Right from the start of this third outing, the tongue of the film is firmly planted in its cheek.
Yes viewers, you heard that right, the zero-budget franchise from Writer and Director Carl Medland and Producer/Cameraman/Editor, Mumtaz Yildirimlar rumbles like Christmas indigestion, into its third emanation! Now streaming with all the visual glory of the previous two, it is again set on Lucy and Darren’s quirky, working farm/stables. This time, the boys need to get a contract signed for the DVD release of the previous two films… But when the sinister mannequins rear their ugly heads once more, they are soon digging into matters they shouldn’t and unearthing skeletons in the rural closet where angels fear to tread in the vain, very vain hope of sorting out what is really happening once and for all.
Right from the start of this third outing, the tongue of the film is firmly planted in its cheek, (and indeed, watch out for a similar ‘tongue’ gag ably delivered by Carl in this outing). Part melodrama, part documentary, part reality show, and big on schlocky horror, all of the Paranormal Farm films are complete nonsense, but due to a wild streak of original genius that both the creators have, somehow, all three films engage. The viewer, however wound up, ashamed of the guilty indulgence or completely flummoxed as to why, keeps wanting to know what happens next, and time is felt to be not wasted in the indulgence.
In this our creators have scored a very big biggie indeed. Rule one of making any narrative film is, ‘engage’ your audience. Sadly, in these days of FX, high technical standards and sophisticated story lines, this still fails to happen in a lot of films. Yet, here are our boys, once more heading down to the farm, with the flimsiest of reasons, some dreadful props and every single cliché and trope just waiting to lurch onto the screen, and yet, somehow this 3rd outing, just like its 2 predecessors, entertains and engages.
The sincerity helps, although it’s tongue in cheek. The mix of genres help, although the viewer is never sure what bizarre story-world they are in. The originality helps, and the total chutzpah of these films. The production values will never dazzle, but that doesn’t matter as the actors/real people are giving it their all under what is actually good direction and story dynamics. The scenes do not flow, and the plot jumps about, because one suspects there never was one to start with. However, the story, and the fascination for people and how they relate to their fears and desires is very strongly there, and what daft fun it is too.
A Good antidote to all the sophisticated block busters.
Jane Foster
janecreates@23-films.com
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