Prank Encounters (3/5) – Netflix Series Review

PRANK ENCOUNTERS is a new Netflix prank series hosted by Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things. While it’s supposed to be a real prank show, it feels fake in some ways. Still, it’s pretty damn funny to watch. Read more in our Prank Encounters review and watch it on Netflix now!

Prank Encounters is a new Netflix series in the reality prank subgenre. Imagine the old MTV Punk’d series that was hosted by Ashton Kutcher but in a horror version. In other words, all the pranks have pretty awesome horror themes.

Also, this time it’s a Netflix series hosted by Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things.

Read more about the good and not so good (less believable) elements of this Netflix series in our Prank Encounters review below.

Is it fake? Who knows?!

Honestly, there are things about Prank Encounters that make me feel like the supposed “victims” of the pranks must know that something is going on. I mean, who has a spotlight in their van or car while driving? I absolutely need to hear someone explain this to the prank victims.

When I don’t get any sort of explanation, I can’t help but think most people would be suspicious as hell.

Also, the same goes for the people being in an extremely well-lit home. Nobody has spotlights in a kid’s room. It would make all my internal bullshit detectors go off. 

Suspicious prank victims 

From episode 1 of Prank Encounters, we hear one of the victims tell a supposedly cursed teddy bear “I will kick you!” because it’s chasing him. This should tell you that the victim at least suspects that the teddy bear could be a person in a costume.

Most of us have probably seen pranks where the prank victim suddenly kick or hits one of the pranksters. It certainly feels like this victim has seen one of those  “pranks gone wrong”. Clearly, he does not want to be the guy who kicks a child or a little person by mistake. Though, honestly, he would be right to defend himself from a cursed teddy bear that has come to life.

There are always two victims in each prank who don’t know each other. This works really well because this ensures that two people are always not in the know. Again, we do hear both victims reveal that they each suspected the other of being “in on it”.

Suspecting that someone is “in on it” definitely states that the prank victims are at least very suspicious that something isn’t real.

Watch Prank Encounters on Netflix now!

For all the things that feel sort of fake, Prank Encounters really is a very entertaining new Netflix series. If you just surrender to this series as entertainment rather than second-guessing the prank “victims” then you’ll probably have a lot more fun with it.

I have no doubt that this new Netflix series will probably inspire many Halloween scares and so its release is absolutely perfect. Also, Gaten Matarazzo works really well as a host. However, the real stars of this production are the actors and the special effects producers.

Have fun with Prank Encounters and just be happy you’re not part of these very elaborate pranks. After all, the money that have gone into making these pranks would probably convince a lot of us – for a while anyway.

Season 1 of Prank Encounters is out on Netflix globally from October 25 2019.

Plot

Each episode features two complete strangers who each think they’re starting their first day at a new job. It’s business as usual until their paths collide and these part-time jobs turn into full-time nightmares.