“Death on the Net” (actors: M. Papalia, D. Schlachtenhaufen, A. Shapiro, A. M. Hollyman) is a low-key technological horror film director and co-author of the script Zachary Donoghue. The picture is distinguished by a narrative conducted by an unusual video language, i.e. everything that happens on the screen is shown to the viewer either by surveillance cameras or cameras of all kinds of gadgets. This reception is not innovative, but it still works.
Creators and Timing
For director Zachary Donoghue "Death on the Net" - the film, the actors and roles of which were selected according to the types personally by the producer and cameraman Bernard Hunt, became the debut. But the co-author of the script Lauren Thompson and the performers of the first roles already had experience in similar projects, especially Melanie Papalia, who managed to star in the popular TV series Supernatural and Smallville Secrets.
Events in the film Donoghue begin to develop rapidly literally from the first minutes of timing - this is how eminent film critics described the development of the plot, the actors involved in the shooting did not deny this fact. "Death on the net" has an intriguing, solid touch, but that's only half the battle. Given the fact that the film’s timing is relatively small - 81 minutes, the viewer has the impression that the creators have interesting ideas end in half an hour after the start of the picture.
Plot
The main character is an attractive girl-sociologist Elizabeth Benton (Melanie Papilia) is working on a study. The essence of the project is important for the concept of the picture "Death in the network." Actors strongly emphasized this fact in an interview with the media. The heroine, as part of her research, plows the expanses of the World Wide Web, focusing her attention on all kinds of video chats. Getting acquainted with preoccupied teenagers and all kinds of perverts, one day Elizabeth sees a terrible video - a young girl dies on the screen. From the moment of viewing, the heroine’s life has changed dramatically, friends and girlfriends, her close and dear ones are beginning to disappear without a trace: boyfriend Damien (David Schlachtenhouten), best friend Jenny (Katya Pevek), boyfriend Max (Adam Shapiro) and even pregnant sister Lynn (Anna Margaret Hollyman). This is a brief description of the story presented by Zachary Donoghue in the movie "Death on the Net." The actors and roles of the film, unfortunately, did not become world-wide after the release of the film.
No chance
The actors of the movie "Death on the Net" did not surprise the viewer with their brilliant dramatic talent. Although what a brilliant acting you can talk and evaluate, if the format of the horror does not provide a demonstration of their capabilities. The characters of the tape are some wooden-tin, they either just peer into the monitor, or try to depict ordinary everyday life, falling into the frame supposedly by accident. All the emotions of the heroes, according to the author’s concept, are hidden behind twilight or interference. Therefore, the beholder to judge the emotional state of the characters remains only by their own feelings. The director's decision in this regard is not the best for a horror movie.
Frontline actors
Most of the movie actors involved in the project are unfamiliar to the general public. To the best of their abilities, they all tried to play naturally and convincingly, depicting hysteria and panic without annoying screams and stupid acts. All of them are established experienced artists. For any of them, the project "Death on the Net" was not a film debut. The actors listed below performed the roles of the first plan:
- The performer of the main female role is Melanie Rose Papalia, a native of Canada. Known to the audience for participating in the films: "American Pie: Book of Love", "Fasted", "Frankie and Alice" and "Visitors".
- David Schlachtenhausen is an actor who played the role of the main character's boyfriend. Filmed and voiced the following film projects: “Sal Mineo: Biography”, Yard Sale and TV shows: Warrior POV and “When Aliens Attack”. He successfully realized himself as a producer in a number of low-budget films.
- Buddy Max was embodied on the screen by Adam Shapiro, an actor and executive producer. He is known to the world cinema community for his roles in films: “Boys Like It”, “Lonely Man”, “The Illusion of Deception” and TV series: “Anatomy of Passion”, “Bloodhound”, “Medium”, etc.
- The filmography of the actress Anne Margaret Hollyman exceeds 22 paintings. Her debut is the film “The Brave” (2007). Hollyman is in demand and popular, currently working on the Before the Sun Explodes project, the shooting of which will be completed in 2016.
Recommended to fans of the genre
It is impossible to go into the details of the decoupling and a detailed description of the characteristics of the characters without spoiler. A graceful pile, called the denouement by the authors, is hopelessly merged at the climax of the film "Death on the Net." The actors are not to blame. It’s just that the creators of ideas only had enough for the eyeballs, and barely exceeded the middle, the narrative of the film loses its courage and originality. Only the most devoted fans of the genre who consider it their duty not to miss a single movie release to rent should recommend horror to viewing.