Deadstream – Movie Review
Director: Joseph Winter, Vanessa Winter
Writer: Joseph Winter, Vanessa Winter (Screenplay)
Cast
- Joseph Winter (V/H/S/99)
- Melanie Stone (Mythica: The Godslayer)
- Jason K Wixom
- Pat Barnett
- Marty Collins
Plot: A disgraced internet personality attempts to win back his followers by live-streaming one night alone in a haunted house. But when he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit, his big comeback event becomes a real-time fight for his life.
Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Deadstream starts as disgraced internet personality Shawn Ruddy (Winter) plans his return. Shawn’s channel has targeted tackling his fears and one of his final fears is ghosts. He sets up his cameras to do a live night in a haunted house and it doesn’t take long before unexplained things start happening.
As the night turns into a nightmare, Shawn turns to his audience for help. Shawn finds himself needing to fix his reputation by fighting back against the evil in the house if he is ever going to make it out alive.
Verdict on Deadstream
Characters
Shawn Ruddy is an internet personality, he specialises in prank videos that have seen him cross the line, reaching the level of cancellation. He is desperate to rebuild his reputation and this latest stream is his plan to do so. Shawn must work with his audience if he is ever going to make it out of the house alive and face the suffering he has caused to others.
When it comes to other characters we meet, we only get a fan that arrives to help Shawn and the host of spirits haunting the home that he must clash with.
Performances
Joseph Winter is co-writer, co-director and lead in the movie. He does an excellent job of making us hate his character. Joseph completely embodies an internet celebrity that wants fame over morality. There are a lot of similarities to Bruce Campbell in ‘Evil Dead’ if he was around during the streaming era.
Story
The story follows an internet celebrity that is desperate to recover his fame after becoming disgraced. His plan is to live to stream his experiences in a haunted house, only he gets more than he bargained for.
This being a found footage story, it keeps the motivation to record everything going. It does keep the tension high throughout the film, but it does lack the idea that Shawn could have faked everything. This seems like it would have been an easier tease in his hunt for fame once again. The pace of the story is good, giving it a real-time feeling throughout.
Themes
Deadstream is a horror movie that relies on the found footage concept to create the scares. The special effects are used very well to create the creepy horrific figures he meets along the way. When it comes to the location, the haunted house is given an introduction through the stream, explaining the horrors they have been through.
Final Thoughts – Deadstream is a great chaotic found footage movie.
