Salem Horror Fest: Review — "Livescreamers"
Being a “content creator” is a scary business. At least, it can be—depending upon the subject and the insatiability of the fanbase associated with it. I oughta know, because although I never really thought of myself as one, I kinda was a content creator back when I co-hosted a weekly podcast about the Oscars; we also produced two bonus episodes a month for Patreon subscribers. And lemme tell you, in case you’re unaware, Oscar obsessives can be quite ravenous and, um, staunch in their opinions. The comments, the DMs, the reviews… not all of them were pretty! Or cordial! Don’t get me wrong, I met great folks doing that show; several followers and guests became dear friends. But there are plenty of others who’d hex me simply for saying that Jane Fonda should’ve won Best Actress for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? over Maggie Smith for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. (That may mean zilch to you, but, believe me, someone else will read that and start seething.) Ergo, I admire Livescreamers for bolding unveiling the horrors of being “platformed” in the Dangerously Online Era we live in.
Admittedly, the mild animosity I’d receive from Oscar nerds who view “category fraud” as an actual crime is small potatoes compared to the straight-up hatred and literal death threats that other people endure, particularly those in the gaming space. I’m not a gamer (so please forgive me if I misuse terms), but I’m definitely familiar with the vitriol that exists there. Such is the world inhabited by these characters.
Before I get into it, let me just boast really quick that Livescreamers is not my first Michelle Iannantuono rodeo. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing Seven Deadly Synths, a short horror film of hers that I still want the feature-length version of, damn it! So, when I was perusing the Salem Horror Fest program and saw Michelle Iannantuono’s name, I knew I had to check out Livescreamers, and I’m so glad I did, because this is yet another ambitious venture from Iannantuono & Co. in terms of scope, spectacle, and theme.
Livescreamers centers on a team of video game streamers known as Janus Gaming (and their guest of honor) as they play a deadly new horror game called “House of Souls” on camera together in their production studio. The story unfolds in front of a handful of stationary webcams, each one pointed at its respective gamer, as it would be for a normal stream. We also see the world of the game, from the first-person POV of each gamer’s avatar. The mixed media set-up 100% works. Iannantuono excels at spatial balance and letting the landscape speak for itself. Each gamer has a fully decorated and lit background that suits their personality—and sometimes foreshadows their demise. Even more impressive is the terrain within “House of Souls”. I was not expecting the virtual side of the story to look so freaking clean. The graphics and the overall design are just downright wicked.
As you can probably imagine, this is indeed one of those die-in-the-game-and-die-for-real situations where once someone dies in the game, a supernatural force kills the player IRL in a manner similar to how they got killed in the virtual realm. Thus, the only way to survive to the end is to beat the game—a tried and true set-up that Iannantuono commandeers to make some salient points.
I’m not in the gaming sphere, but I know how abusive it can be. Like in most spaces, Black, female, and queer personalities receive the brunt of the harassment. And for those at the intersections, the mistreatment gets compounded to an exponential degree. I feel for folks like Dice, played by Maddox Julien Slide, who delivers my favorite performance. Despite being just as smart, talented, and charismatic as the rest of the Janus team, perhaps even more so, Dice can’t log on without seeing degrading comments aimed at misgendering them. Meanwhile, two hetero white dudes like Jon and Davey get rewarded if they flirt with each other to please the “shippers” who want them to kiss and bone. So basically, queer people aren’t allowed to be authentically queer, but straights can be fake queer to garner renown. (Hm, interesting, sounds like the Oscars, actually.) To hide their hurt, Maddox Julien Slide imbues Dice with a sage mixture of perseverance and tenderness, often using one to mask the other. I’m sure many queers will relate.
With Livescreamers, Michelle Iannantuono has entered the cohort of young directors whose name alone prompts me to request a screener. Iannantuono displays a serious prowess for production and does not let financial shortcomings hinder her. The SFX for the IRL deaths have a nice DIY charm to them—and if you know me, you know that’s not shade; such stuff adds to a film’s tenacity, for me. And I cannot stress enough how good the virtual side of the story looks, all things considered. Makes me wonder if there truly were financial shortcomings. Like, how did they do that? What was the budget, really? When I watch a movie like Livescreamers, I feel like the future of horror looks bright. Or dark, depending upon how you look at it.
