GHOST WEBCAM **** Canada 2023 Dir: Sebastian Dove. 61 mins
There was a time not so long ago where we could not travel any where due to the pandemic and for most people the only way to get some form of contact with the outside world was via video calls.
In the case of GHOST WEBCAM, video calls can be more deadly then you could ever imagine.
Nate (Emonjay Brown) is under house arrest for a crime that he swears he didn’t do, so as he is stuck inside with no where to go he goes onto his computer to get some human contact where he meets Mia on a online chat dating site.
Moving the online chat to a video call Nate and the young mysterious Mia (Cassandra Due) seem to hit it off right away. After a bit of back and forth they get to talk about ghosts and whether they believe in them. Nate is more sceptical then Mia but when she sends a link to him to view a room in a haunted house things take a quick turn for the worse. With what Nate saw on the video call he gets in touch with some other friends hoping to seek support but they themselves soon become tangled in the mystery with some detrimental results.
GHOST WEBCAM will no doubt be compared to other films of its ilk like the highly successful Host (2020), Unfriended (2014) and even Searching (2018). While the latter 2 of those 3 films would be over 60 minutes long, GHOST WEBCAM is very much like Host (2020) and sits around the 1 hour mark. Don’t judge the short length of the film over its quality though as it has characters that draw you in to the interesting story which some films that go over 90 minutes struggle to do. It smartly doesn’t linger too long on dramatic scenes and pushes forward keeping the intensity rising to the final reveal but also leaving you wanting more. Each of the characters are relatable and even through the mystery they are experiencing there is a bit of humour thrown in.
GHOST WEBCAM is a micro-budgeted film but considering the film is the characters talking to each other via screens there isn’t a lot of reason to spend thousands on the budget. Director Sebastian Dove’s previous work included directing TV commercials for home brands such as Home Depot and music videos for Leee John, so Dove is aware that time means money and put his skills to great use for his first feature film.
Films that contain any form of technology will look dated in years to come but whether you like video calls yourself they won’t be going anywhere any time soon so expect to see them used more in films such as GHOST WEBCAM.
Overall GHOST WEBCAM is a bite-sized digestible horror film that will appeal to those who want to watch something with a bit of mystery and a little different from the abundant of zombie and slasher films that are out there.
Review by Peter ‘Witchfinder‘ Hopkins
GHOST WEBCAM is currently available to watch for FREE on Tubi in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.
https://tubitv.com/movies/722524