Die Influencers Die

August 30, 2020
CYBER5

The XCritic review team consists of creative people that like creative things like movies and music. So, when something like a horror movie comes along that stars Tabitha Stevens, Katie Morgan, and Lizzy Borden, well we take notice and a buzz starts going amongst us. Throw in a director like Gary Orona and a soundtrack from Metal Blade Records and you know we're going to definitely check it out.

Now, I did some research into this flick and found out that the vision of it was to go back to the 80's style of American slasher flicks. Yeah, blood everywhere along with the requisite T&A. Fuck yes.

Obviously, with a worldwide pandemic going on, a theatrical release was out of the question. So, the creators decided that offering an early viewing of the film via their website, DieInfluencersDie.com, and a worldwide streaming release to follow shortly was the way to go. I'm down with that.

So wtf is this movie about? Well, it's based on today's world where online influencers carry as much weight as the ads on your television screens, if not more. They can convince you to buy all kinds of things while racking up new viewers and subscribers to whatever platform they are on. For you, that's free entertainment and for them, it's more money and perks.

Now, a lot of the influencers out there are friendly and sociable with one another, often even suggesting you go check out their competition and "like" them too! Of course, like anything else in the world, there are some people that are just assholes and want to eliminate the competition at all costs. This movie features an asshole named Stue Harrington (Frankie Rivers) that convinces three other influencers (Katie Morgan, Devhorra Dark, and Jonathan Lee) that he can increase their followers dramatically if they just spend the night in his haunted movie studio. Well...if you've ever seen any horror movies, you know how this is going to work out.

Time to cue up Tom Devlin's special fx props and makeup and let the true mayhem ensue! Now, technically the mayhem opens the flick before the opening credits even roll but that's just a precursor for what's about to happen.

With the studio set up with cameras pretty much everywhere, the asshole and his lackeys watch as our influencers settle in for the night. Now, Stue makes his money online, so of course, he's broadcasting all of this live. His viewers rise rapidly until people start getting out of camera view and the numbers drop just as rapidly. Where did they go? What happened to that camera feed? Why aren't there cameras in the bathrooms? Well, viewership isn't the only thing that is dropping like flies.

What does Stue do when the viewers drop? So, who gets whacked first? Who will be the final girl? Why haven't I mentioned Tabitha Stevens (Moxie) yet? I'm not going to tell you any of that you silly goose! Just go watch the film, already!

It's visually awesome (except I kind of wanted some old VHS/Film grain added to it but that's just me) and the soundtrack is freakin' great. High-budget Hollywood horror it ain't but it isn't meant to be. (If you ask me slasher flicks lose their charm when bigger budgets are involved and creative control gets spread out far and wide) It's a good popcorn movie on a Friday night like all slasher flicks are supposed to be.

I would like to mention that everyone who is well-versed in slasher flicks or has watched the Scream series of movies knows there are certain rules to surviving a horror flick. None of those rules are broken here willingly by our participants, so you'll notice maybe the rules have changed in 2020.