There’s always a hint of defiance in mentioning the movie you’re most determined to steal from. It’s a dare, like “Sure, COMPARE our movie to that one.” Usually, it’s a bit misguided.

“You can’t outrun the curse! Haven’t you ever seen ‘The Ring?'”

Why yes, yes I have. And its sequels. And lots of ther movies that have used the “Don’t look at that video/answer that phone or you’ll be CURSED” hook. And a lot of horror movies with a “found footage” element, maybe vloggers who “investigate” this or that phenomena for their streaming show. Oh, and movies with a deadly “Bloody Mary” or the like incantation/nursery rhyme element.

“Baby Blue, Baby Blue, don’t look back, Mama’s behind you”

Yes, we’ve seen it all before. Is it advisable to remind us of that?

“Baby Blue” is a horror tale in which a 20something quartet — some siblings (Aramis Knight, Ally Ioannides), a videographer (Dylan Sprayberry) and a fraidy cat they grew up with nicknamed “Beans” (Cyrus Arnold) — have to up their streaming pranks-for-clicks-game by throwing in some “true crime,” and maybe a little “woo-woo” stuff — horror.

They’ll look into this suicide seemingly caused by the spirit of “the youngest serial killer ever.”

Sure, check out the CCTV footage of an unseen person or force shoving, strangling and menacing hapless Kelvin (Khylin Rambo). Ask around about him, if you want.

But whatever you do, don’t look at this video preserved on his cell phone. You can’t “unsee” it. It’s so gruesome and shocking.

And by the way, it’s “cursed.”

Remember, “You can’t outrun the curse! Haven’t you ever seen ‘The Ring?'”

The fun stuff in Adam Mason’s horror tale has the young entrepreneurs getting into a shouting match with “Mo” (Oliver Cooper) their streamer boss, and the over-the-top ways hapless Beans deals with the stress of being under a curse and facing peril without a lot of grace under fire.

He’s constantly berating their videographer, Hutch (Sprayberry) with “You short INCEL!” insults.

Will he “find solace in death itself?” Maybe.

Other than that, this strictly-formula/wholly-derivative tale of “terror” never quite works up a decent fright, even if it achieves the lower genre aim of “horror movie as streaming timekiller.”

Rating: unrated, graphic violence

Cast: Aramis Knight, Ally Ioannides, Cyrus Arnold, Dylan Sprayberry, Sal Lopez, Oliver Cooper and Khylin Rambo.

Credits: Directed by Adam Mason, scripted by Simon Boyes and Adam Mason. An XYZ Films release on Tubi.

Running time: 1:29