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Brooklyn Horror FF review: ‘V/H/S/99’ is gloriously goofy and gory, again. Now streaming exclusively on SHUDDER.

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V/H/S/99

I graduated high school in ’99. Those four years are forever cemented in my brain thanks to everything from the iconic music to the chokers and Doc Martins, but, most memorably, the movies. Horror was back in full force after SCREAM came out in ’96, and The Blair Witch Project scared the ever-loving shit out of me in ’99. That singular film and its marketing campaign kicked off the found footage revolution. Shudder continues to have a stranglehold on audiences with the genre and this franchise. V/H/S/99, welcome to the bloody club, friend.

Shredding
Written and directed by Maggie Levin, this first segment centers around an obnoxious group of friends/band members who take their camcorder to explore the venue where another band, Bitch Cats, was trampled to death. When they disrespect the space and Bitch Cats, they immediately regret it. Super fun SFX makeup, practical fx, and a lot of sick humor make this a badass segment.

Suicide Bid
Lily makes a “suicide bid,” a video pledge to one sorority. A dangerous hazing ritual rains on her parade. The success relies on the performance of Alexia Ioannides, and she nails it. Written and directed by Johannes Roberts, this is as satisfying as a horror film gets.

Ozzie’s Dungeon
Host of a kid’s reality game show, a violent version of Double Dare and Legends of the Hidden Temple, meets one contestant’s vengeful stage mother. Writer-director Flying Lotus and co-writer Zoe Cooper give Hollywood the cabal treatment we’ve heard so much about from the crazies.

The Gawkers
Written by Chris Lee Hill and Tyler MacIntyre, who also directs, The Gawkers follows a group of teenage boys stalking a neighbor. They coerce younger brother Brady to install spyware on her new Mac computer. What she does in the privacy of her home should have stayed that way. Brady also makes a voice appearance in the stop-motion transition scenes. These are a departure from the other films, and they are hilarious.

To Hell and Back
Vanessa Winter and Joesph Winter, the genius minds behind DEADSTREAM, capture a coven’s Y2K plans. In Winter team fashion, fear meets funny when things go awry. Hired cameramen Nate and Troy find themselves cast to Hell. The segment features ghastly creatures and a spirited witch named Mabel. Actress Melanie Stone has the spritely vocal stylings of Gump from LEGEND, and I was obsessed. If this filmmaking team exclusively made found footage features for the rest of their careers, I’d be damn delighted.

V/H/S/99 is era perfection, again. To Shudder and producer Josh Goldbloom, please keep cranking these beauties out. To audiences, stay through the credits.

V/H/S/99 marks the return of the acclaimed found footage anthology franchise and the sequel to Shudder’s most-watched premiere of 2021. A thirsty teenager’s home video leads to a series of horrifying revelations. Featuring five new stories from filmmakers Maggie Levin (Into The Dark: My Valentine), Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City), Flying Lotus (Kuso), Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls) and Joseph & Vanessa Winter (Deadstream), V/H/S/99 harkens back to the final punk rock analog days of VHS, while taking one giant leap forward into the hellish new millennium. (A Shudder Original)

Premiered October 20 on Shudder

 

Found-footage horror-comedy ‘DEADSTREAM’ is coming to Shudder October 6th! Check out the newest trailer.

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One of my favorite SXSW 22 films, DEADSTREAM is making its way to Shudder audiences on October 6th. Zero surprise the horror platform picked up the film. I know their audience will eat it up. Filmmaker couple Vanessa Winter & Joseph Winter gives up laughs and jump scares galore, taking advantage of internet narcissism. The duo’s work can next be seen in a segment from Shudder’s hotly-anticipated V/H/S/99, the latest installment in the celebrated found-footage horror series, which premieres out of TIFF’s Midnight Madness later this month. Deadstream is produced by Joseph and Vanessa Winters, alongside cinematographer Jared Cook and actress Melanie Stone, who also star in the film. The Winters co-edited the film, with Joseph contributing to music for the project as well.

Check out the newest trailer for the film and our original SXSW22 coverage below. Put this one on your calendar for sure. 

DEADSTREAM

Directed byJoseph and Vanessa Winter (V/H/S/99)  DEADSTREAM Streams Exclusively on Shudder Thursday, October 6, 2022

Available on Shudder U.S., Shudder CA, Shudder UKI, and Shudder ANZ

SXSW 2022 review: ‘DEADSTREAM’ is a horror-comedy fan’s dream.

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DEADSTREAM

After a public controversy left him disgraced and demonetized, a washed up internet personality tries to win back his followers by livestreaming himself spending one night alone in an abandoned haunted house. When he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit, his big comeback event becomes a real-time fight for his life (and social relevance) as he faces off with the sinister spirit of the house and her own powerful following.

Joseph Winter plays Shawn, a delightful douchebag. Or, as we regularly refer to this type of personality, a YouTube star. He promises his audience he’ll spend the night in an infamously haunted location. As the evening unfolds, Shawn’s backstory slowly comes to light. Is this stunt an act of redemption or a money grab? Whichever it is, we win with Deadstream.

Shawn interacts with the livestream comments ranging from rude to fangirl, skeptical to genuinely helpful. Some of those comments come with videos making the narrative feel immersive for the audience. The Host was a huge indie hit in 2020. The plot occurs over a Zoom seance, where the audience is also a participant on that call. Dreadstream benefits from this similar format because it will feel like you’re part of the action. It’s only the second film I would recommend watching on a laptop.

The cinematography is a collection of Go Pro and infrared cameras, giving Deadstream a first-person gamer experience. While Shawn performs promised acts of silliness, he also tells the history of each room and its associated ghost. The majority of the set is lit from Shawn’s headlamp, enhancing the scares. I constantly anticipated a jump scare. But, it’s the brilliantly written buildup of tension that kept me on the edge of my seat. 

Joseph Winter abandons every ounce of his dignity in Shawn. He’s fearless in his slapstick and could not care less how absurd he looks. The way he screams is comedy gold. Winter nails that manic energy and the over-the-top vocal nuance of any YouTube star or influencer. I cannot imagine anyone but Winters doing Shawn justice. 

Deadstream is an ode to horror fans. It is a film Sam Raimi would be proud of. As for us genre nerds, don’t act like you didn’t watch Paranormal State, Ghost Hunters, or Ghost Adventures whenever Evil Dead wasn’t available to rent, again. Deadstream takes all the elements of those staples and melds them together with modern-day social media and cancel culture. If you’re not laughing out loud, check your pulse. Writing and directing team Vanessa Winter & Joseph Winter let SXSW22 audiences in on the joke. Deadstream gets me to hit “Like & Subscribe.” These filmmakers just earned a new fan. 

To learn more about SXSW22 click here!