While Darknet never feels like a full-formed series, the individual moments are worthy of praise. Stop thinking about the bigger picture and enjoy the moment, because Darknet does boast more than a few really good ideas. Some of the directors and writers that take part in this anthology have some interesting things to bring to the table. Some stories explore the imagined horror, yet without the lack of pay-off that usually comes with that premise. Certain moments shine with ingenuity. A breast implant surgery takes a horrific turn. A hospital patient finds herself trapped in a living nightmare. There are a few jump scares in Darknet, but most of the horror comes from the atmosphere hanging over this show. The good thing about each new character not being around for very long is that we watch each story, totally unable to guess where this particular chapter is going to end up. The one thing missing from the line-up is a supernatural villain, so the horror is very real and gritty. Anything that happens on this show could very feasibly happen in a real life scenario. The directors show us just enough of the murders to satisfy the audience (the show opens with a terrific intro), yet cut away, so we have to imagine the rest of the horror. There is also a wide range of directional styles, so there is something for every horror fan. We get home invasion horror, we get a slow unravelling of horrific clues and we get bloody murder. We even get a nice break from the scares for a few horror comedy chapters (full-on horror after full-on horror rarely works, after all). Shaun Benson's character probably won me over the most because his two stories (one involving an encounter with his creepy doppelganger and another involving a mix-up with his prostitutes), are rip-roaringly funny, yet still keeping that creepy horror vibe we expect. They also, like most of the stories here, end in the most unexpected way imaginable, which is Darknet's strongest card. This is more than a horror; it is a mystery show as well.
Review of Darknet
