Ratter (2015) Review – A Bare-Bones and Boring Voyeuristic Fumble

Welcome to Knockout Horror and to our review of voyeuristic horror movie Ratter from 2015.

Found footage with a bit of screenlife

Focusing on the story of young student Emma (Ashley Benson). Ratter sees our main character moving to the city of New York for university. Having experienced a somewhat traumatic relationship. She is looking to get away from it all and start again. It isn’t long, however, before she begins experiencing strange events. Her photos disappear, she receives strange text messages from a blocked number, and it appears she is being stalked. The question is, who is the culprit and how far will they go?

So where does the name Ratter come from? Well, supposedly, it is a person who hacks devices to stalk someone. I have never actually heard this term used in this way before. It makes for a pretty crap name for a horror movie. But alas, here we are. It stands for Remote Access Trojans. Basically an app or program that opens a backdoor to a person’s device. This allows a nefarious person to access cameras, messages, phone calls, and more.

“I suppose you could also class this movie as something of a screenlife horror. Not in the traditional sense, of course, but certainly in the method of filming.”

Ratter is presented in the much-maligned found footage style. Filmed through the eyes of Emma’s phone camera, Kinect and laptop. I suppose you could also class this movie as something of a screenlife horror. Not in the traditional sense, of course, but certainly in the method of filming. Wherever Emma is, there is a phone or a laptop providing the footage. Naturally, it bears mention that this style isn’t for everyone. Ratter is guilty of all of the usual sins of the medium and even a few more.

A weak premise

We, obviously, recognise that Emma is being spied on but the premise of this movie really doesn’t hold up. The need to present scenes from different angles undermines the entire structure. Shots that clearly couldn’t have come from any particular device litter the movie. This means the concept doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, especially when you consider how unaware Emma is. She’d see these cameras without question.

“Despite Emma exposing her entire life to myriad cameras, the window into her world proves to be a somewhat boring one. Singing along to music and shaving her legs is horribly mundane.”

How many devices does she have and how many are filming her? Emma is oblivious to any kind of security concerns and does nothing to protect herself at any level.

Despite Emma exposing her entire life to myriad cameras, the window into her world proves to be a somewhat boring one. Filled with days of staying indoors, dancing in front of the television or playing tennis on her Microsoft Kinect, singing along to music and shaving her legs.

It’s all horribly mundane. I understand, this is probably the average day for a lot of people but it does not make for decent horror content. Where’s the intrusion into privacy? Where’s the moments of intimacy? It’s really difficult to care.

Whereas movies like the fantastic Alone With Her constantly up the threat, spying on our protagonist in her most vulnerable moments, and consistently upping the tension. Ratter chooses, instead, to focus on Emma’s most boring moments. Almost never engaging in escalation and presenting minimal malicious interference in her life. Ratter never really goes anywhere and never feels particularly serious. 

PG voyeuristic horror

This is an almost PG presentation of voyeuristic horror overly keen to avoid depicting the truly heinous side of the crime. There is no real violence, no physical stalking, no grotesque moments of personal interference in Emma’s life, and very limited scares.

“Ratter has one of those endings that will really piss people off. It is utterly inconsequential. I can only describe it as a shoulder shrug from the writer.”

There isn’t even any nudity, something that is a staple in movies like this. This is despite the movie willingly engaging in gratuitous cleavage shots, purely for the sake of titillation (Ha!). Ratter completely misses what makes voyeuristic horror scary.

By the time the ending rolls around, it is very clear that the movie is out of ideas. This leads me on to another point, Ratter has one of those endings that will really piss people off. It is utterly inconsequential. I can only describe it as a shoulder shrug from the writer. Ratter barely has a story at all so I suppose this should be entirely expected but it is still disappointing. Ratter was based on an 8 minute short movie and it shows. There is no substance to this movie at all. It is threadbare with very little to offer.

Acting is fine

Acting is fine. Ashley Benson stars as our protagonist Emma. She has, obviously, gone on to do pretty well, including starring in a similar role in Pretty Little Liars. She does a good job here, particularly in the final scenes. Benson does fall into some of the familiar traps of screenlife horror.

She struggles to react authentically to certain situations. She also has a tendency to steal from the realism of the presentation, pulling her top down to hide her underwear etc. Something that someone is unlikely to bother doing in their own home. It’s not a huge thing, though.

Everyone else is fine in minor roles. The movie throws a few red herrings at you so there is a fairly wide cast. Matt McGorry has the biggest side role as Michael and does okay. Rebecca Naomi Jones, as Emma’s friend Nicole, is absolutely fine. She brings a little levity to the movie. Her character’s constant dismissal of Emma’s concerns can be annoying, though. Kaili Vernoff has a small voiceover role as Emma’s mum. Her performance towards the end of the movie is noteworthy. A good example of effective, emotional, voice work.

Cinematography is okay given the source. Obviously the static shots can get old fast. The shots from inside Emma’s bag or on her lap are annoying. Many of the shots make little sense, as well, especially given what they were supposedly recorded from. It’s what you would expect from this type of movie, though. I know you need to be inventive with the shots but these feel ridiculous.

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