If you’ve ever had the sudden, violent urge to hurl your phone after watching an influencer fake a reaction video, you’re not alone. Gallows Humor Pictures has built a movie just for you.
The studio’s debut feature film, Ragebait (formerly titled Clickbait), is officially set to bring its blood-soaked, anti-social-media satire exclusively to Screambox this August! Today, the trailer has been unleashed.
Clout and Cursed Content
Starring Tyler Arceneaux (as Ralph), Jack Arden Garrett (as Ted), and Ray Beer (as Kaleb Klick), this found-footage horror-comedy anthology sets its sights squarely on the worst corner of the internet.
On Halloween night, a socially parasitic livestreamer becomes the target of an entity after a viewer curses his broadcast. The catch? He’s forced to react live to a collection of deeply unsettling videos featuring content creators who have mysteriously vanished. As the stream rolls on and the view count ticks up, the clips get progressively darker. Soon they blur the line between internet entertainment and real-world nightmare until the true price of online attention comes due.
Built on Rage, Fun, and Mailroom Wages
Directed by Joe Martinez-Weinberger, David James Clark, Dean Smith, and Taylor Weiss—with shorts penned by Weinberger, Clark, Jude Price, and Grant Chauncey. The film was born out of pure indie guerilla spirit following the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
“We created RAGEBAIT for two simple reasons: Fun and Rage,” says co-director and co-producer Joe Martinez-Weinberger. “We want the movie to be a hangout horror-comedy—a catharsis for those who want to chuck their phone out a window every time they’re jammed with phony content creators. Every time you go online, you’re smacked with people faking who they are, vying for your attention so they can sell you nonsense you don’t need. We wanted to laugh at these people and blow up a few heads in the process.”
After being laid off from their agency jobs during the strike, Martinez-Weinberger and co-producer David James Clark decided to stop waiting for Hollywood permission slips and self-finance the film entirely on assistant and mailroom wages.
“Working at an agency, we saw innumerable, awful pitches flying around town making money for the creators attached, and thought: hey, we can make a bad movie, too!” Martinez-Weinberger jokes. “We’re excited for our movie to find an audience, but more thrilled at the possibility of our story inspiring more filmmakers to say fck it, I’m going to make something, too.”
Smash that play button and prepare for some serious catharsis when Ragebait premieres exclusively on Screambox on August 4th.
