My first exposure to the work of Joseph and Vanessa Winter came watching V/H/S/99. They are the directors responsible for “To Hell and Back”, the high point in an otherwise lackluster anthology.

Like “Parallel Monsters” in V/H/S/Viral, poor “To Hell and Back” got stuck to a bad installment of the franchise (though I didn’t really mind “Suicide Bid” either) which is unfair because it deserves better treatment. This is a fun entry, ambitious in scope and full of dark humour and spectacle- much like the Winters’ Evil Dead inspired follow-up feature Deadstream.

Generally speaking, I’m not the biggest fan of horror-comedies. I find that most have a hard time striking the right balance. But the Winters took inspiration from Sam Raimi’s mega-cult hit (forgive the oxymoron) Evil Dead 2 and it shows. Groovy. Deadstream is the kind of action, horror, comedy mash-up where ghouls have enough of a physical form to allow our Ash-substitute to fight back.

The plot of Deadstream is one of the most cliché in recent decades. A social media content creator thinks it would be a good idea to spend a night in a haunted location to gain a larger viewership. Usually this involves a team of farcical social media ghost hunters getting picked off one by one as the group watches the horrors they previously staged morph into the real thing. But Deadstream will have none of that! Instead we see a lone content creator choose to live-stream his event because he seems to genuinely believe in ghosts and knows he is the kind of personality that will annoy the hell out of them. Sure he has that common goal of viewership and revenue, but the other changes to the formula are refreshing, if not a bit of a revelation.

Our protagonist, Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter), has an online channel, Wraith of Shawn, that- up until now- has had no previous interest in the supernatural. It is all about doing stupid things to “overcome his fears”. In the past, this has included him doing Jackass-inspired stunts like throwing rocks at police officers or illegally crossing into the Mexican border. But after one stunt goes wrong, Shawn found himself temporarily banned from social media and in trouble with his sponsors.  

All this brings Shawn to the infamous Death Manor. For his comeback stunt, Shawn has agreed to livestream his stay in one of the most haunted locations in America. And to keep his last sponsor happy, Shawn has agreed to stay the full night in the house and investigate all unusual activity he sees or hears. Lucky for us, the stakes are high enough for Shawn that he will do all he can to live up to these terms.    

Winter brings a certain odd charm to Shawn’s character that you wouldn’t expect in a story about a live-streamed event by an obnoxious social media troll. Sure Shawn plays up his scared-of-everything shtick, but there is something oddly admirable in the way he commits to his online personality and his channel. It’s not that Shawn’s flaws aren’t numerous- he’s brash, self-aggrandizing, and impetuous- but Winter knows there is something endearing seeing a person with an absolute commitment to his craft, even if his craft is to capitalize on egregious behaviour. So even though Shawn remains a rather unlikeable protagonist, he wins us over anyways. It is an incredible performance that comes from a man who is also the film’s co-writer and co-director. 

Horror-comedies are typically not that scary, but Deadstream has genuine moments designed to make you jump. Like Evil Dead 2, at times the film can be scary, but always in a way that is designed to be fun and entertaining. The Winters are- thankfully- not above jump scares and Deadstream contains a few doozies. And hearing Shawn tell us about the manor’s murderous history in the first act enriches the experience once the Raimi-inspired creature designs of the Corner Man and nursery children get revealed.  

But one of the Winters best innovations is the way they make the audience part of the experience. After all, we are essentially seeing the same things Shawn’s fictional viewers are seeing. Part of this livestream includes people writing real-time reactions to what Shawn is facing. At times, when Shawn feels stuck on what to do next, his go-to move is to check the viewer responses as though they were a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. The moment he finds a reasonable comment he thinks will make the audience happy, he goes and does it. This adds a certain impulsive element to many of Shawn’s decisions that often land him in more hot water down the road- but in his defense, when things progress as fast they do in Death Manor, it’s hard to believe any decision was going to end up being that well thought out.  

The comments themselves are tell stories of their own. Some people accuse Shawn of somehow staging the whole thing. Others show genuine concern, telling him to get out or trying to warn him when paranormal activity appears in one of his planted cameras. Still, others say he is getting what he deserves. Some people even send him videos to help him solve the mystery surrounding the meaning of various items and symbols he has found within the house. In Deadstream, the inclusion of these commenters are a large part of the Winters storytelling. They are often the motivators for Shawn’s decisions. Just don’t expect to read them all. Often these comments flash by fast or come at the same time as onscreen action, meaning it would take multiple viewings- and perhaps some pausing- to read them all. 

Deadstream works as an action-horror-comedy, an innovative found-footage horror and even an unusual take on the web-horror genre. It wears a lot of hats, and puts them all into a well-paced 90-minute package that never forgets to be fun. And mixed into this insanity is some light-hearted commentary on celebrity apologies, toxic fandom and dubious Internet content creators.

The Winters have made me really happy twice in less than a year. If you haven’t, don’t forget to check out “To Hell and Back” after watching Deadstream. 

Look at me. I’m talking them up like I’m a fanboy. But damn. this recent body of work by the Winters has got me that excited.