DIY VIRAL
The author Robert Scucci
| Published
Every now and then I stumble across a low-budget film that has polarized reviews and I want to see if I'm the kind of person who wants to appreciate the project for what it is, or if I'm just setting myself up. tear it up like I can improve (spoiler: I can't). When Reddit user u/IamGodHimself2 boldly announced that in 2017 Stream was the scariest movie they'd ever seen, I had my doubts – especially when I read every comment calling the movie a self-indulgent, low-budget college project with tiny camerawork and very little payoff.
The underdogs aren't necessarily wrong in their assessment, but you can't look at films made for around $3000 through the same lens you look at bigger budget horror films, because experimental films like Stream there are obvious limitations that you have to look past that larger productions and their audiences take for granted.
If I had to describe Stream in one phrase I would say, “It's the vibe.”
Not much
Stream spends most of its running time in Stephanie's (Brittany Dunk) apartment, and we're given most of the exposition we need to know through the radio broadcast. As a long tracking shot follows Stephanie through her home, the radio announces that her boyfriend, David, has recently committed suicide by stabbing himself dozens of times and gouging out his eyes. The broadcast indicates that foul play is not suspected.
After creating the isolated atmosphere, Stream introduces Sarah (Gloria Bueno), who comes to visit, taking care of her best friend. With some of the only dialogue in the film, it's revealed that Stephanie's grief has made her a recluse, causing her to lose her job while severing most of her close relationships as she tries to come to terms with her boyfriend's death. During this brief exchange, Stephanie tells Sarah that David began acting like a completely different person after becoming obsessed with a live-action video of a man lying in a coffin before his untimely and gruesome death.
To make things even more tense, Stephanie reveals to Sarah that she's been getting voicemails from David despite the fact that she disconnected his phone a few days ago.
A seemingly endless loop
Showing your namesake, Stream leads Stephanie and Sarah to David's office where the live broadcast is still playing. David's notes suggest that he can't stop watching the stream or the man in the coffin will come after him. Sarah has a seizure and after recovering she locks herself in the bathroom in a panic. As Stephanie knocks on the bathroom door, her doorbell rings and she finds Sarah at the front door as if nothing happened.
Stephanie finds herself trapped in a terrifying time loop where she's being chased by David's corpse, and archived footage from the stream leaves her with subtle hints as to its origins.
A disturbing story about the bare bones
Listen, I'll be the first to tell you Stream is a full-on amateur hour-long movie — aside from the excruciatingly long 15-minute post-credits sequence, the movie is literally an hour long — and writer/director Isaac Rodriguez (best known for “No Sleep”) YouTube channel) clearly didn't have a lot of resources to bring this film to life. Despite the film's limitations, the long tracking camera shots that make up the majority of the film will get under your skin as the color palette constantly shifts from normal to ominously glowing red to a blue saturation that consumes your field of vision like a demon. or demons, run into Stephanie's apartment.
Everything from Stream plays out as if there is some unknown entity behind the camera following Stephanie's every move until she is completely unaware of its presence. Feels more like a series of horrifying vignettes stitched together trying to say a a ghost storyi would call Stream a solid proof of concept from an aspiring horror auteur with an innate ability to take a less-is-more approach while delivering the kind of existential terror that the Paranormal Activity franchise failed to replicate after its first film flopped. success despite increased production budgets with each subsequent installment in the series.
I'm not saying that Stream is the best horror movie I've ever seen, but I have to admit it deserves it's credit as there are some truly scary sequences and jump scares that made me go “ughh!” more than once.
As of this writing, you can watch Stream free on Tubi is one service I keep coming back to for its catalog of messy and experimental content that I can't find on any paid streaming service.
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DIY VIRAL
