Review

The "Paranormal Inspectors" are a team of ghost busters out to prove that hauntings have an explanation in scientific fact. Apparently makes for great television as they are about to film episode 50 of their show. Team leader Jack Kelley is contacted by millionaire Andrew Worthington Jr. who wants them to investigate the West Virginia Insane Asylum, apparently the most haunted place in North America. Worthington is dying and strangely wants to disprove the existence of the afterlife so he doesn't have to worry about going to hell, WTF!

Arriving at the Asylum Jack and his team discover they are not the only investigators tasked with finding the truth about the facility, the Academia Spirit Searcher's Club (ASSC) lead by Dylan Miller are on hand to prove the supernatural does exist. Miller's group believe they can use the power of Jesus Christ to purge the Asylum of evil entities like Justin Bieber. The diametrically opposed teams will find they need to band together as the Asylum erupts into ghost central, spawns revenants, has a nurse going Samara, and to top off this fruit salad a demonic force full of malice. Can Jack and Dylan work together or will their past conflicts tear them apart like really torn apart thingies?

Gosh the found footage craze has a lot to answer for, in between some decent movies being released in the format there's a whole lot of rubbish seeping out as Film makers who should get a day job dial into the ever growing cesspool. One such movie is Episode 50 that mixes every cliché it can generate with more cheese than the state of Wisconsin can produce in a decade. I should have known I was in for a bad time when I decide to queue this one from smh.tv, who, lets face facts here, are purveyors of schlock cinema at the best of times. There's so much bad in this movie that even The Asylum aren't thinking of making a knock off any time soon!

Things lumber onto the screen with the Paranormal Inspectors working out in Episode 49 that a suburban house isn't as haunted as the occupants think it is. All apparent paranormal activity is down to faulty wiring and paint chemicals being stored near an air conditioning unit. Go figure, did they have air cons in Amityville and was George into home handyman repairs? Anyways the opening salvo gives us a chance to meet the team and also highlights there isn't going to be any decent acting cluttering up this movie. I was sort of disappointed a cat didn't jump out of a closet, but that's just me.

And this is the reason why found footage should be lost again, as soon as possible!

Having introduced the ham we are next for no apparent reason given a lecture on brain activity by Psychology students, this will have nothing to do with the actual movie and is the first of the really irritating interludes that the audience are subjected to. My suggestion would be to either fast forward this bit or go make a cup of coffee while it rambles on. I would go with alcohol but that would be socially irresponsible and we're trying a new leaf here, so no don't grab the tequila and take a few shots, you will thank me tomorrow morning.

When we get to the actual movie, the start of this one is completely unnecessary, there are a few good directions available, a few doors that could lead to something interesting, however our film makers are firmly striding toward the fire escape to mediocrity and won't be detoured by anything half way decent. The conflict between the two groups could have really been explored in a science versus religion kind of a way but to be honest the ASSC leader Dylan Miller comes across as a used car salesman that is still petulant about UCLA not accepting his theories. Who would have thought a psychology school wouldn't accept the ravings of a bible thumper! Mind you Jack Kelley can hardly talk, in the past his house burnt down taking his sister in a fiery demonic conflagration apparently. He must have lived somewhere near the Winchesters! Anyways Jack doesn't accept what happened which has driven him to debunk yadda yadda. Could these two get over themselves and void the precious tickets they are carrying!

Thankfully the two gals in the movie almost get us back on track. Andi is the investigative type and is the only person in both groups that actually wants to work out why the Asylum is being haunted. And Lysette, Aussie actress if I'm not mistaken, is a medium who warns Dylan Miller that they are playing with fire and need to get out of Dodge, naturally she doesn't followed her own advice, whoops. Almost forgot to mention Kieron, a Scotsman who wants to get the flock out of the building when the ghosts start popping out of the woodwork, you can almost hear him saying "feet don't fail me now". The character adds some humour to proceedings, "kilt" double meaning, which I guess was intentional though sadly Kieron is completely underutilised as things deteriorate in the Asylum that dripped boredom.

There are the usual assortments of spooky happenings that have a sort of tired seen it before feeling, though the super imposing of spectres over the living was appreciated. We have lots of things moving fast in the background, a nurse doing a Samara style lurch, and the normal people being dragged about by unseen forces. For mine only one scene was in anyway scary, Andi and Kieron trying to communicate with a ghost. Don't get me started on the final scene, that's one of the worse visualisations I've seen since Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest way back in 1995. As stated do you want extra cheese with your movie meal, Episode 50 layers it on like a demented French Chef with an unlimited supply.

Where this movie really falls down is in the script that is convoluted, has way too many twists and turns that we aren't interested in, and which meanders down corridors that aren't going anywhere. There's a few too many ideas being thrown at the screen that are frankly beyond the abilities of the so called thespians stinking this one up. Always a sign of poor movie making when the script takes detours, changes direction, and gets hopelessly muddled. Made my point here, well let's rock on. For a bunch of sceptics the Paranormal Inspectors are quick to believe in ghosts, goblins, demons, and One Direction having talent.

Okay I've run out of things to say about this mad woman's breakfast. I was generally bored during the running time and even took to checking my email. One of the worse movies I've seen this year it has really made me want to switch off found footage movies and get back to normal cinema, well as normal as the horror genre can throw up at least. No recommendation this was the movie that needed exorcising, be gone from my memory, God compels you!