{"id":604,"date":"2023-03-17T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/?p=604"},"modified":"2023-03-16T16:35:24","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T16:35:24","slug":"social-media-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/03\/17\/social-media-horror\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Horror"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WARNING<\/mark>: <\/strong>This Article May Contain Spoilers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                As if social media was not deemed scary enough in the past years, with terms like \u2018doom-scrolling\u2019 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 \u2013 let alone the faceless bullying that can take place, there\u2019s actually a whole sub-genre of horror dedicated to social media specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Host<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                If you have only an hour to spare, and you want to watch something \u2013 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\u2019t sure who much the fear could be conveyed but oh my, it actually had me jumping in places and asking myself \u2018what the f*** did I just see?!\u2019 It\u2019s 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\u2019t 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\u2019s final scene, the almost aggressive nature of most of the girls\u2019 deaths, even the simplicity of Jemma being hit in the head with a flying bottle \u2013 the director had everything working to a tee!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shook<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                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\u2019s almost as if once you break 1K followers \u2013 you\u2019re automatically an influencer. The film feels like a weak slasher film at first, almost like the start of the first Scream <\/em>film, but to think that they faked it all just because Mia has more followers than them slightly highlights the \u2018cut-throat\u2019 nature of some influencers. Or so it seems at first anyway but then nearly an hour into the film \u2013 it starts to get really dark! It doesn\u2019t suddenly make the film good, but to think all of it was Mia\u2019s sister because her social media life was clearly more important than family is pretty decent pay-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re All Going to the World\u2019s Fair<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                I feel like this is taking the whole online \u2018challenges\u2019 like the Ice Bucket or Cinnamon challenge to a completely new level! The thing is, this wasn\u2019t filmed the way I expected it to be. I was expecting it to be a little more like Host <\/em>where it is all done through Casey\u2019s laptop screen as she posts updates to her YouTube channel. OK, it doesn\u2019t make it any less gross though when in one of the videos she watched the boy starts to pull \u2018admit one\u2019 tickets out of his arm. I\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bedevilled<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                This film doesn\u2019t start out like a social media horror. Nicky\u2019s death in the opening feels more like a supernatural event as nothing social media related has even happened yet. Yes, there\u2019s a shot of a broken phone but that doesn’t mean much. Then the \u2018Mr Bedevil\u2019 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 \u2013 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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strangeland<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                So, long before Facebook and Instagram \u2013 before the term \u2018social media\u2019 was even coined \u2013 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\u2019s more of police based thriller instead of a horror film but that doesn\u2019t mean that Captain Howdy isn\u2019t 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 \u2013 honestly, prepare to be made uncomfortable. It\u2019s actually the first time I\u2019ve seen a film where Robert Englund is a victim instead of the antagonist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E-Demon<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                This film is very much like Host <\/em>as it is all filmed through a webchat, but instead of a spirit stalking and attacking the participants \u2013 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 <\/em>when Jemma pretends to have a connection with a fake spirit. There\u2019s 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 \u2013 I don\u2019t think it would be as terrifying done on a grander scale. Also, the clever part is there are times even the viewer isn\u2019t sure if what\u2019s happening is real, or if its one of their \u2018freak-outs\u2019. Warning – prepare for things to get a little bit weird\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers                 As if social media was not deemed scary enough in the past years, with terms like \u2018doom-scrolling\u2019 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 \u2013 let alone the faceless … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","latest_post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":605,"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions\/605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoloves.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}