WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
As if social media was not deemed scary enough in the past years, with terms like ‘doom-scrolling’ associated with it during the pandemic and the idea that some of the worst types of people can reach the children of this world through it – let alone the faceless bullying that can take place, there’s actually a whole sub-genre of horror dedicated to social media specifically.
Host
If you have only an hour to spare, and you want to watch something – I cannot recommend this film enough! The length of the film deliberate as it is a free Zoom call taking place. It starts off really sedate, and honestly I wasn’t sure who much the fear could be conveyed but oh my, it actually had me jumping in places and asking myself ‘what the f*** did I just see?!’ It’s a small cast, which those of you who have read previous articles know is one of my favourite things when it comes to horror but I wasn’t sure how portraying the paranormal through a Zoom call was going to work. Oh, does it work! The balance of humour and horror is in Teddy’s final scene, the almost aggressive nature of most of the girls’ deaths, even the simplicity of Jemma being hit in the head with a flying bottle – the director had everything working to a tee!
Shook
Instead of focusing on social media specifically, this focuses on the life of social media stars and influencers. Now, influencers have become a big thing in the social media world, it’s almost as if once you break 1K followers – you’re automatically an influencer. The film feels like a weak slasher film at first, almost like the start of the first Scream film, but to think that they faked it all just because Mia has more followers than them slightly highlights the ‘cut-throat’ nature of some influencers. Or so it seems at first anyway but then nearly an hour into the film – it starts to get really dark! It doesn’t suddenly make the film good, but to think all of it was Mia’s sister because her social media life was clearly more important than family is pretty decent pay-off.
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
I feel like this is taking the whole online ‘challenges’ like the Ice Bucket or Cinnamon challenge to a completely new level! The thing is, this wasn’t filmed the way I expected it to be. I was expecting it to be a little more like Host where it is all done through Casey’s laptop screen as she posts updates to her YouTube channel. OK, it doesn’t make it any less gross though when in one of the videos she watched the boy starts to pull ‘admit one’ tickets out of his arm. I’ll be honest, most of this film when it is focused on the main character of Casey just feels like a messed up teenager mucking about online.
Bedevilled
This film doesn’t start out like a social media horror. Nicky’s death in the opening feels more like a supernatural event as nothing social media related has even happened yet. Yes, there’s a shot of a broken phone but that doesn’t mean much. Then the ‘Mr Bedevil’ app comes into play. I know people will question whether an app counts as social media but if all social media sites have apps now, I think an app can count – especially one claiming to be your companion! Honestly, even though I expected the jump scares in this film they still made me jump! I get the feeling, well its actually openly said in the film, that this is all about technology and using phones, think they call that satire?
Strangeland
So, long before Facebook and Instagram – before the term ‘social media’ was even coined – there were chatrooms! This film is definitely an extreme public service announcement against meeting the people that you talk to online. Most of the film feels like it’s more of police based thriller instead of a horror film but that doesn’t mean that Captain Howdy isn’t a creepy character. What normal person gets enjoyment from giving a man a penis piercing! It actually becomes more of a revenge film than a horror – honestly, prepare to be made uncomfortable. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen a film where Robert Englund is a victim instead of the antagonist.
E-Demon
This film is very much like Host as it is all filmed through a webchat, but instead of a spirit stalking and attacking the participants – something possesses each and everyone of them! To make it worse, it all starts off with a prank. Actually, that is a little like Host when Jemma pretends to have a connection with a fake spirit. There’s something more intense about the way the film is shot, the way the curse is gradually passed between them and the crazy things that happen – I don’t think it would be as terrifying done on a grander scale. Also, the clever part is there are times even the viewer isn’t sure if what’s happening is real, or if its one of their ‘freak-outs’. Warning – prepare for things to get a little bit weird…
