In the latest entry in the massively saturated found footage fright flick genre, Paranormal Farm, a documentary film maker is called to an extremely rural farm to try and prove whether the location is actually haunted. He records everything (of course…wouldn’t be much of a ‘found footage’ film without any ‘footage’), and shows signs of being freaked the F out before he even enters the domicile and meets it’s salt of the Earth occupants. After a bit of investigation (and learning about the family’s tragedy) the owners leave, and our hero is left alone in the home. Wandering the grounds, he inexplicably encounters men in clown masks which continue to terrorize him further back at the homestead. After inviting the spirit to use him as a vessel…to complete success…our protagonist has had about enough of the house and all it’s bullshit, and bolts to the trailer where the owners are staying during the investigation. This leads to some shocking information…and then things go completely off the rails!
Holy hell…I gotta tell you creeps, I was completely taken by surprise by Paranormal Farm! Reading that rather mundane title, and knowing it was yet another found footage flick, I expected another non-stop trip to boredom town filled with annoying characters and show nothing shit scares…but instead I was treated to a charmingly naive, and completely likable main character (portrayed by writer/director Carl Medland) who I could easily root for. He’s into the appeal of the paranormal, but when confronted with it head on he’s a near complete coward (yet still fascinated)…a totally realistic portrayal that reflects how one would really be in the face of such phenomena. Adding to the ambiance are some truly excellent and effective zero-budget scares…these things just work; like a hand on your shoulder during a particularly unnerving campfire story. Also of note is the strong presence of backwoods occultism…I love this trope, and it’s done to perfection here.
The only negative I have is that it takes awhile for the real monstrous meat and putrid potatoes of the affair to kick into high gear. For those of you with a strong sense of impatience I urge you to bear with this one though, as what it offers is well worth the wait.
Paranormal Farm is everything a great found footage film should be; an experience of simulated reality to lose yourself in, only to be scared shitless by fantastic classic scares. It’s a whispered ghost story put to film and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
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