How Milk & Serial, a clever slasher shot for $800 and released for free on YouTube, became a must-see for horror fans

Curry Barker delivered the most unlikely hit of the year.

The filmmaker and comedian is the mastermind behind “Milk & Serial,” a 62-minute horror film about YouTube pranksters who get into rapidly escalating crises that, ideally, aren't revealed in advance. The film cost just $800 to make and stars Barker and his comedy partner Cooper Tomlinson, who is also a producer.

The duo mostly posts sketch videos on their TikTok and YouTube channels, “this is a bad idea,” while occasionally showcasing other projects, such as Barker's 2023 viral horror short “The Chair,” which has been viewed more than 5.5 million times on the latter. After considering working with a distributor for “Milk & Serial,” Barker decided to release the full film on YouTube on August 8. Since then, it has been viewed over 323,000 times (as of August).