A desperate content creator named Ralph doing a livestream wishes for more viewers when a mysterious donor grants his wish…but at what cost?

It was directed by David James Clark, Joe Martinez-Weinberger, Taylor Weiss and Dean Smith.

It was written by Grant Chauncey, David James Clark, Joe the Martinez-Weinberger, and Jude Price.

I love how it’s a Halloween themed movie. The holiday iconography of the season is abundant, adding to the eerie aesthetic, especially if one knows the context of the significance of Halloween on a spiritual level.

The opening segment and sequential segues are called Ralph Reacts. Becoming the target of a malevolent entity, the YouTuber is forced to watch a collection of cursed videos from missing content creators, setting the stage for the anthology film.

The Search for Kyleseesghosts is about a group who goes into a haunted house looking for trouble…and do they ever find it. The plot goes in unexpected directions, full of creative kills along the journey with impressive visual effects.

P-Day is about a channel for moms. The host slowly loses her sanity slipping into severe psychosis. The gore is so realistic it made me squeamish. Let’s just say she takes her nail biting a tad too far. Finger stuff always makes me squirm. The whole sequence is uncomfortable because of this and more.

Daring Dudes is about a group who does death defying stunts. When one stunt goes horribly awry, they slowly distrust each other to the point where the paranoia causes them to kill one another. The acting and gore effects are especially superb as we fall down the rabbit hole with them.

Rent in LA is about a guy looking for people living in cheap apartments in Los Angeles, California. As he insults the woman in her house, she tricks him into going into a closet so she can lock him in. He wakes up in a dark abandoned warehouse. He goes through a series of wormholes as he’s being chased by a monster. The special effects for the wormholes are ingenious. Hand drawn animation is applied with camera zooms, simulating someone walking in a first person POV. It looks amazing. This multiversal segment not only goes in unexpected directions but it makes a clever wrap around to Ralph’s doomed livestream. It’s the highlight of the film.

The cast includes Tyler Arceneaux, Anthony Laurita, Nilo Benicio, Lily Thaisz, Nikki Stevens, and Simon Weinstein. Arceneaux stands out, oozing charisma as Ralph, leading the film confidently with comedic timing, playing scared realistically, and playing dramatic parts effectively too. That type of versatility is needed to lead a film.

The other cast members play their roles extraordinarily well too. Each person realistically goes through these situations as if it was actually happening to them. The found footage aspect is utilized for an extremely grounded aesthetic making their performances all the more impressive.

It’s noteworthy the end credits cleverly resemble YouTube channel pages too.

Overall, each segment has a unique vision yet they feel like they belong together because of the relative themes. The gore effects makeup is the best I’ve seen in years. My biggest issue is the lack of context for the evil entity haunting Ralph. I appreciate when exposition isn’t spoon fed but I do need some information to fully comprehend what to be afraid of and why. The anthology subgenre sets itself apart from standard films due to the inherent nature of how they’re written and directed. It’s a collaborative effort of multiple writers and directors, therefore, the template has more to consider because of the vast amount of creative input involved. The film is reminiscent of Underneath: An Anthology of Terror (2022), Trick R Treat (2007), and Southbound (2015). I recommend this if you like those. And remember, don’t take the bait because clicks can happen.