''Ratter'' is a 2015 American found-footage

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

written and directed by Branden Kramer in his feature debut. The film is based on a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

also written and co-directed by Kramer titled ''Webcam''. It stars

Ashley Benson Ashley Victoria Benson (born December 18, 1989) is an American actress and singer. Her accolades include four Teen Choice Awards, a Young Hollywood Award, as well as three People's Choice Award nominations. Benson began her career as a compet ...

and

Matt McGorry Matthew David McGorry (born April 12, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for playing John Bennett in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' and Asher Millstone in the ABC legal thriller series ''How to Get Away ...

. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival on January 24, 2015. The film was released on February 12, 2016, in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

Destination Films Destination Films Distribution Company, Inc. is an independent film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment currently specializing in action, thriller, niche sci-fi and low-end to medium-end horror films. History The original Destination Film ...

and

Vertical Entertainment Vertical (formerly Vertical Entertainment) is an American independent film distribution company founded by producers Rich Goldberg and Mitch Budin in 2012. Vertical releases films across all mediums, including theatrical, video on demand, physica ...

Plot

Emma Taylor, a graduate student, moves to New York City for a fresh start after her recent break-up with her boyfriend Alex. After settling into her new

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

apartment, someone begins anonymously hacking all her electronic devices and watching her through the cameras. One day, while attending college, Emma meets Michael, who asks her out. The two begin dating. However, after Emma pleasures herself one night, she becomes suspicious as the hacker begins stealing private photos of her with Michael and sending her messages and videos pretending to be Michael. She confronts Michael, who denies sending the messages, but Emma does not believe him and starts avoiding him. To relieve some stress, Emma and her best friend, Nicole, go clubbing. While they are out, the hacker breaks into her apartment. She returns home drunk and passes out on her couch, unaware that her hacker is out on her balcony. When she wakes up, he is gone, but she does not pay attention as she goes into the bathroom to relieve herself. Michael comes over later that day to check on her and to give her a cat so she does not feel lonely. The two then reconcile and have sex. Sometime later, Michael calls her and tells her someone emailed him telling him to leave Emma alone. Emma panics and calls the police who do nothing. She begins feeling isolated and depressed because nothing can be done about the situation. One day, Emma comes home to find her apartment door unlocked. She walks into her home and finds her cat dead. She tries to call Michael and tell him the news. However, he never answers or calls back. Feeling more vulnerable than ever, Emma spends the day wandering the city so she does not have to be home alone. She makes plans with Nicole to hang out at Emma's apartment later so she returns home. While waiting for Nicole, Emma and her mother video chat. In the middle of the chat, Emma's power cuts off and she begins screaming. The hacker appears and begins attacking Emma while the chat with her mother is still going. Emma's screams abruptly stop and her mother calls the police. The hacker then turns the laptop towards him and Emma's mother begins pleading with him to leave her alone. He shuts the laptop. The police show up and begin searching for Emma's whereabouts.

Cast

as Emma *

as Michael *

Rebecca Naomi Jones Rebecca Naomi Jones (born March 31, 1981) is an American actress and singer best known for her performances in the Broadway rock musicals '' Passing Strange'', '' American Idiot'', and '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' as well as being the first ...

as Nicole * Kalli Vernoff as Mom * Ted Koch as Dad * Michael William Freeman as Alex * Alex Cranmer as Professor * John Anderson as Kent *

Karl Glusman Karl Glusman (born January 3, 1988) is an American actor. He had a lead role in Gaspar Noé's controversial drama ''Love'' (2015) and appeared in ''The Neon Demon'' (2016) and ''Nocturnal Animals'' (2016). Early life Glusman was born in The Bro ...

as Brent * Jason Kolotouros as Officer Cicero

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2015

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival is held in Los Angeles in late February and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization. The organization ...

on January 24, 2015, In October 2015,

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) is a specialty film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company specializes in acquiring and producing films for a wide variety of distribution platforms. History The group became a stand-al ...

had acquired all global distribution rights to the film. The film was released on February 12, 2016, in a

Home media

The film was released on March 1, 2016, through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

and home media formats. The film was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

in Germany on March 17, 2016, and in Spain on May 11, 2016.

Reception

''Ratter'' has grossed $110,834 with sales of its DVD/Blu-ray releases.

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten Tomatoes 2015 films 2015 directorial debut films 2015 horror thriller films 2015 independent films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films American horror thriller films American independent films Features based on short films Films about mobile phones Films about social media Films about stalking Films set in apartment buildings Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Found footage films Screenlife films Vertical (film company) films English-language horror thriller films English-language independent films