Haunted Ulster Live

What a treat this was to see at Frightfest in London. I remember watching Ghostwatch as a family so vividly back in the 1990s and this is definitely a love letter to that- as well as a real gem in it's own right.

All the performances were brilliant but a particular mention for Mark Claney who I did now know before but who I would love to see in more- my initial perception of the character as an Alan Partridge type figure but also my more broad ideas of 80s and 90s TV hosts were definitely subtly played with in a very good way.

I obviously enjoy horror as I was at Frightfest but I have to say I felt this film is one I'd watch and rewatch around Halloween each year with friends who are not all out horror fans- people who enjoy mysteries and elements of the paranormal (and even Derry Girls!) should also see this.

On Halloween night in 1998 a gimmicky news special investigates an allegedly-haunted house in Belfast. This movie is advertised as a horror comedy, which is misleading. There's no horror; it would be more accurately characterized as a paranormal mystery. There IS deadpan humor throughout, but the movie ends up taking its paranormal elements rather too seriously to qualify as a comedy. Performances are decent and the production does a nice job of re-creating a mid-1990s news special aesthetic. Unfortunately the story eventually bogs down in a morass of half-baked paranormal and pseudoscientific conceits that derail the fun and novelty of the premise.

Preparing for a special live broadcast, the crew of a paranormal investigation show visits a family claiming they're being haunted by ghostly spirits and decide to visit the family to determine if they're true, and the longer they stay there come to believe the house has more going on than they realize.

This was a generally fun and likable genre effort. Among the better elements here is the strong setup that manages to fit everything into a fun enough time as it spells out its presentation. With the live broadcast presentation of the whole experience showing off not just the initial prep work that goes into the presentation including buffer spots from the network advertising their other shows, the commercial breaks where the cameras keep rolling to show how they quibble with each other over their equipment or upcoming segments in the investigation, and the on-camera moments that show how their discoveries are putting them into something far more dangerous than they expected. This is handled well throughout here and comes along even better when added to the other strong work done with building up the background of the house with the family who live there or the paranormal experts that provide a generally intriguing story to this one. That gives the sense of supernatural shenanigans going on in the investigation to have a lot more context throughout here. With things starting slowly with scratches and messages written in the walls before turning to physical manifestations in the room surrounding them, this goes quite nicely with the escalating sense of danger established once they bring in the experts who start taking more obvious measures. As this turns to features such as strange noises or figures caught on the cameras, seances gone wrong, and supernatural habitation of their bodies which signal the start of things going wrong in the final half as the lore has been built up nicely enough that the visuals offer a fun enough time here. There are a few issues with this one. The main problematic factor is the generally confusing nature of how the broadcasting is handled which features plenty of genuinely chilling imagery in a manner that doesn't make any sense. Following the seance, it seems to indicate the production stops but then the events keep happening while the group shuts down so it's completely chaotic to the point of being so unsure about what's going on. The series of issues involving the broadcast going on with future revelations or alternate scenarios that make no sense nor have anything that ties it together to make for a coherent time. The other issue is the lack of genuine action in the first hour as it's mostly just reacting to stuff that constitutes the scars which is the case for a majority of these types of films and is more of a structure issue than anything else even if it still affects the movie overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

... along the lines of The Blair Witch Project.

Now take my review from the POV of an American, not a native of Northern Ireland.

If you are an American, do your homework. Read up first about this movie on the interwebs, reviews and or articles, and fear not spoilers. This will give you the basis of understanding that is needed.

The story is actually quite spooky. And the mix of believers and skeptics is interesting. The behind the scenes interactions of on air and production staff by a local independent TV station is funny and realistic.

The "Three Witches" among the neighbors hanging out in front of the haunted house, these lassies are a gas!

Finally about the actor Siobhan Kelly who portrays Sarah, the mother of the family that live in the haunted house. She plays the parts of a person that is: a nervous interviewee; has been terrorized by the supernatural; a concerned mom; and one butting heads with the TV folks who seem to have commandeered her home. All quite well.

This was an absolutely fantastic watch at FrightFest, a pure delight, with great classic Irish humour and a wonderful atmosphere.

Whether you're fan of GhostWatch and want to watch a very lovingly made homage, or simply a fan of horror that doesn't take itself too seriously (until it does), this is 100% a must watch.

This is definitely a film to watch again and again and again on loop to catch all the things you've missed or was heavily foreshadowed, from the significance of the numbers on the wall, the various audio and visual distortions, everything to do with Declan in the attic, and more.

Do yourself a favour, and watch this brilliant little film.