Movies
‘Deadstream’ SXSW Review – Wild Splatstick Horror-Comedy Is a Crowd Pleaser
A livestreaming internet personality running afoul of vengeful spirits in real-time reads like a recognizable setup, especially in the found footage category. Deadstream isn’t interested in retreading familiar ground, though. Writers/Directors Vanessa Winter and Joseph Winter eschew expectations and instead deliver a delightfully raucous splatstick horror-comedy that’ll leave the midnight crowd cheering for more.
In addition to co-writing, co-directing, co-editing, producing, and handling the music for Deadstream, Joseph Winter also stars as Shawn. Shawn is a disgraced influencer and online personality trying to recover his follower count and sponsorship after a stunt gone wrong. He attempts to win them back by livestreaming himself spending the night inside an abandoned house with an extensive haunted history. Shawn locks himself inside and tosses the key with prompts from followers to ensure he doesn’t flee. It quickly becomes a fight for survival when he angers a powerful spirit with a follower count of their own.
With Shawn as the sole character alone in a dilapidated house for a large chunk of the runtime, much of Deadstream’s success hinges on Winter’s performance. That’s no small feat considering that Shawn is a deeply flawed, selfish influencer whose past and personality traits could quickly render him an unlikeable lead. Winter never shies away from Shawn’s flaws but uses humor and authentic reactions to endear the messy character to audiences. There’s almost a naïve charm to Shawn that makes you nearly forget about his less savory side. Almost. After all, this is a character desperate to regain monetization for his channel.
Shawn isn’t completely alone, though. In addition to commentary from his viewers, many of who use their knowledge or Google skills to offer up exposition when needed, Shawn receives a reprieve from ghostly terror from crazed fan Chrissy (Melanie Stone). Together the pair humorously demonstrate the pitfalls of online and influencer culture.
Where Deadstream most surprises and impresses, though, is in its approach and escalation of the horror. The paranormal activity begins small, enough to instill rooting interest for its human characters, then ramps up with increasing splatstick energy. It spirals into a gonzo horror-comedy full of bodily fluids, gore, and ghostly creatures that would make Sam Raimi proud. Every bit of the humor lands, too, making for a triumphant crowd-pleaser that hooks you from start to finish.
Deadstream is a DIY labor of love, and the filmmakers somehow make wearing so many hats seem effortless. Through its characters, human and otherwise, the small-scaled story feels larger than life. The story beats may not always surprise, but the clever progression, balance of physical horror and comedy, and the go for broke gags ensure that doesn’t matter. While the destination makes for an apropos punchline, Deadstream is more about the energetic, zany journey. That journey will leave you cringing, cheering, and deep belly laughing in equal measure. It’s even better if you can see it with an eager midnight crowd.
Deadstream made its World Premiere at SXSW.
The Evil Dead universe expands this weekend with the arrival of Evil Dead Burn in theaters, unleashing a demonic siege upon a grieving family. Director Sébastien Vaniček doles out a gauntlet of pain from beginning to end, and that includes the credits.
While Evil Dead Rise skipped out on credit scenes, Evil Dead Burn follows 2013’s Evil Dead with the inclusion of a mid-credit scene and a post-credit scene, extending the Deadite mayhem to the very end.
Vaniček uses the mid-credit scene for levity, injecting one last punchline of gallows humor regarding the Price family. It also raises questions on where that carnage leads. But it’s the post-credit scene that holds larger franchise implications, sure to get fans talking.
It also doesn’t make much sense.
Warning: Major spoilers ahead!
Evil Dead Burn directly ties to Evil Dead Rise, with a possessed Jessica (portrayed in the new movie by Greta Van Den Brink) brutally dispatches a pair of fishermen before leaving the lake in search of those in possession of the Kandarian dagger: the Price family. Deadite Jessica kicks off a new wave of terror when she targets eldest son Will (George Pullar), using him as a Trojan horse into his family.
The Evil Dead Rise connections come full circle in Burn’s post-credit scene, bringing back a fan-favorite Deadite.
In this scene, the daughter of the cremator hired to handle Will’s remains gets curious about a shelf of unclaimed ashes. Among them are the ashes of Ellie Bixler. The girl, left alone while her mom is tending to a client, hears a voice she mistakes for her mother. It’s not.
The voice guides her to a mirror, where she sees not her reflection but that of Deadite Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland). Ellie wastes no time dispatching the child, claiming with a grin, “Mommy’s back.“
Sutherland’s Deadite performance remains a standout in this franchise, but Ellie’s appearance here doesn’t make much sense beyond fan service. Evil Dead Rise final girl Beth (Lily Sullivan) reduces Ellie, who’d assimilated into the Marauder, to a bloody pulp via tree shredder in the film’s climax. There’s not a lot of flesh or sinew left to cremate, to start. To really get into semantics, the Marauder was an amalgam of multiple Deadites in one, so separating her remains from, say, Danny’s (Morgan Davies) or the neighbors seems like an impossible task.
The Marauder in Evil Dead Rise
It’s also jarring in that Deadites tend to prefer to make their torment personal. Ellie has zero connection to this random child. To further nitpick, there are likely much closer crematoriums to Ellie’s home, even if the lake and Price household are in the general region.
Most of all, Vaniček plays so fast and loose with the Deadite possession rules that this scene breaks from the established norms in a confusing way. There’s no dagger here or incantation to summon a demon, so it’s not clear how just being in the presence of her ashes summons her here.
Does any of this really matter? Not at all. The haplessness of this scene’s inclusion doesn’t seem to suggest anything other than a fun momentary reprise of a fan favorite character. It does, however, seem to leave the door wide open for Ellie’s full return.
It’ll be a while before we find out if that is indeed the intention behind this scene; the next is Evil Dead Wrath from director Francis Galluppi (The Last Stop in Yuma County) set for theatrical release on April 7, 2028. It’ll predate all Evil Dead films with its 1972 setting.
Evil Dead Rise
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