Lately, there’s been a wave of found footage movies following vloggers, including Death of a Vlogger, Deadstream, Superhost, The Deep House, among others. The horror comedy Mean Spirited, directed by Jeff Ryan, is the latest. While the film has a decent concept and some solid acting, it’s a little too light on the scares and doesn’t offer anything all that new.

Andy (Will Madden) pranks people and shares the videos on his channel, Mean Spirited. He’s desperate for likes and clicks. He’s especially hungry for the type of success that his childhood friend Bryce (Ryan) has achieved as the popular character Thunder Man. Bryce is so famous that he makes appearances at MTV award shows. That’s the type of fame Andy wants. When his estranged friend invites him to his remote cottage in the Poconos, Andy accepts, thinking it’ll be the perfect time to make a documentary about his famous friend and why they had a falling out. He’s joined by the dufus Dew (Will Martin), camera man Tom (Daniel Rashid), Tom’s new girlfriend Nikki (Michelle Veintimilla), and Joey (Maria DeCotis). When they arrive, however, strange occurrences start, leading Andy to believe that Bryce has been possessed by a demonic force, which apparently happened when they were kids and a prank went horribly, horribly wrong, leading to a neighbor dragging Bryce inside his house, where the possession apparently happened.

Concept wise, this film has a few aspects that work well. The strained friendship between Andy and Byrce is generally fascinating, especially since Andy so very much wants what Byrce has, a large internet following and that taste of social media fame. The history of their relationship is shown in snippets here and there, largely through the found footage technique. There are some relatively funny sequences throughout the runtime and decent acting all around, too. Further, the Poconos as a setting, which is basically a tourist trap for NY and NJ residents, is used effectively here. As a resident of PA, I can say that some of the jokes about it really land. More importantly, the rural setting creates a sense of isolation and eeriness that serves the feature well.

The film’s main fault is that it doesn’t go heavy enough on the horror. While the comedic aspects click, the scares don’t as much.  This may have been an issue with the budget, but most found footage films weren’t shot with a lot of money, hence why there’s been a slew of them since the Blair Witch Project’s massive success in 1999. But demonic black eyes and a little blood here and there isn’t all that chilling. I just wanted a little more in the fright department.

Overall, Mean Spirited does have its entertaining moments. It doesn’t break any new ground in terms of found footage, but it does underscore the negative aspects of that desperation for social media fame. While its scares are a little too PG-13, the feature contains a few solid and thoughtful concepts. The film especially works best when it focuses on a strained friendship and jealousy worsened by the protagonist’s eagerness for more likes and more subscribers.

6 Out of 10