The spooky season continues, and this time we’re diving into the new indie-horror-comedy, Beyond Paranormal. As a huge fan of films like Zombeavers, The Babysitter, and even Tusk – to name a few – I was looking forward to a paranormal spin in the genre. 

BEYOND PARANORMAL REVIEW

Hold onto your butts, there’s a lot to digest here. Beyond Paranormal tells the story of an opposites attract couple, Lilly (Cortney Palm – Zombeavers) and Ray (Ryan Donowho – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). Lily is a wannabe social media influencer, and Ray is her cynical, stuffy, writer boyfriend. When promoting her next project, Lilly receives a mysterious statue that inevitably causes her possession. In order to gain more likes, Lilly gets Ray to capture and share her possession. If that wasn’t enough, Ray is also having visions. On top of the possession, we also introduced via cutaway scenes to the podcast, Beyond Paranormal. During these scenes we see an interview taking place with Dr. Ulrich Von Strauss (Clint Howard) and host Juice McDaniels (Erick Nathan) who are discussing ancient astronauts and time travel which somehow tie into the flashbacks Ray is dealing with. 

BEYOND PARANORMAL

My Final Thoughts

I’m going, to be honest, I was incredibly confused throughout this film. I thought we were going to get a female-driven story arc, but instead, we get a story about Ray, who is very unlikeable in my opinion. There are a lot of storylines and characters being thrown at you all that once and the plot is kind of all over the place. I’m sure Ray and Lilly are somehow supposed to be connected to the Princess and Warrior (I told you there were a ton of characters). But none of this was fully explained and I shouldn’t have to write your movie for you in my head. 

I’m also unsure as to why CGI blood was used during a pivotal moment in the film. I’m a huge fan of gore in movies, and fake blood is typically a staple in films of all budgets. However, not in this one. Personally, I think it takes away from the moment (you’ll know it when you see it). It would’ve been much stronger had we just cut away and let our imaginations run wilds vs the end result.

So, if you’re looking for a spooky movie that’s not nightmare fuel, but definitely worth getting the munchies to check out Beyond Paranormal currently on VOD!