*In “Skillhouse,” horror veteran Josh Stolberg (“Jigsaw,” “Spiral,” “Saw X”) delivers a savage critique of influencer culture by literally turning clout into life-or-death currency.
Released in theaters on July 11, the satirical horror film follows ten influencers lured into a brutal content house, where they’re forced to compete in deadly social media challenges. Produced by GenTV founder Ryan Kavanaugh, Shane Valdez, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and Brad Baskin, the film blends viral spectacle with real-life terror.
Stolberg said the idea was born after a meeting with producer Mark Burg, social media star Bryce Hall—who leads the cast—and Kavanaugh. “By the end of the interview and them talking about the culture of fame… it just made it feel like, of course, what better than writing a movie about 10 fame addicted influencers who are kidnapped and are live-streaming this death match,” he recalled. “It’ll be a great way to skewer the influencers that my kids love so much.”
Bryce Hall, making his major acting debut, plays a version of the very persona he built online—one Stolberg found disturbingly fitting for the film’s themes. “He’s playing for the camera. He’s playing for the clicks,” Stolberg said. “And in our film, they need to get the likes in order to live.”
The cast also includes 50 Cent (“Power”), Hannah Stocking, Neal McDonough (“Justified”), McCarrie McCausland (“The Originals”), and Paige VanZant.
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Stolberg’s background in the “Saw” franchise shines through in “Skillhouse’s” deadly traps, many of which are rooted in real-world viral trends. One scene takes inspiration from the “ceiling fan challenge,” swapping the harmless water bottle for a swinging pickaxe. “I definitely used a lot of the trends themselves and then tried to tweak them to turn them into kind of saw-like traps,” he said.
But “Skillhouse” aims to do more than shock. “This is what the film means to me—it’s a critique of a kind of spectacle for profit and the audience’s complicity in what’s happening in our world,” Stolberg said. “These kids are jumping from one rooftop to another and dying, and they wouldn’t be doing that if they weren’t trying to get likes.”
We’ve been pounding away in the edit room to get @SkillHouseMovie ready for a first screening! But here’s a photo from my first meeting with @BryceHall. I think he’s going to surprise you! pic.twitter.com/4bxLWm0L42
— Josh Stolberg (@joshstolberg) September 27, 2022
One of the film’s most disturbing sequences, in which a character peels her face while pleading with the audience, caused a crew member to faint. “It was brutal. We shot that scene a full night… it was all real effects. No digital,” Stolberg confirmed.
For all its gore and grotesque spectacle, Stolberg insists the film has something to say. “You never wanna shove the message down the audience’s throats,” he said, “but… we’re just churning through these internet celebrities until they either cancel themselves or get too hurt to keep going.”
The Skill House rules! ?? Who will be the one to survive? pic.twitter.com/Ye0hUEslNJ
— Skill House (@SkillHouseMovie) September 9, 2023
In “Skillhouse,” there’s no room for algorithmic redemption—only survival. And the only thing deadlier than the traps? The hunger for likes.
Watch our full conversation with Josh Stolberg below.
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