Welcome to The Attic, don’t forget to cover your webcams.

These days, many people will warn that you are potentially being watched, at this very moment, in your own home. Every laptop, cell phone, tablet, and now even video game consoles, have a constant eye on you. While many laugh at the notion of these watchful items being hacked for everyday people such as ourselves, Ratter will make you want to cover every single camera near you, and disable every location service you can. It is a great little suspenseful film that I happened across while channel surfing recently. The second the movie started, and I saw it had that “found footage” style of filming, I knew it was going to be a thriller, if not a straight horror. The other thing that caught my eye was the actress, Ashley Benson, who plays Hanna in the very popular television show Pretty Little Liars. I’m a huge PLL fan, so I immediately knew I had to give this movie a shot. The IMDB synopsis, which confirmed my genre assumption, had me even more intrigued so I snuggled in with my Niagara Falls region wine, and boy did this suck me in.

If you haven’t heard about Ratter, it’s because it is a small indie project. Written and directed by Branden Kramer, it first premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2015. According to Amazon.com, the DVD was released in March of 2016. I’m really surprised I had not heard of it, though, as I always try to keep my ear to the ground on new and upcoming horror movies. You guys know me well enough to know that I can’t get enough scares! But alas, this slipped through my watchful eyes, and I was actually thrilled that this popped up out of nowhere in a hotel recently while on vacation in Niagara Falls.

Ratter is about a girl, Emma, being watched by a cyber-stalker, and the entire film is shot through her devices, without her knowing she is being watched. Her cell phone, her laptop, her video game console’s camera, all watching. She has just moved into this apartment, and is now away from home and on her own in New York where she goes to school. It takes a while for her to realize that she is being stalked, so it’s very unnerving to be watching a horror movie with the “found footage” style, when they aren’t aware they’re on camera. It is a very effective take on the sub genre, and was one of the most original approaches I’ve seen in awhile. This was unique enough that I didn’t have an assumption on whether she would die or not, because there was no lead-in about if the footage was gathered for an investigation or not. I had no idea where the movie was going and that was very refreshing.

Emma begins to learn that she is being stalked, and opens up to her friend about it. The new guy she is dating receives a threat to stay away from her, and they realize he has been hacked as well. Things begin to grow in intensity, and it goes from someone watching her, to someone closing in on her. Emma’s phone gets hacked for the location as she is walking down the street. The stalker zooms in with her console’s camera as she gives her address to someone on the phone. She is talking to her mother on Skype, and the footage of her saying I love you is put on this eerie loop that will send chills down your spine. It is so creepy to think of the potential someone has to hack into your life like that, and it will really make you stop and think about the devices we feel so secure with. Yes, no one really cares to see your face while you zone out playing Fallout 4 or the latest and greatest first person shooter, but people can. That is highly unnerving.

It is certainly not perfect, though, and the ending was pretty frustrating for me. I don’t want to spoil it all for you guys, so I won’t get into why I was a bit let down. But I will tell you that while the ending bothered me, it also caused the movie to really stick in my mind, and I’m dying to watch it again. It lingers with you for days after watching it, and ultimately, that means it was effective. Plus, once you watch the whole film, you’ll understand why it had the ending it did, even if you want something different. Overall, I say ignore any negative reviews or ratings you may see on IMDB or anywhere else, and just watch it. I don’t understand why this great little horror movie isn’t getting better reviews. You can rent Ratter on Amazon Instant Video, so why not give it a shot? It’s nearing Halloween, and if you’re like me, you’ll love this movie. Turn the lights off, settle in, and cover your webcam!

Stay scared,
Dark Princess