PARANORMAL FARM
Director: Carl Medland
Starring: Carl Medland, lucy French, Darren Earl Williams.
Well made, spirited, zero budget schlocky horror played as much for laughs as horror.
While it’s true to say that, PARANORMAL FARM is never going to win any prizes for looks, for what it is, a flick shot on an iPhone for a few hundred quid, it excels in every department. Beautifully crafted from the start, the story is strong enough to keep the audience involved right up to the end scenes which really do instil horror, and lots more, but that would give it away and spoil the fun.
Shot along very similar lines to, and almost as a homage to the Blair Witch Project, the action kicks in right away as plucky ‘Carl Medland’ (who plays himself admirably), drives down to investigate a Farm where some strange things have been going on. From here on there’s a slow tension, supplied by the documentary feel of the film, which just about holds our attention as the story unfolds. The two farm owners, played by Lucy French and Darren Earl Williams, who although are not strictly actors, are wonderfully ‘odd’, and superbly directed by Director Carl making this very much a three hander. However, zero budget horror movie mogul and veteran, Mumtaz Yildirimlar has done a great job on the production, and where it’s needed the film has all it needs to enhance the story as it unfolds. There must also be a pat on the back to the camera work, which, all shot on a phone, looks seamless and is well put together. Sure, this will not win any awards for cinematography, but the camera is telling the story as it should and is even and easy to follow, which considering the amount of hand held POV work there is, is pretty good going.
So, as events unfold, there’s little in the way of the bad production, script and story values that normally rampant in zero budget films, to distract from Carl’s journey as he stays in the house for the night, and the owners stay in a caravan outside. However, things soon start going bump in the night and tension builds as it goes, with increasing disturbing events and reveals. Dramatically well structured, the script is pretty much free fall in style, but it works well, and even when it’s improvised in places, there’s a strength to the story telling which is commendable. This is Mike Leigh meets Blair Witch on a dark night, and with good use made of the characters and back story to give it emotional depth, PARANORMAL FARM works just fine. Yes, it could’ve had more polish and some of the plot lines could’ve done with a bit more forethought, tightening up and scripting, as improvisation and horror spliced together do not typically make for great tension winders. However, due to the earnest intent of the filmmakers and a basically sound story, the few moments where it does lag a bit quite often lead to bits of humour and irony, which also work well within the context of the film.
All in all, this is a film which punches far above its production values in story and craft, and for the budget it’s good. In fact, judge it on that and enter in to the spirit of the film, and have no expectations about what a zero budget horror film should be, or on what you tuned in to see, and you’ll enjoy the ride.
3.5 Stars.
PARANORMAL FARM is out now on Amazon Prime Video.
Jane Foster
janecreates@23-films.com
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