Mean Spirited (2022) Review

Mean Spirited (2022) Review

MEAN SPIRITED follows a wannabe YouTuber who set out to bury the hatchet with his celebrity friend, just to find out that he is not quite himself anymore…

Director Jeff Ryan nails the mix of comedy and horror with MEAN SPIRITED, his solo directorial debut, with neither tonally outweighing the other. His cast are all top drawer with Will Martin stealing the acting honours as Dew by making his archetypical group idiot more rounded and less obnoxious than the norm. It looks like they all had a blast filming it and the chances are that you’ll have a blast watching it.

There’s been a recent trend of seeing influencers/vloggers having a rum time of things within the horror genre, with both recent releases SISSY and GREYWOOD’S PLOT running on a similar track, but for my money this has been the most fun to view. Ryan builds up the tensions within the group brilliantly, there’s never ever moments that it lulls, it’s fast, funny and the most fun I have had watching any flick these past twelve months.

MEAN SPIRITED is Ryan’s solo directorial debut. His previous film, Mass Hysteria (2020), another horror-comedy about the Salem Witch Trials, was released by The Horror Collective and acquired by Shudder. His first feature YouthMin: A Mockumentary about a narcissistic youth pastor is now streaming on Peacock. He’s slated to shoot later this year his fourth film, Mooch, a crime-comedy, the true story of Ryan’s childhood moochiness.