'Tingle Monsters' is the first ASMR horror | short film review

Tingle Monsters takes place in real-time as an ASMR vlogger doing a live stream receives an unexpected surprise

★★★★

In the past few years, there’s been a rise of movies taking place fully on a computer screen with the audience as the hapless voyeurs—Searching and the continually underrated Unfriended come to mind. However, what’s most fascinating about Tingle Monsters, a new short film from director Alexandra Serio—she also stars, is how much it feels like an actual ASMR video. Though the two films I mentioned require some suspension of disbelief, Tingle Monsters is as straightforward as they come.

The movie is made to look like an actual livestream of an ASMR vlogger. ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is the experience of euphoria characterized by positive feelings and a tingling of the skin most commonly triggered by auditory or visual stimuli. ASMR vloggers use this stimuli to help relax their viewers or ease anxiety—though some may find it anxiety-inducing.

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ASMR has taken YouTube by storm with new channels popping up everyday garnering millions of views. However, it’s also created its own culture bubble anchored by the often hyper-sexualization of women in the internet world. As we watch the vlogger Dee (Serio) begin her live stream, comments in the live chat ranging from support to sexual harassment to threats pop up, causing her to turn off the chat. When the actual horror of the piece begins, after a glorious slow build that made me want to look away but also transfixed me on the screen, the comments begin to range from genuine worry—mirroring the real attachment some people have to their internet personalities to cynical dismissiveness of the situation.

The story shows incredible restraint, ratcheting the tension up to an almost uncomfortable degree before finally giving us release. As the helpless viewers, the loss of control is as horrifying as the actual event. If anything, that’s what great horror is supposed to do—take away our control. As internet and YouTube culture becomes more engrained in our society, it’s only natural that our storytelling begins to encompass it. Tingle Monsters is prescient in that trend and a devilishly fun short to boot.

Tingle Monsters is available to watch for free here.

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Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

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Karl Delossantos

Website | + posts

Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.