Paranormal Incident Review

7th Aug 2012

So I was pretty much dreading writing this review. The film itself is such a derivative, familiar pile of stinky ectoplasm, how can I make the review sound interesting or original. Truth is, it’s not going to happen, so I may as well just get it over with.

The word ‘incident’ in the title didn’t fill me with confidence to start with. Incident is what I would call a minor bump in my day. Like not being able to find my keys. That kind of thing.

As you may have guessed from the ropey title, Paranormal Incident is a very budget version of a found footage/haunted house flick. Mostly captured on security cameras and handheld camcorders, the film follows a team of students through a vacant sanatorium. These shaky, night vision scenes are interspersed with a guy in a hospital bed being interrogated by a semi-mysterious, pretty annoying woman who also shows him the found footage that we watch simultaneously. I actually kept thinking she would undo her ponytail and take her clothes off, mostly due to the irritating porn-y soundtrack. She doesn’t. Instead she continues to question the guy, who we are obviously led to believe is a survivor of whatever terrifying events are yet to unfurl.

The kids in the video are divided into Scullys and Mulders (sceptics and believers for X-Files virgins) who are investigating the possibly ghostly after-effects of a mass suicide in said sanatorium many years ago. The set up is actually ok, the teens are various shades of annoying and therefore believable – although stereotypes abound, so beware.

As the action kicks in though, we see all the cracks appear in the script, which does nothing but shine a light on the acting ability of the cast, and paucity of budget. The make-up effects on one particular character were truly feeble. Actually, that whole character – attempting some kind of creepy, murderous ghost girl is laughable. The dialogue is severely dodgy and the relationships are mostly unbelievable. You aren’t rooting for anyone in this except the poor dead mad people.

One of the most depressing portions is the ending. The PI team have obviously gone for a big shock ending. They want you to sit back and exclaim in amazement that everything you thought was true has been ripped out from underneath you…well, you won’t. Highly underwhelming in almost every way.