a slow but beautiful burn is one of the biggest reasons why this movie is so damn good. Each time Daniel gets something from the mysterious sender of the mystery box, things get creepier and creepier. The terror gets started with a hard drive included in the original mystery box he ordered showing the insanely horrific torture of people in Red Rooms from the dark web. Daniel constantly wants this to be his golden ticket to boosting their YouTube channel, despite warnings to stop from his friend and more importantly, the cryptic, yet obvious warnings from the mystery person on the dark web telling him to stop crossing the line by showing the world the content he has received.
We all love a good dumb person in a horror movie who has this curious spark inside them that is constantly urging them to continue, despite the obvious warnings they are being provided. This has been said many of times, but without characters like this, we would have no way to drive the plot in a horror movie and with this movie, you very much want to keep the plot going.
Image courtesy of Terror Films Releasing YouTube Channel
Every time Daniel gets a new hard drive with videos they become more and more sinister, as well as show the audience (including the audience of his YouTube channel) the darkness within the evils of the dark web. You would think when he starts to get the cryptic messages to his personal email, to his home, and photos of him sleeping he would stop, but no. The truth of uncovering the mystery behind everything and him being an “internet hero” seems to take priority over everything else.
This movie gets increasingly more terrifying as it goes on. It makes you so scared, that you don’t even want your Wi-Fi connected to whatever device you are watching it on as a way to be safe from threats online. There is so much this movie offers to the world of found footage horror. It isn’t just the great storyline that was written for this movie, but the way it is framed with each shot for the YouTube channel, the behind-the-scenes footage to document their research, and the chilling way the videos from the dark web that gets sent to Daniel and James.
Image courtesy of Terror Films Releasing YouTube Channel
One of the best things about the way how “They Are Watching” is filmed is how the Red Room looks by shooting it in black and white, with an eerie score and narration of the mysterious person behind the torture (portrayed by Jared Bankens) compared to the normal colorful look of the YouTube footage we see throughout the movie. Each time you start to hear the music from the beginning of the footage shown from the hard drives when they are presented to the audience, you get a shiver down your spine warning you of the frightful sights you are about to behold.
Overall, this movie is the kind of horror movie that stands side by side with the cult classic found footage movies we all have come to love over the many years of enjoying them. ‘Paranormal Activity’, ‘The Blair Witch Project’, and so many more that have been viewed by horror fans over and over again may have a run for their money when it comes to ‘They Are Watching’. The story makes you invested with every character involved, it makes you sit on the edge of your seat, covering your eyes when any terrifying moment graces the screen and makes the final moments of the movie stick with you so long after the movie is over you might be terrified to give it a rewatch.
Image courtesy of Terror Films Releasing YouTube Channel
‘They Are Watching’ will premiere on the official Terror Films Releasing YouTube AVOD Channel on February 23rd at 7 PM PST with the filmmaker and cast participating in a live chat with fans, followed by a wide digital release on March 15th. This is one of those found-footage horror movies you are not going to want to miss. For horror movie reviews, news, and updates, be sure to follow Macabre Daily for more to come.
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