CHALLENGE KAYLIEGH : EPISODE 50

PEOPLE SHOULD NEVER LOOK LIKE SPIDERS. SPIDERS SHOULDN’T EVEN LOOK LIKE SPIDERS… THEY ARE MINIONS OF THE DEVIL.

I’ll admit it Paul. M Feeney – you almost got me with this one. Almost, but not quite. So.. where to begin with Episode 50?

It wasn’t the worst film I’ve ever seen. I mean, it wasn’t by a long stretch the best either, but not every horror can be my favourite otherwise I wouldn’t be able to decide which order to have them arranged in.

The first good thing I have to say about it is that it is similar (in plot and location) to Grave Encounters, which was awesome. I can’t go right ahead and say that Episode 50 is a direct rip-off of Grave Encounters as they were both released in 2011 and so it’s hard to say which one came first. I can say though that great minds think alike… even though one of them went down a better (can I say better? It’s my opinion so yes I can!) route. I’ll leave you guys to interpret which one I think is superior.

It’s the story of a reality TV show team who go around debunking hauntings as ‘paranormal’ investigators. A rich dude who’s about to snuff it pays them to investigate a property for him because he wants to know if he should fear hell upon his death (he has been a very naughty boy in life you see). The team turn up at the property, which is a run-down, old mental asylum (of course), to find that a group of religious fanatics who famously hate them are also there for the same reason. Cue some arguing and a clash of wit, technique, and plain old belief in the Almighty.

Now, whilst the effects could have been better, they were more or less on par with everything else of a similar nature released this year. There were some tongue-in-cheek moments which I don’t think were intentional, but who doesn’t like a giggle huh? In fairness though, those accidental funnies were balanced out with some pretty scary sh*t, man. For example, there’s a ghosty whose grisly murder story involved her having every bone in her body broken (grim, dude). Shortly after learning this, you see that terrifying little lady bending and rubber banding about the place like a snake on legs, moving and twisting in ways that even a contortionist would shudder at. And don’t start me on that creepy ceiling ghost. 


PEOPLE SHOULD NEVER LOOK LIKE SPIDERS. SPIDERS SHOULDN’T EVEN LOOK LIKE SPIDERS… THEY ARE MINIONS OF THE DEVIL.

Unlike many movies of the “found footage” variety, this one doesn’t tend to rely on jump scares, instead aiming for a slow tension build. Okay fine, a snail-pace tension build. That’s cool though, I like snails. And yeah fine, okay, some questionable acting may have occasionally broken some of that tension. But in said actors defence……. Cheese.

I suppose I can’t get away with not mentioning the final few moments of the movie, so spoiler alert people. I also suppose that I can’t claim that the ending was particularly effective or scary either. What I can assure you though, dear movie lover, is that it’s a hoot.

There’s a gate of hell, an actual ring of fire guarded by a peculiar devil man. When I say ring of fire, I mean something Johnny Cash might have saluted. I think what may have happened here is that the writers thought ‘we got away with this so far, and since it’s mostly set in an asylum, let’s just go absolutely mental with the ending’. I personally love the “found footage” segment of horror because of the things you don’t see and the role your imagination plays in all those spooks and scares. Saying that, imagining things can be such a strain on the brain, right guys? This ending spares you the bother by plonking a wee little devil man and a swirly inferno in front of your eyes.

It may… MAY… have disintegrated any horror-filled suspense that was left. But on the plus side, the suspense tends to come and go with this movie anyway. Hell, half the fun of watching this is trying to guess when you’ll next feel scared and for how long.

An additional plus for this is the way you feel when it’s ended. I love to be terrified, but I’ll admit to you all that after watching something that’s frightened me enough to turn the lights on, I always have to watch a comedy straight after just so I can fall asleep without nightmares. This means that I’m normally up quite late trying to stamp out the terror that’s gripped me by every one of my senses. To this end, Episode 50 is a time-saver. There’s no need to quell that terror with a light-hearted comedy because the makers of the movie were considerate enough to inject that dose of hilarity before the end credits roll, saving me an hour and half of extra movie time. I went to bed with a giggle in my heart and a smile on my face thinking ‘oh, those spooky, funny tricksters’.

Would I recommend this movie? Well yes I would, in the same sort of way that I’d recommend Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Watch with friends for added piss-taking enjoyment. Perhaps the plot was a little complicated and even silly, when simplicity may have done the job, but I take my hat off to anyone who’s ambitious enough to try something new and a little over-the-top, even if they don’t quite pull it off.

On my 1-10 scale (10 being fantastic and 1 only being a smidge away from a bad review), I have no choice but to give it a 1.5. But, through sheer persistence and those little jabs of fear factor, it hasn’t slipped off the grid. Sorry Paul, but you don’t get victory gifts this time. Well played though sir, you certainly provided me with a toughie!

If you’d like to recommend a movie for me to watch, please leave it in the comments below. If you suggest one that I genuinely can’t find merit in, I’ll send you prizes. Really, I will. Got a lot of old crap in the attic.

 

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