When I first watched Chris LaMartina’s WNUF Halloween Special last year, I instantly knew that I had found a new addition to my annual October watch list. His follow-up What Happens Next Will Scare You, which premieres virtually at Salem Horror Fest later this month, is a delightful anthology film that shares the same spirit as his previous work.
The movie follows a group of four writers for a fictional Buzzfeed-like site, Click Clique, who cover traditional news, fashion, music and strange happenings. They’re tasked by management to find the 13 scariest viral videos they can for an article to be published by Halloween. In addition to the writers, we’re also introduced to a supporting cast that includes a prank-pulling office assistant, lazy security guard and creepy janitor. With rumors about layoffs swirling in the air, the group gathers in the conference room and presents their videos to the boss one-by-one. The first round of videos includes a poltergeist, a Bigfoot sighting, the tribulations of a high school vlogger, and a haunted record whose music sets the stage for everything we’ll see throughout the rest of the film.
For fans of LaMartina’s work in WNUF Halloween Special there’s a lot to love in What Happens Next Will Scare You, and it’s hard not to compare the two works. The movie truly shines when it uses the same lo-fi, VHS style found in the former and it even features some of the same talent either reprising their roles or putting on similar hammy and endearing performances. That said, all of the other work in the film is different enough to stand on its own, with lighting and visual effects that remind me of Shudder’s reboot of Creepshow.
While most of the film worked for me, the vlogger storyline fell flat and became predictable fairly quickly. The mean girl, “like, subscribe and share” parody was done well but felt out of place with the rest of the movie even though it tied in thematically. The same could be said of the closing scene, which sort of comes out of left field and feels tacked on. Both of these are minor issues however, as the movie is still narratively cohesive.
Where I’m torn on What Happens Next Will Scare You isn’t what was presented in the film, but what wasn’t. Coming in at only 71 minutes, such a lean runtime, means that character development had to be established in quick throwaway lines rather than more detailed dialogue. I found myself wishing that there was just a minute or two more of each short, and in this case, it makes the movie feel more like an internet web series than a feature.
That said, there’s a little something for every kind of horror fan in What Happens Next Will Scare You. It’s a solid expansion on Chris LaMartina’s previous work; and while it doesn’t nail the anthology style on the head, what it does is fun and fresh. I know I for one will be adding this to my Halloween rotation.
