Livescream

Of course I had never heard about this 2018 horror movie titled "Livescream" prior to stumbling upon it and sitting down to watch it. And I virtually didn't know what I was in for here, aside from it being a movie with some streaming-based storyline. And I have to say that it wasn't exactly a concept that had me worked up.

The movie was definitely not off to a good start. Why? Well, I have to say that making a movie about a guy livestreaming himself playing a game just doesn't qualify as entertainment to me. And I was on the verge of turning off the movie before it even got off to a running start. So writer and director Michelle Iannantuono didn't stand much of a chance with this movie.

I was not familiar with the cast ensemble, if one can actually call it that. It was simply just a single guy sitting at a computer and didn't do much of any acting. So yeah, laugh it up fuzzball.

I have to say that I find the streaming concept idiotic, and people sitting down to watch other people play games is even more idiotic. But hey, I suppose that kind of mindless entertainment is what the youth of today enjoy. Personally, I have to say that my life is just simply too short to sit down and watching other people play computer games and talking.

I made it a staggering 10 minutes into the dumpster fire that is "Livescream" and then I simply tossed the towel in the ring. This was a pathetic waste of time. It is nothing but a guy sitting and playing some horror game with lousy graphics and talking to himself and a make-believe audience.

My rating of writer and director Michelle Iannantuono's 2018 movie lands on a one out of ten stars. This is definitely one of the worst movies I've stumbled upon in a long, long time. Don't waste your time, money or effort on this heap of rubbish. And how this movie landed a 5.6 rating, while I was writing this review, simply is beyond my comprehension, but I suppose people that usually hang around watching livestreams took a break off of the livestreams to watch this dung heap.

I actually really enjoyed this movie. It has that indie/micro budget charm. Also love the fact they had to make the game to go along with it. The ending was brutal. I would recommend if you're looking for a fun watch. They managed to do a lot of characterization in a short amount of time, even for those that weren't on screen. Personally, the negative reviews feel like people that don't appreciate micro budget/b movie horror.

There's not any gore so if you're squeamish you don't need to worry. There's not a ton of jumpscares, the ones that are there are mostly in the context of the game Scott is playing.

You have been warned! I was warned and I didn't listen. A friend told me not to bother watching this but as a FF fanatic I told him I must watch it. I wish I had listened.

The male lead does nothing yell at the screen every 30 seconds and it's completely obnoxious. And it's hard to get emotionally invested in a movie when the male lead is that unlikeable and the supposed action takes place off screen.

So again I warn you...I warn you all! This is a terrible piece of excrement. I wish I had never laid eyes on it.

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.

I honestly did not know what to expect with this film. I watched this based on my brother's recommendation. As an independent filmmaker with a deep admiration of the horror genre, and a guilty pleasure for the found footage sub genre, I feel this works extremely well. My 7-year-old son watches a lot of live streamers, and he is specifically watching a lot of streaming based on a video game called "Doors". This is very well crafted and gives off a lot of vibes from found footage such as SPREE and Unfriended. LIVESCREAM has a very unique charm to it, and the character playing Scott is a believable protagonist. This is a short watch, at an hour and 10 minutes, and it utilizes every minute of screen time to keep you interested, without overwhelming you with the comments of the fans watching the protagonist play this game. It's familiar territory, but just feels very well crafted. A lot of people are not a fan of the found footage sub genre, and if you aren't a fan, I would not recommend this. This. However, if you are into the sub genre of the found footage horror, give this a watch and you might not be disappointed!

I will definitely be checking out the sequel, Livescreamers.