Found footage Deadstream skewers internet culture with deadly precision

Fresh out of internet jail after a tasteless waterfall become tragicfamed live streamer Shawn (Joseph Winter) seizes on a comeback plan: he’ll broadcast a night spent alone in a so-called haunted house. So begins Deadstreama movie that knows you’re already very familiar with horror of found imagesghost-hunting shows and hijinks catching the attention of internet famous people – and cleverly uses them to his advantage.

After a quick intro that tells us everything we need to know about Shawn’s personality (glib, jester, always “on”), he shows off the range of gear he’ll bring to crumbling graffiti “Death Manor.” . – ornate farmhouse with a fairly dark history, although the possibilities of contracting tetanus or some sort of mold-borne disease seem to be the biggest threats early on. All Deadstream is featured as being Shawn’s actual live feed, so it makes sense he’s been recording everything all the time – and wearing a selfie cam and POV cam, and installing lots of motion-activated infrared cameras around the house , which means the film is more dynamic than found footage horror that captures its action on a shaky single camera. It also occasionally inserts outside videos into the feed and periodically checks on viewers, whose sarcastic remarks (“That’s so wrong!!!”) appear on screen for us to read as well.

Shawn puts on a great show by locking himself inside the house, as well as pulling the spark plugs out of his car and throwing them into the bushes – moves that look dramatic on camera but also telegraph perfectly one of his biggest flaws: his total inability to think things through. Even if he doesn’t encounter any ghosts, won’t he need to leave tomorrow morning? But of course this movie is called Deadstreamand it’s no spoiler to say that Shawn’s clumsy ghost hunting soon proves fruitful, making him feel deep regret not only for the lock and the spark plugs, but for the decision to visit Death Manor in the first place.

It would spoil the fun of Deadstream— not to mention its juicier twists and shocks — to deepen the plot. But the movie knowingly ticks off some familiar horror tropes (there’s a creepy clown doll, a dusty old newspaper, a Ouija board, spooky chants, and wonderful evil Dead tributes) as Shawn and his most helpful audience members frantically follow the paranormal phenomena captured by his many cameras, as well as wonder exactly who is haunting the place and why. Shawn, of course, also tries to come up with a survival strategy, and even though the character is supposed being obnoxious, you can’t help but support him, if only because Deadstream is such a good time, you want it to continue. It all culminates in a climax that weaves in not only scares, of which there are many, but also some thoughtful observations about responsibility, as well as what happens to a person’s soul when they become obsessed with building a sequel.

The props are courtesy of Winter and his film partner and wife, Vanessa Winter, who are making their film debut here with a film they co-directed, co-wrote and co-edited together; Joseph Winter also composed the music. DeadstreamThe slender cast of includes a notable turn (no spoilers!) from Melanie Stone, who is also one of the film’s producers. Next, the Winters will have a segment in V/H/S/99which releases October 20 and feels like the perfect showcase for them to further flex their found footage prowess.

Deadstream arrives the Shudder on October 6th.

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