Can
you imagine the endless debates among the producers whether or not to include
the hashtag in the title? They must have been excruciating. Tom Brennan and
Chris Grabow have that sort of argument all the time at Gigaler.com. They are
sort of like YouTube for viral videos, but supposedly more curated. It hardly
sounds like a revolutionary business model and their tight cash flows bears out
our skepticism. However, they believe some creepy jump-scare videos might be
the opportunity they have waiting for in Dean Matthew Ronalds’ #Screamers (trailer here), which releases
today on VOD.
We
really get to know Brennan and Grabow thanks to the corporate film their
marketing guy Griffin is shooting. The in-house doc paints a rosy picture of a
start-up on the rise, but we later learn the company’s financial position is
much more precarious. The so-called “screamer” videos were just what they
needed. Basically, an otherworldly goth girl distracts the viewer, setting them
up for a jolt when the Screamer comes lunging at them from out of the corner.
Traffic is booming, but they need exclusivity, so they (or rather Abbi, their best
coder) tracks down the makers. The metadata leads them Rochester, NY, where the
makers might be engaging in an elaborate but distasteful hoax, involving a
local woman gone missing and Francis Tumblety, an American suspect in the Jack
the Ripper case.
Frankly,
it is sort of strange Tumblety’s Ripper connections have not inspired more
horror movies. Yet, Ronalds and co-screenwriter Malloy only skim the surface of
his eccentric weirdness. Instead, they vexingly devote almost the entire first
two acts to establishing the interpersonal dynamics of Gigaler. Brennan is the obnoxious
glad-hander, Grabow is nebbish and passive aggressive, while Abbi is the shy
computer nerd (in this wacky alternate universe). We so get all that. What we
want is more creepy stuff involving Tumblety and more backstory for the
mysteriously missing Tara Rogers.
Indeed,
it is frustrating how little time Ronalds and Malloy devote to legit horror
movie business, because they actually created some intriguing mythology. Still,
there is no question, as Brennan and Grabow, Malloy and Chris Bannow feel like
annoying hipster tech partners, who are just itching to sell out their customers,
like Facebook. All the Gigaler scenes feel totally believable and true to life,
but that also means they aren’t a lot of fun.
