My quick rating - 4.9/10. A podcaster’s investigation of his sister’s death leads him to a grisly website, where the highest bidder decides how a chosen victim will be killed. I love how the deep web gets the bad wrap for all these grisly shows that could never exist on it. I wasn't aware of this but director Dan Zachary passed away before his movie was released. Not to say that changes the movie's rating itself but it is quite sad to read about his untimely passing. It is too bad since there are some good things going on in this movie and that is directly attributed to Zachary behind the lens. Scenes that normally take the cheap way out for budget reasons are well-lit and allow for proper viewing. The camera work in general looks great and the creative use of the CCTV cameras for the scenes of the captives was well done without overdoing it. The story itself has been explored before and there was nothing new to this one. The film starts off quickly and draws you into the murder show but unfortunately hits a lull in the middle. It does pick up the pace though after it plods around in the investigative portion of the flick. The main villains seem to be a trio of non-descript killers and I have a feeling these were representative of a deeper meaning in their anonymity. I enjoyed the presentation of the actual Murdershow in its eclectic style and wish they would've given that a bit more time. That part all got rushed into the finale which was effective along with a proper ending. I won't say what, of course, I'll just say it worked and set up a potential sequel although circumstances may halt that possibility. The only negative I really have to point out is the acting was pretty damn bad. I am sure they were trying to come up with some millennial podcaster everyone could relate to but Aiden Howard was just bland from start to finish and he was actually the best of the acting bunch. Getting passed that, it is a mediocre flick that I found better than the recent Tubi exclusives. Even on a modest budget, it looked like it was a major release as far as the aesthetics go so that is kudos to Zachary and his crew. Well edited, good use of sound and it was sitting in the mid 4 rand for me until the very end which bumped it up a solid half point. Check it out in the crowded streaming world and RIP Mr. Zachary.
TubiTV is the only spot streaming this one right now.
