By

Deadstream

Goofball grossout

Shawn is a madcap YouTube “personality” whose trademarkdaredevil stunts apparently at one time caused injury to an unsuspecting victim. Now he is desperately trying to win back viewers and sponsors by vowing to spend the entire night in a purportedly haunted house where several people have died, and livestreaming (get it?) the event with the use of a bunch of remote cameras and other nerd stuff.

Firmly in the “WTF did I just watch?” category, at the very least this loud comedy/horror effort may finally put to rest the tiresome “found footage” trend started by The Blair Witch Project. Your appreciation of it will depend on a variety of factors. First, you’re going to have to like co-writer/director Joseph Winter’s face. A lot, because 80 percent of the footage is from a face cam about 50 cm from his tonsils.  Second, you should probably be very, very drunk.

The movie gets points for innovation, humor, and even a couple of jump scares that would make Sam Raimi envious. It’s well edited and has some above average creature effects. But it loses those points for repetition and simply being annoying. Winter gives his all, he’s energetic and certainly committed. But I’m not sure I’d watch another movie starring his screaming face. (87 min)