Watch This Thrilling $800 Found Footage Horror Film Now Streaming Free on YouTube!

Initially, Barker planned to pitch “Milk & Serial” to distributors, but he ultimately opted for a free release on YouTube. This gamble proved successful as the film went viral after its August 2024 upload, amassing over 2.2 million views to date.

The movie follows a YouTube prankster named Seven, played by Cooper Tomlinson, who aims to prank his friend Milk, portrayed by Barker, during a birthday celebration. The prank involves firearms, hinting at potential disaster. However, the video’s anticipated outcome is overshadowed by an unexpectedly horrifying chain of events that spiral beyond Seven’s wildest fears.

While found footage horror films can be unpredictable, they often shine when directors cleverly navigate budget constraints. “Milk & Serial,” with its modest $800 budget, capitalizes on this by delivering genuine scares and a darkly comedic performance that keeps viewers on edge.

Prank videos online have evolved into dangerous antics masked as humor, with creators constantly escalating to draw views, sometimes leading to real harm. “Milk & Serial” highlights this issue from the outset, emphasizing the perils of involving firearms in pranks. The film shifts its focus from Tomlinson’s Seven, who is driven by views, to Barker’s Milk, who relishes the chance to document his maliciousness. Milk’s character is reminiscent of Mark Duplass in the acclaimed found footage horror “Creep,” where a hidden agenda adds a sinister undertone to prior events.

Prank videos on the internet have mutated into various forms of abuse disguised as jests. There’s a need to keep upping the ante to secure clicks, which can lead to people getting seriously hurt. It’s made clear from the start of “Milk & Serial” that incorporating firearms in a “prank” scenario is a surefire way to get in trouble. But the film takes a turn when it switches the central focus from Cooper Tomlinson’s Seven to Curry Barker’s Milk. The former does what he does for the views, while the latter revels in having a platform to film his cruelty. Milk is a lot like Mark Duplass in the awesome found footage horror movie “Creep,” in which there’s a game of chess going on behind the scenes that gives a more sinister context to everything that came before.

It’s actually pretty genius to hand the movie over to a sociopath, as it provides a smart reasoning for why these characters keep filming their potential crimes. Possessing the kind of grimace that would make him a candidate for a “Smile” sequel, Barker is able to conjure a great deal of menace with how easily he’s able to manipulate everyone in his life for the sake of a demented gag. It’s almost uncomfortable how funny he is. “Milk & Serial” features one of the best jokes you’ll see about unlocking your phone with Face ID. There are a lot of memorable moments crammed into the film, but its standout sequence involves Barker reacting poorly to a scenario taking place in a Home Depot parking lot.

Prior to directing “Milk & Serial,” Curry Barker helmed several short films. Early efforts like “Real World,” “Contemplation,” and “Meanwhile Outside the Bank” aren’t readily available to watch online, but you can see four of his latest directorial efforts on YouTube, all of which show signs of a filmmaker ready and willing to try something different.

“Heavy Eyes” is primed to be one of those horror shorts that gets you with a quick jump scare, but it manages to elicit chills through its mood alone. Barker kicks things up a notch with “The Chair” (which had its own viral success in 2023), the story of a man who picks up an antique chair he found on the side of the road and brings it home only for it to thrust him into a psychological spiral that makes him question the integrity of his reality. “Enigma” is more of a sentimental apocalypse drama about a guy trying to figure out whether he should make his final days meaningful, while “Warnings” brings Barker back to horror with a reality-bending short involving cryptic notes and an identity crisis.

With Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach’s “Iron Lung” and the upcoming “Backrooms” movie, YouTube seems to have become a springboard for aspiring filmmakers to cut their teeth before moving onto bigger projects. It’s certainly paid off for Barker: On top of “Obsession,” there’s the currently filming, Jason Blum-produced “Anything But Ghosts.” Barker and Cooper Tomlinson co-wrote the script and they will co-star in the film, with the former directing. It seems like the sky is the limit for Barker, who continues to reap the benefits of posting “Milk & Serial” to YouTube.