When you think of a horror movie, the first thing that comes to mind is usually mass murderers, possessions, or exorcisms. "Nerve" was scary for an entirely different reasons. If you haven't seen the movie, I'll tell you what happened. A new game called Nerve becomes popular on the dark web. You either choose to be a watcher or a player. If you choose to play, the watchers give you a dare for a set amount of money. It could be anything from kiss a stranger for five seconds, to get your motorcycle to 60 mph while blindfolded. Here's why it scared me to death.
1. The Suspense
I'll start out with one of the more obvious reasons that this movie kept me on my toes. The kids in the movie get dared to do some incredibly dangerous things, and I couldn't help but hold my breath. The entire end of the movie is full of dangerous dares, so I was a mess by the time the credits rolled.
2. The Dark Web
I have heard about the Dark Web here and there on shows and in movies, but I never really gave it much thought until I saw this movie. When I think of serious hackers, cocaine, and child pornography, I don't usually think I can just jump on my computer to find these things. It's terrifying to me that you can find any of these things and much more if you just know how to navigate the dark web. It is known for it's complete anonymity, which is a big part of this movie as the watchers are all anonymous.
3. The Reality
As I watched this movie, I couldn't help but think about how not at all farfetched it was. Kids were dying in the movie all to gain watchers and followers. In a world where people are judged by their number of friends or their pictures on Instagram, young people will do just about anything to feel like they fit in. The thousands of watchers daring the players, giving the players a sense of fame, which is what drives them to do insane things. It only takes a few to make something really take off, that was evident with Pokemon Go, as it became the most downloaded game on the app store within a number of days.
4. The Anonymity
The reason the game Nerve was so successful in the movie was because of the anonymity of the watchers. It is unnerving to think about the terrible things the watchers dare the players to do, all because they were just another screen name that couldn't be identified (at least until the very end). No one could hold them accountable for their actions, and it makes it so easy to do and say things you normally wouldn't. I think that is most evident when the dare in the finals is to shoot the other player. I can guarantee that if there was a name behind that dare, it would have never been dared. That shows at the end when their screen names weren't anonymous anymore, and they became responsible for their actions, then immediately logged off.
You may not classify "Nerve" as a horror film. As for me though, this movie scared the crap out of me.
