September is here and this means we have officially entered the spooky season, and if you’re ready to embrace some horror, then slam your eyeballs on YouTube. Here you’ll find the new found footage film, Milk & Serial.
Written and directed by and starring Curry Barker, along with a cast that includes Cooper Tomlinson, Adlih Alvarado and Jonnathon Cripple, Milk & Serial is a low-budget horror-thriller. The film focuses on two YouTubers and a prank.
In the movie, Milk and Seven are best friends who perform pranks for their YouTube channel. With Milk’s birthday coming up, Seven wants to throw a party for his friend, while also pranking him for their latest video.
The prank involves a gun, a blank, and supposedly wounded guest. After inviting people over to Milk’s apartment, Seven sets the prank in motion and fools Milk into thinking someone has been shot.
The gun prank is well-received by Milk and the party gets off to a good start. However, shortly after the gun is fired there is a knock at the door from an angry and seemingly disturbed neighbour complaining about the noise.
Milk believes the neighbour is part of the prank, despite Seven denying his involvement. From here, things begin to develop in an alarming and disturbing way.
So, here’s the thing: Milk & Serial was produced on a budget of just $800. Due to its humble production values it is fair to say it is rough around the edges and it offers little in the way of spectacle.
Put simply: Don’t dive into this movie expecting it to change your life or be your next horror obsession. It simply won’t be.
However, Milk & Serial is decent stuff and certainly worth a watch for fans of the found footage sub-genre. The film is fairly captivating stuff, it is well executed, and at around an hour in length, Milk & Serial doesn’t wear out its welcome.
Perhaps most important of all, Milk & Serial is free to view on YouTube. Yep, completely free. So, if you’ve just cancelled your Netflix subscription because you’re fed up of the endless cycle of dross, then here’s something which won’t cost you a penny.
Oh, and I should also say that Milk & Serial is better than a number of the found footage films you would pay to watch on Shudder, Amazon Prime Video, or Netflix. Sure, it’s not up there with The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, or Host, but it is ahead of some of the found footage films which are routinely dumped onto streaming these days.
Now, I don’t want to delve too deeply into specific plot details, as it will give too much away, but I will say Milk plays a very significant part in the story. Not surprising really, considering his name is in the title, but yep, he is a big focus.
Milk is played by writer/director Curry Barker and the filmmaker delivers a convincing performance. Barker brings out certain attributes and nuances in the character (again, no spoilers here) which show a different side to Milk as the story progresses.
The film is essentially his journey, with the audience taken along for the ride. This journey goes to some dark places, and for the most part the interest level remains fairly high.
Does every aspect of the film work? No, and it could do with more suspense and thrills, but hey, it’s an $800 film, this ain’t going to be Hitchcock!
With Milk and Serial, Curry Barker demonstrates an ability to tell an intriguing and enticing story. If he can pull this off on a shoe string, then think about what he could do with a proper budget.
Either way, one to keep an eye on. And if you like found footage films, Milk and Serial is worth popping on your watch list.
—
—
Thank you for taking the time to read this review on It’s A Stampede!. For more reviews, check out the recommended reads below.
It's A Stampede! 
Leave a comment