Stream

This movie was clearly a passion project. It's moreso a love letter to horror fans than one of those movies that takes itself overly serious. It's fun, it's campy, the practical effects are amazing and over the top which is exactly what you'd expect from this team and it has a similar feel to those 80s films we've come to know and love. You can tell the cast had a blast making it and that's one thing that made this so fun to watch. I feel like conceptually speaking there's a lot of real horror here; especially in the age of online media where people do pretty much anything for views and money.

As a die hard Terrifier and Fuzz on the Lens fan I think I set me expectations way too high. As I look at the numerous 10/10 scores on IMDB it's evident to me that many other fans like myself who have become near family with these filmmakers through social media are doing the kind thing by building this film up to help it. I get it. I am an indie filmmaker myself and understand that building bonds with your niche audience is imperative for any sustained success. But as an audience member I was not very entertained. Aside from Paul Wiley's score, David Howard Thornton's very reminiscent of Art the Clown performance, and Jeffrey Combs who carries much of this film, it felt like a chore to get through. This felt like a first draft of a script that needed more outside eyes on it. The dialogue was flat and characters one dimensional. The "game" I don't think even began til around 45 minutes into the film (or at least it felt that way) The entire runtime before that dragged and dragged. I can count two times that I began to nod off. You also get no real exposition as to why this game is being played, who the players are, or its audience. It would've benefited from some intercutting shots between the game and certain audience members watching and rooting for their favorite players to remind you that this is actually a "stream". What it does do is benefit from the great makeup fx work we've come to love and expect from Damien Leone. There are a few really nice kill scenes that give you big time Terrifier vibes. It just doesn't have enough.

In Stream, Danielle Harris plays the mother of a 16-year-old girl - that makes me feel very old! Harris is just one of the many horror icons that appear in this gory throwback to when horror didn't feel the need to be 'elevated' - just fun. And it almost succeeds. Almost.

The film takes place in a hotel, where the Keenans - father Roy (Charles Edwin Powell), mother Elaine (Harris), daughter Taylor (Sydney Malakeh) and son Kevin (Wesley Holloway) - have decided to take a family break. Unfortunately, the building has been chosen by an underground organisation as the latest location for an online game of murder, the hotel guests stalked and killed by masked maniacs, with the whole thing streamed live for the enjoyment of gambling sickos.

Director Michael Leavy is clearly aiming for the same level of success enjoyed by his pal Damien Leone (director of the Terrifier movies), even to the point of casting Art the Clown himself, David Howard Thornton, as one of the killers. Leone provides the splattery effects, so gorehounds are well catered for, but what lets the film down are the weak script, which is full of plot holes, the performances, an overlong runtime (at just over two hours), and the generic killers, which reminded me of The Purge and The Strangers, amongst others.

If you're in it for the gore and the cameos (which include Dee Wallace, Felissa Rose, Tony Todd, Bill Moseley and Tim Curry), then you won't be disappointed, but considering the talent involved, I had hoped for the film to be much better overall.

The Keenan family checks into a hotel for a family vacation, unaware that they and the other guests are players in a deadly game.

The story is a mostly mashup of 3 horror flicks from the early 2000s: Vacancy, Halloween: Resurrection, and The Strangers, mixed with a little DeathRace 2000, and it has uncomfortable gore on par with Eli Roth films and the Saw sequels. I've got no problem with movies being derivative or gory if they're good, and I'm all for indies, but the overwhelming acclaim on this one is truly baffling.

The story isn't great, and the dialogue for the Kennan family is consistently poorly written (which makes their acting seem terrible). We never get a satisfying explanation for why the game is happening. Tim Reid is way too good for this movie. Jeffrey Combs. Danielle Harris, and Tony Todd give the kinds of performances fans would expect, and most all of the other genre names are wasted in minor roles. If you're looking for Tim Curry and Bill Moseley, it's a long wait since they don't show up 'til the middle of the end credits. And even Dee Wallace couldn't sell bad dialogue.

It's well-shot. The gore is realistic. But it's ridiculously overlong, tedious, inscrutable, and hardly the perfect 10 of a movie that countless (likely fake) reviewers have proclaimed it to be. A 4 is being generous, and it's mostly for the impressive FX and a few decent performances.

"Stream" (2024) by Michael Leavey, follows many early 2000s film's exploring cyber bullying, cyber stalking, dark web, etc. At one point one could even say it follows a particular Halloween sequel with elements of live broadcast situation or "Reality TV", a dated idea as seen in "Halloween Resurrection" (2002). Others from early 2000s internet-based horror genre from "Feardotcom" and "Friend Request". And not so recent films exploring on/offline violence/stalking: "Megan is Missing" and "Ratter".

Nonetheless "gorehounds" (to refer a dated term) will feel satisfied with a lot of practical gore, provided by "Terrifier" special effects person: Damian Leone. So far - many are talking about the infamous scene of "Noughts and Crosses" game.

It's jam-packed with 80s/80s cult and horror iconic actors: Dee Wallace ("Cujo" and "Howling"), Tony Todd ("Candyman"), Terry Alexander ("Day of the Dead"), Danielle Harris ("Halloween 5"), Felissa Rose ("Sleepaway Camp"), etc. Most of them have small, or comedic cameo roles but shine during their onscreen moment.

Jeffrey Combs from the "Reanimator" franchise is amongst the film's main cast. The story surrounds a remote hotel which becomes a battleground, fight for survival, all online bets placed on the table. Combs character here is full of camp behaviour much like his past "Reanimator" character. One the most surprising cameo is by the famed "Rocky Horror Picture Show" Tim Curry!

If you should support indie cinema on the Big Screen - see film at its current special theater release. I will assumed most viewers will be from horror/cult genre communities, this film won't disappoint with its ultra violence. There's talk about "Stream" sequels to be discussed.

This film is not complete - it does lack needed exposition in its 2-hour long story, would have helped with understanding the terror felt via bad acting from other cast members. Maybe future "Stream" productions can help with the huge gaps with this first one.