10 Hidden Horror Movie Gems From 2020s (So Far)

8. Deadstream

Deadstream Movie
Shudder

Another entry, another movie where the online world is at the fore.

In 2022's Deadstream, co-writer and co-director Joseph Winter stars as Shawn, an internet personality who loses subscribers and sponsors after a particularly controversial video. Desperate to reclaim those followers and promotional paydays, Shawn decides to embark on a trip to the ominously-named Death Manor. With a name like that, what could possibly go wrong, eh?

While spending the night livestreaming in a haunted house is itself a chilling prospect, making things worse for Shawn is that a big sponsorship deal will be pulled if he leaves the house or doesn't explore every nook and cranny of this property - and the pot gets even more stirred up with one of his fans, Chrissy, turns up at this spooky locale.

As Shawn, Winter does bring some humour and almost slapstick to the table, yet Deadstream manages to drum up proper naughty little scares, with its utilisation of found-footage an extremely smart move in how such an approach immerses the audience directly into what's being experienced by Shawn.

Found-footage movies so often have a habit of being a bit, well, naff, but Deadstream bucks this trend and delivers something genuinely terrifying.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.