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Welcome to Bites, the limited run series where we look at horror movies that help with the spooky season vibe. And today, let's talk about a new movie that premiered on Shudder, Deadstream. For those who may or may not know, I have kind of an off-again, on again relationship with Shudder, the horror movie streaming service. And that really comes into play with their Shudder originals. They have some absolutely phenomenal ones, such as We Go On, Terrified, and the Creme de la Creme, the Creep Show TV series.
By the way, we've watched all of these from Wednesday movie night on our Discord server. See the Linktree link to join. But as of late, Shudder has either replaced their standards or has fired their quality control team. For they have released some of the worst movies I have ever had the displeasure of seeing. Slax, and that's SLAXX, the movie about pants that start a killing rampage? Abysmal. The Seed, a show about a turtle dog that dominates the minds of three women. Man, can you get worse than Abysmal?
The host, a virtual seance that starts off promising, but then degrades into shenanigans so bad that it still leaves an acrid taste in my mouth? Check. I did an entire episode on Should Shudder be Shuddered just because I held a mini marathon of their originals, and they were all so universally bad that I almost lost what little sanity I had left. Yet I must admit that I want to like Shudder. So I keep going back to the well.
Because every once in a while they release a great movie, like anything for Jackson a film that answers the question what would happen when creepy grandparents get pushed too far and just want their loved ones back. I'm also a complete sucker for horror comedy, as I love how effective adding a little bit of humor into the scary can be, as demonstrated by the wonderful original Twilight Zone. And that has only grown stronger with such epic films as Shauna the Dead and Tucker and Dell vs. Evil. Man, Hollywood, if any movie deserves a follow-up, it's Tucker and Dell.
Anyway, Shudder announced Deadstream a little bit ago, which is their foray into horror comedy, and I was actually excited for it. Imagine a streamer who made a career out of undertaking his own fears, pushes the envelope too far, and gets shunned by his fans and advertisers, and then decides to stage his comeback by staying in a haunted house for the night. I'm happy to report that the movie was better than I expected. It's not scary in the least bit, not that I expected it to be, but its pacing is on point and the effects are decent.
It of course has several giant plot holes which the movie attempts to wave away by blaming it all on the inept main character, but some are so glaring that it's hard not to get pulled out of the zone. The effects are largely practical, a good thing in this day and age, something that VHS 94 demonstrates very, very effectively. And overall, the movie is a decent way to spend an hour and a half. Overall, it's about a D plus C minus effort. I walked away from the movie more than a little conflicted, honestly, and it took me a long while to be able to put my finger on why.
I initially thought that it involved the main character. Well, not the actor, I would say. He did a fine job. It was rather what the main character represented. The movie invites comparisons to any number of idiotic internet famous people who are in turn famous for the most idiotic of crap. Deathstream tries to make the character both despicable and relatable. And the moment the audience starts substituting or comparing him to any other awful streamer, then that balance is immediately shattered. But that wasn't quite it. But then it hit me. It's the shallowness.
Anytime a movie features something so shallow as chasing fame or money and focuses solely upon that, especially in these days of people doing anything at all for their one fleeting moment in the limelight that any number of social media platforms can provide. Guess what you're going to get in the end? That's right. A movie about shallowness. In the end, I walked away more than a little repulsed by Deathstream. And it wasn't from the effects or the paranormal entities. Yeah, sure, I laughed out loud once or twice, but more than that, I was left disturbed by how superficial the movie was.
And by comparison, how superficial humanity can be. In the end, all it does is make the same arguments that most bad zombie movies love to hammer home time and time again that humanity is the true monster. At this point, that's essentially a truism that I don't need to see explored anymore. It's not original. And the point is made over and over again, not just by Hollywood, but by the reporting in the news every single night. So if you'd like to walk away slightly depressed, then I'd recommend Deadstream. Otherwise, go watch the creep show TV series.
You'll definitely have a much better time with it. And that's all for this episode of Bites. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you'd like to listen to more, we release a new mini run episode every Friday during the month of October. Stay safe out there.