Paranormal Investigations (2025) - Horror Film Review

There is nothing particularly original about found footage/mockumentary Paranormal Investigations. The set-up of a goofy cast of characters exploring a haunted house has been done many times before to varying degrees of success, with the 2021 films Infrared and Paranormal Prison coming to mind straight away. Having said that, this Raymond Wallace written and directed horror delighted due to a mix of darkly comedic goings on, and the presentation style chosen to show the events of the movie.

The whole film is presented as if it was a TV episode that someone unseen is watching. The synopsis is that the cast and crew of a popular paranormal investigation show visited a reputably haunted old plantation building; the Hennesy House, as it had been chosen as the location for the first episode of their new season of the show. Their plan was to spend the night there. The next morning they were found all dead, having been brutally torn apart. The footage taken that night had been confiscated by the police, but after a court battle, the TV network the show belonged to have managed to get a hold of it. Under the pretence of honouring their memory, the TV network have created a special episode of 'Paranormal Investigations', the crew's footage edited together as if it was a proper episode, with behind the scenes footage included, and additional commentary from the network boss.

So, the idea wasn't anything original, but I loved the way this was presented. What I loved most was the way the film is edited together. The crew were joyfully fake, appearing in their filmed scenes as a tight unit of friends, and off camera the inevitable bickering and infighting that gave a comedic contrast. You have Matt (David J. Rivera); the smarmy host who in the background has discovered one of the fans he sent a dick pic to was a fifteen year old girl. This has caused a lot of the conflict as various members are concerned if this gets out the show will be cancelled, especially the sound technician; Fran (Tatiana Robledo). Kelsey (Jamie Bernadette - Ash and Bone, The Bone Box) is the writer and director of the show, also happening to be married to Matt and obviously angry at the man. Then there is cameraman Logan (Nick Oprea in his film debut), who is the most friendly with Matt, and the computer guy; the very nerdy Steve (Logan Stem) who is often bullied by the others. The on and off screen dialogue was wonderful between these, I never tired of the transitions between these moments, and how cheesy and fake they all acted when the camera was rolling. The over the top dramatic music, stylish scene transitions, and the over exaggerated way the characters spoke was mainly so great as it felt so authentic to the type of show they were creating within the film world. Without the behind the scenes stuff (and of course later horror), this could have almost passed for a legitimate cheesy American ghost investigation show. I found the characters interesting for who they were, the behind the scenes dynamics showing tensions between various members leading to amusing moments. I loved the recurring complaint from Kelsey of Logan not having covered up the logo on his baseball cap. Later, the love affair that Steve has with his brand new capture system comes to an almost laugh out loud moment when in the height of the chaos, he makes a pathetic attempt to rescue his heavy equipment before giving up and apologising to it that he has to leave it behind! Amusing stuff. The press release states this is a comedy horror, but it does verge far more on the horror side of things than humour, but it certainly plays a strong role in terms of the dialogue between the cast. As a final point, loved the trailer that plays after the film finishes proper, a great moment.

The icing on the cake was the wraparound for this show. I found it hilarious that the network had edited together their found footage to be in line with a typical 'Paranormal Investigations' show, and I adored how sensationalised the 'episode' was shown. When the horror is in full force, it was amusing to notice the dramatic music playing over the scenes of violence and terror. The schlocky in your face over the top presentation was just perfect. Funny the similarities between the exaggerated performance of the original show itself, and then being eulogised for viewers by an equally fake feeling and dumbed down presentation style for the memorial show.

Being an edited together show, there are various camera feeds around the house often all shown on screen at the same time, it was neat seeing things happen in rooms the characters were not in, though sometimes the smaller images made it a tiny bit hard to see things. The kill scenes were all tremendous, often happening just off screen, but with plenty of enthusiastic screaming, and a nice amount of blood spurts. A mix of practical effects and CG, these mostly looked great, especially one character whose head is crushed on camera! It wasn't all so good for the antagonistic force, the CG for the shadowy being just about looked good, but the thing itself when revealed looked a bit cheesy and fake, enough that I began to think it would all be revealed to be a hoax within the story. Not the most scary looking thing out there, but the panicked actions of the characters sold the scenes. The final twenty five minutes when the mud finally hits the fan made for a thrilling third act, characters running around the large house in total disarray.

From the start Paranormal Investigations felt very familiar, but it was a great example of one of these types of mockumentary found footage movies. At times it played things a little too on the nose. Obviously inspired by the classics, the scene that plays most homage to The Blair Witch Project (in which a character leaves a snivelling apology message to their parents) was such an obvious steal that it almost ripped me out the film entirely. Of course the scene was done that way purposely, but was the most derivative and over-used found footage moment.

This has turned out to be a lengthy review. I thought Paranormal Investigations was a great film despite some little missteps. It would have been nicer to have a little more variety during the third act, and it would have worked better with a more authentic looking antagonist, but I enjoyed the flawed characters and their internal bickering, and I really did adore the way the movie was presented and edited together, quietly amusing. Director Raymond Wallace said of his film:

"We wanted to capture the absurdity of reality television colliding with genuine horror."
I think it is safe to say he was successful in that endeavour.

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