Haunted Ulster Live - New Release Review
Director: Dominic O'Neill
Starring: Aimee Richardson, Mark Claney, Siobhan Kelly, Owen James, Dave Fleming, Antoinette Morelli
Written by: Dominic O'Neill
Produced by: Will McConnell, Dominic O'Neill
Cinematography by: Conor Losty
Original Score by: Dominic O'Neill
Synopsis:
On Halloween night, Gerry Burns teams up with popular children's presenter Michelle Kelly to investigate poltergeist activity in a haunted house in Belfast.
Thoughts:
Remember back in 1992 when the BBC presented 'Ghostwatch'? A live broadcast combining in-studio interviews and research with on-location investigations about a supposed poltergeist haunting in an ordinary London home. It was scripted of course but at the time it blew me away because, like many other folk back in the day, none of us had seen anything like this before, a mock-live broadcast I mean. And when you have someone like Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene and Mike Smith onboard, who were all well known television presenters and personalities, it had to be real right?
Well 'Haunted Ulster Live' is very much in the same wheelhouse as that but with a Northern Ireland accent and lovely little moments of nostalgic Irish humour.
Aimee Richardson plays Michelle, a young and enthusiastic TV reporter tasked with co-presenting a one-off live broadcast on Halloween night in 1998 about an infamous haunted house in Castle Gardens, Belfast. She's joined by the legendary, albeit second rate, television personality Gerry Burns who casually interviews the family in a bid to find out what these strange reports might all be about. There's been weird noises and scratching sounds and black footprints left in the kitchen. It's all a bit mad. Gerry stays in the house while Michelle reports from outside, talking to some locals and the technicians in the Ghost Tent who are monitoring every inch of the house using various cameras and trying to decipher any spooky audio transmissions that may be picked up.
Michelle and Gerry are then joined by a pair of paranormal experts. Robert, who is obsessed with ley lines and Sinead, who is a medium. As expected their arrival begins to kick off a spiral of events that scare the shit out of everyone and cause absolute chaos inside and outside the house.
"The world wide web? I just thought that was Ceefax with extra pages" - Gerry Burns
I really had fun with this one. Being from Northern Ireland myself it helps that I can relate to a lot of the content and Writer/Director Dominic O'Neill does a great job at presenting this as an authentic live broadcast from the late 90s. TVNI, the channel that's broadcasting the show is clearly a wee nod to UTV and all the interactions with the people outside were just the right amount of cringey to think that this could actually be a real broadcast.
There's not a awful lot of scares other than the usual found footage tropes but what really works is the chemistry between Michelle and Gerry. Their performances really compliment each other because they are polar opposites. Their candid looks to the camera and the dialogue that's muttered under their breath is hilarious. But you might struggle to really connect with this one if you aren't from Ireland or the UK.
There's a big reveal towards the end of the film that was genuinely surprising and well thought out and added something unique to the presentation. It's often so difficult to land the ending on these types of films but the mythology of the main villain Blackfoot Jack is explored really well. And Mark Claney and Aimee Richardson deliver fantastic performances from start to finish.
'Haunted Ulster: Live' was a real nostalgia hit for me and a successful one at that. The nuanced performances were spot on and I found a lot of humour in the writing.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
'Haunted Ulster: Live' is available on Digital Platforms in Ireland/UK on October 14th
Comments