Macabre...ish Horror Review: Paranormal Xperience

Paranormal Xperience, 2011/ 1 hr 30 min

Five struggling med students volunteer for an experiment, during which they are tied to their chairs. Nothing is explained other than it is mostly psychological, then their professor takes out a scalpel and slits one of their wrists and the blood collects in a bowl. He explains that if the volunteer concentrates on it hard enough, he can make the bleeding stop. It is the placebo effect principle and that the mind is stronger than medicine.

The volunteer’s radial artery is cut, if he doesn’t do it, he will pass out and die. This is the point where the others become hysterical and they are informed that no one can hear them scream. Soon he faints and the test is over.

This is a taste of an upcoming exam which they probably won’t pass but they are given a choice, do a study at a nearby mining town, Susurro, that is said to be haunted by a doctor who tortured his patients and preserved their mutilated bodies in the nearby mines. They say the doctor’s ghost is still there and still deadly. But no one has been brave enough to return. If the group can prove superstition and how the mind plays tricks, then they may pass.

So the group goes to Susurro with a paranormal researcher and they find where the doctor was imprisoned in the mines. They also discover that he might not have died there after all...maybe.

When one of them is put on a barbed wire rack and lobotomized, they know it’s not a superstition. Plus a pair of sisters in the group have trauma from child abuse and they are dealing with flashbacks at the same time. And there is concern that one of the sister’s is the killer. 

This is a Spanish horror and the first to be shot in 3D. It takes a little time to get to the horror but it was worth the wait! It is very graphic and gory, the effects are very good too and the 3D was a nice treat. If there is one critique is there isn’t much blood for the level of gore, the film is a little sterile. Some grit and a few gallons of blood would only improve this film. Otherwise, I enjoyed it!