There are a ton of ghost-hunting shows out there. It started with the reality show craze of the early 2000s with shows like Ghost Hunters, but it’s blown up and expanded out into social media influences on platforms like YouTube. Countless channels on YouTube highlight and archive instances of people’s “encounters” with the supernatural. Along with these channels are the countless individuals on social media who have made their careers out of being loud, boisterous, obnoxious, screaming goons. Deadstream takes these elements and slams them together into a 90-minute film about an influence who livestreams his experience from a haunted house.

Pros

Joseph Winter does a great job of carrying the film
Good details hiding in the background
Some good jump scares
Funny moments

Cons

Acting of Melanie Stone is stiff and unconvincing
Not going to blow you away with anything new

Plot & Thoughts

Deadstream is very efficient in how it starts. Within the first five minutes, it establishes its protagonist, why he’s a goofball who deserves everything that’s coming to him and puts him in the haunted house that will torture him through the evening.

Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter) is a live-streamer and influencer who does a bunch of stunts for views and likes from his audience. He’s an attention whore, willing to do whatever he has to for his channel. This lands him in hot water when one of his stunts requires him to apologize for it. Facing a downturn in public interest and opinion because of the failed stunt, he orchestrates a comeback by going to a notorious haunted house and livestreaming his experience within it as he spends the night. Before long, he starts experiencing spooky shenanigans and it becomes uncertain very quickly if he’ll make it through the night alive

There are plenty of influencers on social media that have had similar career trajectories that likely served as inspiration for Deadstream and I love the idea of making the “redemption” stunt one that involves facing ghosts in the haunted house. When it comes to the scares and spooky moments that happen, Deadstream does not reinvent the wheel or do anything you haven’t seen before. There is the occasional ghost limb that moves out of sight briefly. There are a few rubbery puppets here and there. Some random jump scares. None of it is really convincing or scary, but it’s good campy fun.

Most of the entertainment comes from watching Joseph Winter channel his inner streamer who feels the need to talk into the camera and read his chat while crazy things happen to him. It’s clearly making fun of the person who can’t put the camera down and who constantly feels the need to entertain to the point that, even when he is in danger, you’re not sure if he realizes it or if he’s just doing a bit and overreacting. Winter does a great job of fulfilling this role It’s goofy fun that manages to play up the comedy well enough to keep the movie interesting for its runtime. When Chrissy (Melanie Stone) showed up, I was a bit concerned because her performance was stiff and unnatural in a way that pulled me out of the film. Maybe that was by design to make her seem unsettling, but I was thankful she wasn’t around for long. If she were around more or if the film were much longer, Deadstream probably would have overstayed its welcome, but its relatively short length helps keep it fun and interesting.

TL;DR

Deadstream is a self-aware, campy, fun haunted house movie. Its star does a great job of matching the energy and goofiness of a streamer out of his element. The special effects are not the most convincing, but they match the overall tone of the movie which is just meant to be good, goofy fun. At only 90 minutes, you could do far worse than Deadstream.

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