Writer-director Raymond Wallace’s Paranormal Investigations reminds me of Series 7: The Contenders. Daniel Minahan’s brilliant 2001 film charts the fates of the cast members attempting to survive a reality TV show where six people must avoid being killed by each other. Wallace takes this idea and splices it with the found footage genre and creates something that’s slick, smart, funny, and ferociously horrifying.
It could be seen as suicide to reveal the ending of your movie in the opening stages. But learning the fate of the paranormal investigators right off the bat doesn’t make you want to tune out before the credits roll. The reason for this begins with curiosity. As we’ve seen this set-up before in different styles and formats, there is a predictability as the final footage of the team’s bitter end unravels. What separates Paranormal Investigations from its predecessors is the mix of on-camera and off-camera banter. Like The Blair Witch Project, this balance allows us to learn about the team members, Kelsey (Jamie Bernadette), Matt (David J. Rivera), Fran (Tatiana Robledo), Logan (Nick Oprea), and Steve (Logan Stem).
“…smiles surrender to shrieks of terror as the dark shadows and secrets of the house come out to play…”
After an Unsolved Mysteries-type lead-in, we pick up the action with the heading to the fabled and notorious Hennesy “Hell” House, is a house with a reputation for killing all who enter. Captured cleverly in a Timecode manner, we see all the action all the time, as the production’s set-up covers every room. Each camera is equipped with night-vision and sound recording technology. Once everything is hooked up to the team’s newly trialed supercomputer, sights and sounds invisible to human eyes and ears, as well as temperature fluctuations, are successfully captured, analyzed, and processed.
So, with the promos in the can and the sunset, the paranormal investigators begin their night-long experiment to expose the demons dwelling in the aged Hennesy home. As the hours pass fruitlessly and frustratingly, the team contemplates resorting to manufactured phenomena in order to salvage the staggering production. But tempting supernatural forces to show their power never ends well for those who foolishly taunt them. Soon, the team is excited as readings come flooding in. Then their smiles surrender to shrieks of terror as the dark shadows and secrets of the house come out to play, making these once confident investigators wish they hadn’t stayed.
While I’m happy to admit I thought I knew where Paranormal Investigations was going to go, I am grateful that it kept dropping interesting character conflict crumbs to keep me crawling down the rabbit holes. The surprising ending is so spine-chilling that one cannot look away. This is a fast and fantastic entry into a genre that can be extremely hit or miss. It packs a glossy production look and feel, which, when coupled with solid and sincere performances along with a few magical moments of demonic delight, creates frightful cinema. It stands tall as a tight, scary time best enjoyed with buddies, beer, and pizza.
"…slick, smart, funny, and ferociously horrifying."
