If the commercial and critical success of horror films from Jordan Peele, Zach Cregger, and David Gordon Green in recent years illustrates anything, it’s that folks in the comedy biz can often serve up major doses of effective white-knuckle chills. With the buzz following the recently released trailer for “Saturday Night Live” alum Kyle Mooney’s upcoming Y2K, the Hollywood comedy-to-horror pipeline is clearly functioning in full force–and we’d happily welcome more from impassioned cross-genre creators like these.
Enter Milk & Serial, a found footage horror feature that premiered on YouTube this month courtesy of That’s a Bad Idea, an up-and-coming comedy duo made up of film-school-pals-turned-collaborators Curry Barker and Cooper Tomlinson.
Written/directed by Barker and produced by Tomlinson, Milk & Serial follows a well-known social media comedy team (played by Barker and Tomlinson) whose lives are thrown into a tailspin following a birthday prank intended for their channel. Milk & Serial also features Adlih Alvarado, Jonnathon Cripple, Gloria Karel, Sterling L. Pope, Paul Santoli, John Simmonds, Tristan Welsh, and Andy Dubitsky.
Reminiscent of a few subversive found footage films from years past (see: The Dirties, Spree, and Toad Road, to name a few), Milk & Serial is an exceptional vehicle for Barker and Tomlinson’s singular talents both in front of and behind the camera. The duo’s passion for horror and gift of twisted DIY storytelling are evident from the film’s opening scene. Despite it’s relatively familiar “influencer horror” setup, Milk & Serial is ultimately a wild ride that delivers in spades, elevated by the duo’s impressive ingenuity and ability to capture a sense of authenticity often difficult to achieve in the found footage horror subgenre.
That’s a Bad Idea has grown its fanbase over the better part of the last decade through the likes of quick-witted and often absurd sketches reminiscent of Tim Robinson and Please Don’t Destroy. While Barker and Tomlinson have previously released horror shorts, Milk & Serial marks the duo’s first feature in the genre.
If we’ve piqued your interest in the That’s a Bad Idea’s first feature-length foray into horror, you can check out Milk & Serial in full on the duo’s YouTube channel (and below!) to see what the buzz is all about. Don’t forget to sound off in the comments and let us know your own favorite indie horror and found footage gems!
