VLOG (2008)

Directed and written by Joshua Butler
Starring Brooke Marks, Trevor Trout, Skyler Caleb

I guess I really am getting old. The way modern society thinks every second of their lives is interesting and worth sharing is a notion completely foreign to me. VLOG addresses that very notion as its star Brooke Marks (who plays herself) documents every second of her live on her online video blog. At first, Marks comes off as a vapid airhead who has to tell us she’s smart over and over and that she’s so objectified because of her blonde hair and nice rack. Soon, though, you end up feeling sorry for this sad soul who basically has no real confidants at all except for the fans of her vlog.

I wasn’t expecting much from VLOG. As I said, the concept annoys the shit out of me (and yes, I understand the irony of this annoying someone who posts his thoughts on horror on a regular basis), but after a tease that something bad is going to happen in the first moments and a long build-up, VLOG turned out to be a pretty good thriller with astounding practical special effects. At times, this feels almost too real as a killer sends videos to Brooke with his face pixelated hacking humans into pieces and blowing them to bits. There’s an especially gruesome sequence where a bomb goes off that I honestly don’t know how they did it. All I can say is, things get gory very quickly and the amount of said gore surprised me quite a bit.

I don’t know if Marks does a good job of playing a vapid attention-seeker or if she is one, but the performance is convincing either way. The film is presented in a multi-media format with some of it taking place on video, others on security cams, while others are regularly filmed. VLOG will definitely surprise you. Like CATFISH, though less subtle, VLOG does illustrate the dangers of living one’s entire life online.