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Film: Livescreamers
Year: 2023
Director: Michelle Iannantuono
Writer: Michelle Iannantuono
Starring: Michael Smallwood, Ryan LaPlante and Christopher Trindade
Review:
This was a movie that I didn’t realize was playing until the last movie I was going to watch. I remember back a few years ago watching the original Livescream at Nightmares Film festival. That year I also had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Iannantuono who is the writer/director of this one as well. It intrigued me to see this for its Ohio premiere and where a follow up would go.
Synopsis: a popular group of content creators face the ultimate lesson in teamwork when a haunted video game begins killing them one by one.
For this movie, we are following a group of gamers. Mitch (Ryan LaPlante) started this in his garage and now has expanded to having Nemo (Michael Smallwood), Jon (Christopher Trindade), Davey (Evan Michael Pearce), Gwen (Sarah Callahan Black) and her husband Taylor (Colby C. Oram), Zelda (Anna Lin) and finally their best player, Dice (Maddox Julien Slide). Today, they have a contest winner coming in to play alongside them, Lucy (Neoma Sanchez).
What I like here is that as this goes on, we learn more about each of the characters. Nemo is closed off due to an incident with a fan. He no longer allows direct messages because of it. Jon and Davey have a fake, joke relationship online where they flirt with each other. Dice who is a lesbian isn’t a fan. She is also abrasive and not easy to get along with. Gwen is asked to show skin for more viewers where her husband flirts with fans. Zelda has a bubbly personality that can annoy people. I should also point out that Davey doesn’t play but watches and interacts along.
Today they are going to play an independent horror game that was sent over before getting released to the public. This is the same game that the incident of the original movie happened. The events are referenced but it is considered an urban legend. Members of the group don’t necessarily play games like this either. It is all fun and games until something happens to Zelda in the game and in real life. Dark secrets are also revealed that drive a wedge in this group as they learn the truth. They need to work together to survive, but the more that gets revealed, the harder it is.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I enjoyed the original movie. I think this one surpasses it. There is something more terrifying that it isn’t the audience members that are dying since we get to see it. I like that this one is a closed session where Mitch will edit the footage and upload it. This group can’t quit the game and need to win to survive. There is something terrifying about this as someone who has played video games regularly in the past, especially survival horror.
What also makes this work is that we have a great group of characters that interact so well with each other. There is enough there where I care about what happens to them. On top of that, as things get revealed about each of them you must decide who you side with. Taylor flirts with girls who are underaged. He makes them feel uncomfortable and he’s also married. Mitch comes off as a misogynist in his treatment of Gwen. Jon and Davey make a mockery of Dice’s lifestyle, even though it isn’t intentional. It also isn’t directly, but their joke is her reality. Nemo had an interaction with a fan that made him uncomfortable. I liked that we get to learn this as we go as helps make these characters feel more real.
I should just go ahead and give credit to the actors as well. They feel like the person they are playing. What is interesting is that Smallwood’s character emerges as we go on. He might be the strongest actor of the group as well. I like LaPlante, Trindade, Pearce, Black, Oram, Lin, Sanchez and Slide. There isn’t a bad performance here. I wouldn’t say anyone is award winning. They don’t have to be either. They feel real and since this is a take on desktop horror/found footage, it works.
What is also impressive is that Iannantuono created this game. I’m not sure it is a full one, but she used Unreal Engine to create what we are seeing on the screen. This feels like a Twitch or another streaming service where we are watching a play along. I’ve personally never watched one but I have seen clips. The time and effort that went into this is quite impressive. The graphics are solid there. She knows what she’s doing and it looks like games I’ve played in the past.
I’ll stick with filmmaking and move over to the effects. They are limited. We are only seeing our characters on the small screen. The blood looks good though. There is a decapitation that didn’t look great, but it is a quick flash. I think there is a benefit to using that. It can hide things so credit there to the framing. The editing of the footage together is also seamless. I’m not sure if they’re just watching the game and interacting or what, but that works. It is seamless. I’ll also credit that watching this game got my anxiety going. Part of that would go to sound design, which helps build the atmosphere. The voices in the game help as well.
That should be able the extent of what I want to go into here. We don’t have the deepest story, but it also doesn’t need it. This feels like a group of characters playing this game and it becomes deadly. There is something terrifying about that. I like that we get to know these characters enough so you care about them. The actors feel like the person they’re taking on. The effects of the game are great. The practical effects of what happens to their characters benefit from a small part of the screen while still looking solid. I’ll say it again, I think this surpasses the original. It feels tighter and works better. I’d recommend this to fans of watching gamers streams or these desktop style found footage horror films.
My Rating: 8 out of 10