Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our Instagram and Twitter accounts. Prank Encounters is available now on Netflix.ĭigital Spy is launching a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox. Prank Encounters' pre-release spiel may have provoked a backlash at first, but now that it's finally arrived, its authenticity and apathy, rather than exploitation, are the bigger issues. There's also a great super-meta moment in the second episode when one subject asks, "Is this real?" only to be reassured by the equally unknowing other, "Yes, this is real." And you have to admire the time and effort that goes into each prank, even if they rarely have the desired effect.īut you get more laughs from the much simpler Impractical Jokers, more invention from the underrated genius that is Nathan for Youand ultimately more scares from watching any of the more Halloween-friendly YouTube prank channels. Its approach of pranking two complete strangers at the same time often provides entertainingly contrasting responses. Prank Encounters does have a few more inspired moments. And the victims often appear as indifferent to his big reveal as they are his pranks. Hosted by Gaten Matarazzo (known for his role as Dustin in Stranger Things), each episode of this terrifying and. Occasionally we see him apparently organising all the chaos from a high-tech mobile base, but it's obvious that each of his commands have already been scripted and thoroughly rehearsed by each actor. Prank Encounters is the most elaborate hidden camera prank show ever devised. Matarazzo is strangely surplus to requirements too. The PI assistant in episode three barely even raises an eyelid despite the fact that he's being confronted by a crazed plastic surgeon who's attacked a colleague, chloroformed a caregiver and kept a lookalike of his dead wife hostage for two months. Others, however, seem entirely nonplussed, perhaps aware that the elaborate set-ups and broad acting by those in on the joke could only ever be pure fiction. Some prank subjects appear genuinely scared at the horror movie-style situation they unwittingly find themselves in – see the wide-eyed insurance investigator trapped in a vehicle being attacked by a Sasquatch in episode two. But there's something slightly disconcerting about the same bear being tied to an infanticide. Sure, the moment when Xavier, the supersized teddy bear she's been blaming various crimes and misdemeanours on, suddenly comes to life is admittedly laugh-out-loud funny. It's a pretty dark set-up for a trivial 24-minute show hosted by a kid from Stranger Things. The first prank, in particular, is based around a 9-year-old girl struggling to deal with the trauma of her older sister falling (or being pushed?) to her death from a balcony. In the first episode, the poor victims consist of a babysitter – who in the middle of her prank handily confirms that she's being employed by a temping agency – and a driver's assistant on a charity pick-up.īut while the premise isn't as tasteless as everyone first thought, you could argue that its execution sometimes is. Sure, you could argue that those scared witless are still being exploited for entertainment purposes, but there's never any suggestion that they've been promised anything other than a one-off odd job. Now streaming on Netflix, Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things) executive produces and hosts Prank Encounters, billed as the most elaborate hidden camera. Well, firstly, Matarazzo wasn't telling porkies. We ended up talking a lot about the prequels and sequels which led to a fun conversation.Related: Netflix responds to backlash against new prank show with Stranger Things' Gaten Matarazzo Finally, what I didn’t realize before the interview began was Matarazzo’s obsession with the Star Warsmovies. In addition, he talked about Stranger Things Season 4, when he starts filming again, and how all the scripts have been written. Season 2 features ghosts, dangerous spiders, a device that can read minds, a deadly fog from another dimension, and more.ĭuring the wide-ranging interview, Matarazzo revealed how nervous they are that someone might fly off the handle or freak out, how they wanted to try and prank three people at the same time and why it didn’t happen, which episode someone should start with if you haven’t seen the series, and more.
In the first season, pranks included teddy bears coming to life, a top-secret government warehouse that released a hostile alien, ancient Egyptian curses, and a homicidal scarecrow. If you haven’t seen the show, Prank Encounters takes two strangers that are each hired for a night’s work and places them both in an unexpected situation that has been staged by professional actors. With Prank Encounters Season 2 now streaming on Netflix, I recently spoke with Gaten Matarazzo about hosting the elaborate prank series.
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