Horrorfest 2022: Deadstream

Deadstream
Written and directed by Vanessa Winter and Joseph Winter
Starring Joseph Winter and Melanie Stone
USA, 2022

One of the reasons I started doing Horrorfest in the first place because I enjoyed YouTuber James Rolfe’s MONSTER MADNESS every year so much. He used to review one horror movie per day for the month of October, and back during his glory days, every October morning was like Christmas.

These days some say he’s lost his touch. I’m not ready to write him off quite yet, but he has really cut back on his MONSTER MADNESS content over the years, so this year there were very few reviews. I did notice he reviewed something called DEADSTREAM, though, so in homage to the once-great Rolfe, I decided to check it out myself.

Ultimately I was glad I did. DEADSTREAM is the tale of a disgraced prank/stunt livestreamer (Joseph Winter) who attempts to redeem himself among his audience by staying overnight in a haunted house – and livestreaming the entire thing. Of course, this being a horror movie, the house turns out to ACTUALLY be haunted.

This movie is also a comedy, as much as it’s a horror movie, and a lot of the laughs come from how scared the livestreamer is of everything. I feel like sometimes you don’t see that enough in horror movies – I mean sure, you get people screaming and running from stuff, etc., but a lot of times they’re “over it” or unimpressed by stuff that would freak any normal person out. I think that’s one of the reasons those Abbott and Costello movies were so funny – it’s funny to watch a grown man freak out. Hell, I guess that’s why I like the EVIL DEAD movies so much, now that I think of it.

The story is told through the point of view of the various cameras used for the livestream – some GoPros strategically placed throughout the house, as well as one strapped to our cowardly hero, so this puts it firmly in the found footage genre, and it’s a good example of it. Everything makes sense and you never really see any contrived cracks in logic, and it gives our lead (one of only a couple actors in the entire movie) plenty of reason to talk directly to the audience – because he actually has an audience, in the movie!

DEADSTREAM is a Shudder exclusive, so you have to subscribe to the horror movie streaming service to get it. So, unfortunately, it probably won’t be well-seen, but it’s definitely worth a watch if you want a fun, fresh take on a haunted house movie.

So ends another Horrorfest – 31 horror movies in the 31 days of October. Happy Halloween!