I have to come clean before this review goes anywhere at all, because it’s important that I am honest with you, dear reader. I 100% believed that The ParaPod: A Very British Ghost Hunt was a mockumentary. I had the most earnest, sincere, and clearly uneducated belief that I was about to go into a Blair Witch–style found footage film. And this belief continued right up until the credits rolled, partially because of the sheer wit of our two “main characters,” and partially because of the cinematography. But then, I had the distinct realization that this is, in fact, an actual documentary.
So, as any discerning reviewer would, I watched it again.
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Despite a popular podcast, this film might be some of your first experience with The ParaPod duo. I know it was mine (obviously…). The movie follows scientifically-challenged paranormal believer, Barry Dodds, as he endearingly chases shadows while his sarcastically skeptic partner, Ian Boldsworth, cracks wise at some of the most haunted spots in the UK. Traveling in a converted hearse, they visit places like dungeons in Edinburgh that house an active coven and 30 East Drive in Pontefract to see the legend of the Pontefract Poltergeist. All the while, Ian pulls jokes and Barry fruitlessly fusses with increasingly less technical equipment.
On first viewing, I was looking out for the jumps and thrills a found footage film might offer; the second proved a necessary watch as it demonstrated that this is not actually a movie about ghost hunting. It’s about the relationship between belief and skepticism, how we can act out based on our assumptions of what we want the world to be, and what it takes to actually, once and for all, prove the existence of the supernatural.
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This is best demonstrated by Ian’s inability to take any of the paranormal places seriously, even in the most tenuous of circumstances. From sneakily pocketing Barry’s head lamp and taking it into a cursed circle to doing “the Worm” through the halls of a haunted Victorian boarding school, Ian is not only skeptic but entirely closed-off to even the slightest possibility that anything paranormal could happen. One might argue (and they do) that he is too closed off for anything ghostly to access him. It is the reason why very little spooks him. But in the field of “skeptic PHD,” he’s observant and asks thoughtful questions to keep his paranormally closed-off persona in tact. It’s a stark but necessary contrast to Barry’s “true believer” mindset.
Barry, conversely, has a naivete in his faith that’s as charming as it is baffling. He incorrectly sets up a nanny cam teddy bear to “capture movements and temperature changes” as the pair spend the night in the “screaming” woods of Pluckley. He confusingly tools around the Edinburgh dungeons with a K-II EMF reader he doesn’t fully understand. He’s more interested in theatricality than science, which continually stumps his ability to prove anything to logic-minded Ian. And, quite frankly, it can be quite frustrating.
Both men are frustrating, in fact. But it works to add humor over grievance. Sure, there are moments when I straight up, out loud, said, “Wow, Ian is an a**hole,” or, “Jesus, Barry…did you do any research?!” However, it is because of this dynamic that the relationship between Barry and Ian is truly hilarious. It’s dry and British, much like the original Office or Fawlty Towers, and enjoys a rhythmic banter that keeps the audience engaged even as the movie draws on into its 1hr 47m runtime.
That being said, it’s a bit long.
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The pacing comes to be the biggest problem with The ParaPod. Even as a documentary, the expectation is that the story will build on itself to heighten mystery and tension, leading to some conclusion, or assumption of a conclusion. And it somewhat does, albeit it waits until the final twenty minutes to get there. The establishment of Ian’s prankster skepticism vs. Barry’s pure believer ineptitude is a long journey. We spend altogether too long at each location, establishing haunts, Ian’s near-constant prattling and high jinks around things they are unlikely to witness, then dealing with Barry’s general disappointment that, yet again, he’s failed to prove the existence of ghosts. It’s hard to invest the initial hour-twenty with very little audience payoff.
And that is the ultimate payoff the ghost hunt is trying to cash in: are ghosts real? Does the paranormal actual exist? In the interest of not ruining the climax, I’ll just leave those questions unanswered and you’ll just have to see for yourself — here’s a hint: Codnor Castle in Derbyshire, England.
ParaPod is a kitschy comic-doc that sends up of every ghost explorer, adventurer, and investigator show around. Don’t go in expecting a Zak Bagans-style overly dramatized faux-jumpy escapade. Sure, there are dark passageways and night vision, but instead of a bang/swivel finale, you’ll find a much truer view of what it is to be a paranormal investigator dealing with a world that refuses to believe in the supernatural. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, you’ll find common ground in the amusing antics and biting banter of Barry and Ian as they try to win their never-ending argument: paranormal or not? A Very British Ghost Debate.
The ParaPod podcast delivered its first episode on September 3rd, 2015, and has since produced 49 episodes available on Apple Podcasts, Google, and Sound Cloud. The ParaPod: A Very British Ghost Hunt could very well be considered their 50th episode, and is available on VOD.
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