Milk & Serial

This 2024 indie horror flick is straight fire, and it's blowin' up all over YouTube. Directed by Curry Barker, who also stars in it, this movie was made on a shoestring budget of just $800, but don't let that fool you-it's legit one of the best horror films I've seen lately.

The plot centers around two YouTube pranksters who are always tryin' to outdo each other with wild stunts. But things take a dark turn when one prank goes way too far. I won't spoil it for y'all, but let's just say it gets real intense, real quick. The found-footage style makes it feel super authentic, like you're watchin' actual footage from these dudes' lives.

Curry Barker, who you might know from his YouTube channel, not only directed and wrote the film but also plays one of the main characters. His performance is raw and believable, makin' you feel every moment of tension. The other lead, Cooper Tomlinson, also delivers a solid performance, adding depth to the story with his portrayal of a prankster caught in over his head.

What's wild is that this film was shot over four months with a group of friends, usin' a Sony camcorder they later sold for a profit. Talk about guerrilla filmmaking! The low-budget vibe actually adds to the authenticity, makin' it feel like you're watchin' real events unfold.

Since its release on YouTube in August 2024, "Milk & Serial" has racked up hundreds of thousands of views and sparked a ton of discussions online. It's a testament to how creativity and a good story can trump big budgets. If you're into horror that's fresh, innovative, and a bit gritty, you gotta check this one out.

Overall, "Milk & Serial" is a standout in the 2024 horror scene. It's a chilling, thought-provoking film that stays with you long after the credits roll. Highly recommend givin' it a watch-just maybe not right before bed.

The film's atmosphere captures a raw, gritty vibe, blurring the line between what's playful and what's unsettling. It's smartly paced, offering just enough time to figure out the ambiguity before diving deep into the darker side of things. The interplay between the characters creates an engaging dynamic, and the found-footage style enhances the believability, making it feel like you're unraveling the truth alongside them. The tension builds gradually, but once the facade drops, it gets uncomfortable in the best way. It's refreshing how it doesn't overstay its welcome, staying concise while maintaining suspense. "What do you mean you don't like it?"

A friend recommended I watch this, and I'm really glad he did. In an age of vacuous YouTube influencers and vloggers, this is a brilliant concept: take the format that I personally find pretty repulsive, and spin it on its head by putting the iPhone in the hands of a Gen Z psychopath.

The whole thing sucks you in by being extremely believable, thanks to some eerily well acted early scenes. The twists keep coming and thanks to some really snappy editing this film hits you right between the eyes.

Like a found-footage version of Man Bites Dog, this is a really exciting find, which is completely free on YouTube. The fact that this thing is available on the very platform it is slyly critiquing is a brilliant twist in itself, however it's the plot developments in this short film that will have you watching it for a second time almost immediately.

Hollywood must surely beckon for the cast and director.

A couple years back that kid from stranger things released a found footage horror movie called Spree. It's about a murderous, incel, wannabe influencer that goes on a killing spree. It was so bad that I made people watch it, not because it was funny-bad, but because I needed to share my anger with others---- this is like if that movie was good.

In general, I find found-footage to be boring and unimaginative. I gave this a shot, because I think Curry Barker & Cooper Tomlinson are funny in sort of a GreatValue™ I Think You Should Leave way. I was ready for this to be bad. Almost expecting it - but I was pleasantly surprised. It's fairly straightforward - Maybe a little bit derivative or predictable at times, but Barkers performance is what sells it. I was not prepared for him to be 1) good at acting 2) actually horrifying. Worth the watch. An impressive directorial debut.

Attempting a big social media prank, a group of friends try to continually get one over on each other as the experience draws them into the long-hidden psychopathic intuitions of one of the group's depressed past that sets them off into a race against time to stop their unhinged plans from coming true.

Overall, this was a solid enough indie genre effort. One of the finer aspects with this one is the engrossing and likable setup that features quite a lot of likable elements to it. The initial setup with the friend-group who are going around setting up the exploits of their channel and relationship with each other by setting up elaborate and harmful pranks on each other for a birthday surprise gets this established quite nicely so that the later exploits are far more believable. Not knowing whether or not the series of crazed incidents, from encountering the stranger in the apartment to the suicide attempts by the figure they come across, and the bizarre kidnapping scheme that quickly goes array, there's a genuinely thrilling and immersive experience that all builds up a fantastic showcase for the eventual devolution into insanity that comes about as how he treats his friends over time helps this out immensely. Beyond this, though, there's not much to this one that stands out. The type of setup featured here generating vicious and somewhat illegal pranks on people for the sake of views on their video channel makes the group so unlikable it's hard to get invested in what's going on with the friends barely being worth investing this much time into. As this is due to the prank-video nature of the channel so no one can be believed or trusted, that just adds even more to what's going on here There's also the fact that there's so many obvious instances in which psychotic behavior becomes quite underwhelming to see play out as too many obvious red flags are ignored for the sake of moving a story along that's quite cliche and familiar. As well as a lackluster finale that makes for so many rule-breaking moments of found-footage throughout here, these all manage to bring this one down overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.