More movies have been watched. As Halloween season is rapidly approaching, I feel even more like I need to be writing about them. Both of the films reviewed below are Shudder originals, as you can plainly see on the posters. Preamble complete.
~ Deadstream ~
This one is about a livestreamer who goes to spend a night in a “haunted house” as something of a stunt to entertain his following. This premise is absolutely as cringey as it sounds, at least until about 15 minutes in and you realize that it’s actually a comedy. Kind of like Evil Dead 2 but with a modern twist.
That said, I had to watch Deadstream in two sessions, because it scared the absolute crap out of me the first time around. Early on in the film, our “hero” Shawn enters the house and starts recounting the tales of why it’s haunted, and he tells a story about a ghost called the Corner Man. If you weren’t already aware, I have a strong irrational fear of ghosts. Having all the lights turned off and watching movies about ghosts alone never ends well for me. I tried my best to remain rational, but I very quickly had to turn off the movie and turn on the lights, because my brain immediately started thinking it was seeing things in my peripheral vision. There aren’t a lot of things that genuinely terrify me, but my overactive imagination is definitely high on the list.
A couple night later, my fears had receded, and I decided to push through. This time with the lights on. As it turns out, after that singular scene, the movie’s tone changes dramatically, and it goes from horror-comedy to pretty much just straight comedy.
I won’t bore you with the summary on this one, because it’s the most predictable, paint-by-numbers plot you could imagine. What makes it unique, and actually quite watchable, is the combination of the goofy premise and the fantastic performance by Joseph Winter. He’s somehow both reprehensible and charming at the same time, and Shawn actually goes through a respectable character arc, which kind of caught me off guard, since characters in haunted house movies are typically one-dimensional.
The livestreaming aspect of it is pretty unique – it’s somewhere between found footage and… those movies that take place entirely on Skype calls. I don’t know what you would call that sub-genre exactly, but it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to cinema. Shawn has two cameras equipped on his person and places stationary cameras around the house, so there are still a good variety of shots throughout the film, and you’re not just watching shaky cam footage for 90 minutes. It’s a nice kind of way to try to be modern without being as tedious as the average found footage movie.
The one aspect I didn’t like is when Shawn occasionally pauses to look at his chat. It’s only in very specific instances, but it’s kind of annoying because it feels so artificial. I think it would seem more natural if it were visible throughout the entire film, but that would have also been an absolutely massive amount of extra work for the production team, and likely would have been more distracting than anything. So, I think that the way they did it was the best solution, but I still didn’t really like it.
Something I liked a lot is that most of the special effects are (or at least seemed to be) practical. Of course, there are a lot of overlays and a little CG for some of the stuff related to the “stream” part of the movie, but all the monsters are just people with totally unconvincing rubber masks and gloves, and I’m 100% here for it. Blood, gore, and other bodily fluids get splashed all over Shawn constantly, and what sticks to him is totally inconsistent. It’s corny, sure, but in a very genuine way that I couldn’t help but giggle at.
I don’t think it would be too far off base to assume that Deadstream was absolutely a passion project for the people who worked on it. Yes, the livestream angle comes off as a bit of a gimmick to try to interest Gen Z, but in the end, I think it definitely serves to make Deadstream stand out among all the other haunted house movies out there. While it took a while to really get going, I did quite enjoy it for what it is: a silly movie about a silly man running away from silly monsters. It’s funny, it’s got some heart, and despite being entirely predictable, it’s still pretty unique. Easily recommended it if you’ve got a Shudder subscription. 7.5/10
~ Mandrake ~
And now we take a look at a movie that is the polar opposite of Deadstream: Mandrake. This one is a super-serious horror drama that honestly, I just wasn’t that into. It’s not that I think it was unenjoyable, but the movie poster features a big ol’ Leshy-lookin’ monster, and that monster is not actually in the film. Well, it is, but not really. Let’s get into it!
Mandrake starts with our heroine, Cathy the probation officer, being assigned a new client. This particular client, Mary, was locked up for decades for butchering her husband (or something, I’ve already forgotten). The locals all think that reclusive Mary is a witch and not to be trusted, but Cathy firmly believes that she’s just misunderstood. And then two children just happen to go missing near Mary’s property. Obviously, calamity is going to ensue.
You would not, however, expect what type of calamity ensues. Given the monster featured in Mandrake’s poster, I figured that Cathy would be correct, and that Mary would be something of a scapegoat for a monster in the forest. Alas, no! Mary is, in fact, a witch. She also kidnapped and killed the missing kids. And then she kidnaps and tortures Cathy! Mary is not a misunderstood woman!
And the monster? Well, that’s just Mary’s son, who she gave birth to while in prison and was forced to put into the foster care system. Apparently, they reconnected at some point, and he now stalks the forest in a big ol’ monster suit to kidnap folks and bring them to Mary. Kind of a letdown if I’m honest. There are some supernatural elements to the film, like witchcraft being real, but that’s not really my cup of tea and that’s not what I was sold. I think I mainly feel so blasé about this film entirely because of that bait-and-switch.
All of what I wrote above takes place in the first half of the movie, by the way, so I don’t think any of it is especially spoilery. It’s everything that happens after Mary kidnaps Cathy that would be a shame to know beforehand, so I’ll stop there.
For the most part, I appreciate the story being told. It’s got some twists and turns, and obviously it managed to trick me because I figured Mary would be innocent, but it goes a bit deeper than that. We get some good insight into Cathy’s struggles and her past, and how her story has some parallels to Mary’s. It’s actually pretty decent writing, in my opinion, at least on a macro level. There were at least a couple of scenes where my suspension of disbelief was broken because what was happening on-screen made no goddamn sense. For example: a scene where Cathy is hiding a phone behind her back to try to summon help, and it’s ringing very audibly, but Mary doesn’t pick up on it util someone responds and starts talking on the other end. It’s just like, how did she not hear the ringing?
I also really liked the main actors. Both Dierdre Mullins and Derbhle Crotty (if that’s not the most Irish name ever, I don’t know what is) were excellent, and you know that’s a genuine statement because I took the time to look up their names. Most of the second-stringers were fine, too, but the whole movie is really about the interactions between Cathy and Mary, and everyone else is just there to facilitate moving that plot forward.
Mandrake is a great example of how expectations can colour how one feels about a product. I went in thinking that it would be a creature feature, but instead I got a drama about a witch. The more I sit and think about it, the less I feel cheated, but as I was watching it, I definitely did feel more than a little disappointed. Mandrake isn’t a bad movie by any stretch, but it’s not something I’ll ever feel inclined to watch again. Would I recommend it, though? Ehhh, it’s a hard sell. If witches and/or fantastical crime dramas are what you’re into, this is definitely made for you. Anyone else would likely be better off looking elsewhere. 6/10