Haunted Ulster Live Digital Review

4 star fun and effective poltergeist film.

Haunted Ulster Live is a 2024 Belfast made independent horror film, written and directed by Dominic O’Neill in his extremely impressive feature directorial debut.

This fun and innovative found footage style horror is available on UK and Ireland Digital Platforms from 14th October 2024, courtesy of Beyond Visible Films.

“Live from a haunted house, we have a show so terrifying that even Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers would ask their mammies to leave the lights on. Are you afraid of the dark?”

It’s Saturday 31st October, 1998 and the eyes of Ireland are turned towards a house in the Castle Gardens area of Belfast, where a haunting is supposedly taking place and Northern Ireland Television are sending in a team to investigate. The house belongs to Sarah (Siobhan Kelly – A Good Woman is Hard To Find) and her two children, Stephen (Jay Lowey) and Rose (Libby McBride – Nowhere Special). Has-been T.V. presenter Gerry Burns (Mark Claney – Distortion) is joined by up and coming children’s T.V. host Michelle Kelly (Aimee Richardson – Game of Thrones (TV Series)) to present this halloween special, live from the house. From the attic, D.J. Declan (Dan Leith) is also broadcasting a live show for ICE FM.

The team are being helped out by Kyle (Owen James) and Daryl (Brendan Quinn – Bravery Under Fire) from the Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association, who are providing lots of specialist equipment. They are based outside in the “Ghost Tent” with Michelle, who also has the unenviable task of wrangling the assorted members of the public, superfans and stalkers who have assemble outside. Inside the house with Gerry are two psychics, Sinead (Antoinette Morelli – Stand Off) and Robert (Dave Fleming), there to try and contact the spirits.

Of course, these things never go to plan and viewers and presenters alike soon find themselves on a very unexpected rollercoaster ride of an evening.

“So, what do you think? Could it be a ghost, or a hoax, or a trick of the light? Are you afraid of the supernatural or do you think it’s just a load of old poppycock?”

Haunted Ulster Live is a great idea for a film, very reminiscent of the recent Late Night With the Devil in it’s concept, as well as paying an obvious homage to the brilliant Ghostwatch (1992) but still unique in its approach. It’s very evocative of the style of local TV networks of the era and feels extremely authentic.

What really makes this film is the acting, the performances are superb, very believable and the whole thing feels really natural. There are a couple of genuinely scary moments and one jump scare in particular which nearly made me fall off my chair. It’s also very funny, the comedy is dark and subtle but it’s there and I laughed out loud a few times. There are several very surprising twists, right up until the end, very clever.

This film proves that you don’t need a huge budget to make a really good film, just lots of imagination and a great cast and crew. Well worth a watch.

“Well, if there is a ghost, I’d like to know who they are and how we can get them to leave.”