Ghost Webcam (2023) Movie Review - No Budget Screenlife Horror
Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at the no-budget computer screen horror movie Ghost Webcam. We are going on a bit of a Screenlife, Computer Screen Horror frenzy this week. We will have a few movies from this Found Footage spin-off genre for you. Don’t ask why.. I guess I just fancied some low quality found footage thrills.
Computer Screen Horror
Anyway, back to Ghost Webcam. Man, that is a terrible name for a horror movie. I believe the working title for this was Clear Your History? That is a far better name. Still, given the context of the movie, Ghost Webcam is quite fitting. Ghost Webcam follows the story of Nate. Stuck at home after being placed under house arrest. Nate is looking for some fun so he signs up to a dating website with a rather shady reputation. On there he meets a young woman called Mia. Mia, seeming to be a believer in ghostly phenomena, invites Nate to a website that features a webcam focusing on a table and chair. Little does Nate realise that logging onto the website will have serious consequences.
Computer Screen Horror is a fairly interesting brand of Found Footage. Utilising webcams and messaging apps to facilitate story building and character interactions. Screenlife horror is, most definitely, not for everyone. Not only can the presentation lack atmosphere and tension, it can feel a bit cheap. This genre does afford directors opportunities to become creative, though. They have to find unique and interesting ways to keep the viewer engaged. Scares have to develop slowly as character interactions form the basis of the movie. Everything else feels very secondary.
An absolute classic that immediately springs to mind for me is The Collingswood Story. A similar “no budget” webcam and messaging app based horror movie from the early 2000s. The progenitor of the genre if you will. More recent examples including the pandemic based movie Host from 2020 and the slightly older Unfriended. Both are quite effective movies utilising screenlife presentation. They all stand as examples of how this genre can actually work quite well.
A Lot of Issues
Ghost Webcam, unfortunately, doesn’t work quite so well. I almost feel bad for shitting on this movie as I appreciate that making films must be incredibly difficult. Ghost Webcam was clearly made on virtually no budget. It, in itself, is an accomplishment. As mentioned above, however, there are movies that did the exact same thing, had the exact same budget issues, the exact same constraints and still managed to be effective. Ghost Webcam manages virtually none of those things.
The story is fairly engaging for a little while, as many of these types of movies are. It is easy to invest when your entire focus is on two people talking. Additional details about the characters are drip fed in. We learn more about them and watch them interact. It’s interesting stuff for a little while. Despite this, the problems start almost immediately.
Character interactions feel stilted and inorganic, there is a distinct sense of their conversations being heavily scripted. There is an even deeper sense of the actors not actually talking to each other. This was the case in The Collingswood Story, actors never actually interacted with each other. Despite that style of filming, it was never particularly noticeable. In Ghost Webcam, it really is. Pregnant pauses and delays between replies are constant. Reactions seem either muted or over the top. Chemistry is non-existent. It makes for something of an awkward watch.
A Silly Story and Lacking in Scares
The story here is rather silly. Aside from the confused messages conveyed by the film, events that take place make little to no sense. Webcam conversations with friends are one thing. When you start crossing plains of existence to strike up a chat, things start to lose credibility pretty quickly. Nothing is explained, much of the story’s key elements remain ambiguous. Characters are never developed, important plot points are left for the viewer to make assumptions. It’s as if the writer had the foundation for a story but lacked the building materials. When all is said and done. Everything is suddenly wrapped up with a lacklustre and silly explanation.
On top of those issues, this is a movie devoid of scares. The webcam placed in a haunted house concept is a fairly interesting one but the execution is completely lacking. The viewer is almost completely robbed of engagement with the webcam. We are entirely reliant on the reactions of the characters to know what is happening. There are no moments of rewarding background watching, no clever use of shadows to create tension. The webcam quickly becomes a vehicle for minor exposition, exposition which comes at the cost of scares. Robbing the movie of surprises.
Characters are introduced with little fan fare. Poorly thought out scenes place said characters in danger, only for the characters to die ridiculous deaths. Moments that should be tense and atmospheric are, instead, a bit farcical and silly. Ghost Webcam is incredibly difficult to invest in, provoking laughs far more than it should. I understand that this is low budget but low budget doesn’t have to mean low quality.
The Actors Really Try
Acting is hard to judge due to the stilted speech and terrible writing. The disconnected nature of the character’s interactions doesn’t do this cast any favours. Emonjay Brown, as Nate, does an okay job. He stumbles on his lines a few times and his reactions are, occasionally, unconvincing but he is tasked with carrying most of the plot and managing most of the interactions. It’s not as though he had much to work with, either.
Cassandra Due is decent as Mia. She has convincing reactions and is natural with her delivery. Her accent could use a little work, though. I am assuming she isn’t actually American. Non-American actors have a tendency to try and perform regional American accents. They would be much better picking a generic, middle of nowhere, US accent.
Ariel Davis, as Vick, is fine. He has decent delivery and, again, feels natural. Something that is important for these types of movies. Trinity Curtis, as Kate, is probably the most capable. She tries so hard with this role, I genuinely felt bad for her at times. The silliness of the story means she really has to stretch. She gives it her all, though, and likely has a bright future.
The script here is so utterly awful, the actors are left trying to make sugar from shit. Cinematography is poor, obviously, these are webcams placed over computer screens. Loud, obnoxious, music plays throughout. Practical effects are garbage. Floating images of a couple of characters hovering randomly in one scene stands out as particularly poor. Scenes featuring fake blood reminded me of the stuff you’d get around Halloween. You know the stuff? Slightly translucent and has a strong, not-unpleasant, smell. It’s all just very low rent. Less is more would have been key here.
Should You Watch Ghost Webcam?
Unless you love screenlife horror you probably shouldn’t bother watching Ghost Webcam. It is one of those movies that feels a bit pointless. I am a huge found footage horror fan and a big fan of computer screen horror. This is a genre that can be done well on virtually no budget. Ghost Webcam just lacks in every department. Its story is confused and farcical, it completely lacks in scares and its entire concept is flawed and a bit silly. The practical effects are awful and the script is really bad. The actors try really hard with what little they have. The truth is, there is no saving this movie. It’s just not very good.
Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight
Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.
A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.
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