The ParaPod: A Very British Ghost Hunt (2021) Dir. Ian Boldsworth

The eternal struggle between science and the supernatural is the battleground for a new mockumentary-style feature which follows two podcasters and their attempts to explain (or debunk) the ghostly mysteries of the UK

For those not familiar, The Parapod is a 3-season podcast on the paranormal presented by comedians Ian Boldsworth (also directing here) and Barry Dodds. After 30 episodes the show has spun-off into a feature film which takes the duo on a road trip across the UK to investigate weird and wild spectral myths.

The film opens with Ian, as the sceptic, setting up the more spiritually inquisitive Barry with a talk at a Skeptics convention where audience members leave after Barry suggests alien DNA could be investigated further.

The sequence has echoes of Borat – where real-life events and the general public are utilised (mostly unaware) for comedic sketches. Both actors appear to play somewhat fictional versions of themselves with similarities to Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s The Trip series.

Like them, the two travel around to various locations and the dialogue is mostly delivered via some friendly banter. Unlike them, their vehicle of choice is suitably a hearse and quickly they arrive in Pluckley – the most haunted village in the UK.

The format makes the best use of the duo’s podcasting talents with amusing back and forths as well as a palpable sense of friendship which makes them likeable from the start. Their opposing views also help to create some necessary conflict and their adventures are also interspersed with documentary-style interviews, conversations back in their studio and appropriate Most Haunted “night-vision” sequences.

This is used to great effect when the terror two visit underground labyrinths in Edinburgh. Each site purports to have some otherworldly origin but each one leads to successive failures to discover any evidence.

Fans of Zak Bagans and Most Haunted will be in their element but Barry’s genuine scared reaction at a “sighting” creates a real, and much-needed, sense of intrigue. The following scene at a winter church returns the film back to comedy with a snowball to Barry’s head and a Pearly gates skit that is probably the funniest of the whole movie.

The film does feel a little stretched out at times as the similar This Is Spinal Tap and Borat both come in at a sleek 80-ish minutes which I think personally helps with the handheld camera format. But the film hops locations from the spooky Ram Inn to some haunted homes and offices which generally keeps it light on its frightful feet.

Less an essay on the reality or fiction of the supernatural world, the film underestimates how refreshing it is just watching two close chums cordially disagreeing but accepting how each other views the world. And yet despite the (sometimes heated) disagreements they maintain their closeness and respect infusing the film with a lot of heart. Or should that be "spirit".

In the end, whether you believe or not, from the frankly ludicrous (and barely working) ghost-hunting equipment to Barry’s Karl Pilkington persona and Ian’s witty asides, the horror hilarity of The ParaPod movie means it comes recommended as a highly entertaining and funny trip of terror.

Michael Sales