Spoilers might hang around after death.
The marriage/divorce/it’s-complicated-ok relationship of horror and comedy is not new, but getting the mix right is not as easy as one would suppose. My preference is always for a potent enough dose of horror to be life threatening and the light touches of comedy to dispel tension during the most horrifying moments. The threat has to feel real to the audience, even if not all characters take it as such.
Extra Ordinary is written and directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman. The film does all that I wanted for by starting both horror and comedy in a playful, deliberately moderate volume and then amping the stakes. Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins) has put her past behind her as a gifted medium since her father’s death. She now runs a small business as a driving instructor. One day she meets Martin Martin (Barry Ward) whose daughter has been pushing him to do something about his former wife’s spirit which haunts him to the day. Things get even more complicated when former rock performer Christian Winter (Will Forte) gets involved trying to renovate his pact with the Devil so he can be successful again.
The movie manages to gradually up the ante as Martin’s daughter Sara ends up in a trance destined to be part of Christian Winter’s pact renovation. Rose now needs to overcome her fears and collect enough ectoplasm from the other ghost cases she’s been neglecting to answer. I am not telling you how it ends, but the finale is sure to make you laugh your head off.
Highly recommended as a horror comedy with very little reservations. The special effects are more than apt, the acting is well above serviceable status and the humour even takes the time to pay its little homages to other horror films. Hardcore horror enthusiasts might want something with more gore and dead bodies to match. Everyone else should be laughing out loud. You will enjoy it more with an audience.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 