Livescream

I had the opportunity to screen Michelle Iannantuono's feature film debut LIVESCREAM at the Crimson Screen Film Festival and was blown away. It's an interesting concept for a film, taking the "found footage" concept into a new dimension of "real time events" unfolding as a livestream of videogame play. Gunnar Willis shines as the gamer who is forced to play a haunted game that kills off players and viewers. For this role, he learned 75 pages of dialogue and delivered the entirety as a monologue which was done in 3 takes. The most unique aspect of the experience is that as a viewer you are constantly scanning back and forth between the gameplay window, the videochat window, and the text window. It's pretty groundbreaking that there are VERY emotional moments in the film that are the result of simple text being typed into a chat window. Audience members at the screening were tearing up over one particular scene where a photograph puts a face to one of the faceless texters. It's WEIRD how much power a simple photograph of a person holds in the context of the film. I'm not a gamer and I was moved by LIVESCREAM. I suspect hardcore gamers that "get" all the references that were lost on me will enjoy this movie on an entirely different level.

This is a truly terrible attempt at what could've been a fun, engaging, highly unique experience. The main character is obnoxious, and any potential scares you get from this film will likely come from you being taken off guard by him blowing out his microphone with highly unpleasant, guttural screaming. The film is also an eye sore, with the game he plays being collectively made up of several mini games, all of different genres, and all equally as ugly, barebones, and monotonous to watch. It seemed as though the director/writer was trying to play off of audience nostalgia, assuming that many viewers would relate to the FNAF and Slender clones, as well as the one constructed in RPG Maker. But what made those games special at the time wasn't just simple childhood amusement, but the fact that they were highly original and unique for the time. Not only that, but most importantly, they weren't being played and commented on by someone that gives you a headache and has the personality of a theater kid reject. Lastly, the film makes a few attempts at emotion and pathos toward the end that are truly cringeworthy and embarrassing, ultimately making you wish the game took the main character out within the first five minutes instead. It's an awful film, but I may watch the sequel one day when I need something to laugh at, as it sounds even worse than this one.

This movie is more comical and has almost zero horror elements to it. It is laughably unrealistic, cringy, with atrocious dialogue and writing, and is a complete waste of time unless you are looking for a corny movie to make fun of throughout the night.

This movie is more comical and has almost zero horror elements to it. It is laughably unrealistic, cringy, with atrocious dialogue and writing, and is a complete waste of time unless you are looking for a corny movie to make fun of throughout the night. This movie is more comical and has almost zero horror elements to it. It is laughably unrealistic, cringy, with atrocious dialogue and writing, and is a complete waste of time unless you are looking for a corny movie to make fun of throughout the night.

Lots of over-the-top bad reviews here but my message is just stick with it and it turns into something quite good.

At first I almost gave up because the main character's reactions to what was happening around him didn't seem realistic (not his acting, which was very believable despite yelling a bit too much, this was mainly a writing issue)... and I couldn't see how the games shown would sustain my interest. However then it improved in pace and tension, and I got really into it. The text aspect was very well integrated too.

If you like films of a computer-screen genre (Searching, Unfriended, etc.) then give this a go. It's an intriguing concept, with lots of references for the gamers among you, some fine acting and a lovely punchline.

The vulnerable moments killed it for me, but I liked the concept. I actually watch Youtube gamers, so this could've easily been a 7 for me if the acting and dialogue was more believable. I was in it the whole time though because the general look of it mirrors actual gamers pretty well. I liked the chat box being a big part of the dialogue, but that was one aspect that needed to be more believable. I also wasn't a huge fan of how they portrayed the viewers being killed off. However, the first one was almost decent. So, if actually watching someone play a game bores you, you won't like this movie either.