Extra Ordinary

A consistently hilarious Irish ghost story; but Chris de Burgh is definitely going to sue The debut feature from writer/directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, Extra Ordinary is an unexpectedly hilarious Irish ghost story. It's a quant film in all the right ways, leaning into the trope of small-town people forced to deal with situations far beyond their ability, and it gets a lot of mileage out of just how completely out of their depth they find themselves. The humour is low-key and irreverent, but it doesn't rely on winking at an audience it assumes to be Irish – I would imagine most of the laughs will translate well to international markets. Some of the nuances will be lost, but, by and large, the film is working with a broader palette that juxtaposes the supernatural with the utterly banal. In an unspecified rural Irish town, Rose Dooley (stand-up comedienne Maeve Higgins, who is credited with "additional writing") is a lonely driving instructor. Gifted with the ability to talk to ghosts, Rose hasn't communicated with the dead since a childhood incident with a haunted pothole left her father, paranormal researcher Vincent Dooley (Risteard Cooper), dead. Meanwhile, one-hit-wonder Christian Winter (Will Forte in full caricature mode) is desperate to make a comeback and is in need of a virgin to sacrifice. His search leads him to Sarah Martin (Emma Coleman), who already has supernatural problems insofar as her dead mother, Bonnie, is haunting her and her father, Martin (a superb Barry Ward). In an effort to rid themselves of Bonnie, Martin contacts Rose, who reluctantly agrees to help, but upon finding Sarah levitating, she realises the Martin family have more serious problems. Extra Ordinary is one of those films that has clearly been made with genuine warmth. Sure, the humour is fairly irreverent, but it's done in such a way as to endear the characters to the audience due to their imperfections rather than encourage us to laugh at their failings; the humour is on the edge of being sarcastic, but it's never cynical. The film opens with a VHS recording of Vincent Dooley's low-rent TV show, with Dooley explaining that cheese gives people bad dreams because it's made of the same stuff as ghosts, and hence, they find it easy to inhabit. And this is the tone in which the entire film takes place. Later on, a major plot point is Christian's "virgin rod", a magical staff which points towards a virgin (although as Christian's wife Claudia (a wonderfully acerbic Claudia O'Doherty) points out, it looks like a huge **** To avail of its services, he must hold it up, whisper an incantation, then drop it, and it will point towards a virgin. He must then walk a few feet in that direction, pick it up, and repeat. And yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds. The film doesn't rely too heavily on sight-gags, but a car chase that takes place at around 10mph is one of the most slapstick moments. It's already a great scene, but Claudia's solution to speed things up elevate it to a whole other level. And I won't spoil anything, but the "ginger werewolf scene" is pure Father Ted; an elaborate build-up that makes the mundanity of the punchline exquisite. The single most hilarious moment is Christian's song, "Cosmic Woman", which is so obviously a riff on Chris de Burgh's "A Spaceman Came Travelling By" (1976), I'm sure he could sue for royalties; everything from the cheesy special effects to the instrumental refrain to the self-important lyrics. Comic perfection. Elsewhere, there are plenty of smaller moments that stand out. For example, at the outset, a "based on a true story" subtitle appears before literally disappearing behind a passing garbage truck, possibly a dig at the never-ending spate of horror films to make this claim. Along the same lines is cinematographer James Mather's tendency to use overly dramatic crash pans, especially in mundane car scenes, whilst in one particular scene, he even uses that most dramatic of shots, a split diopter, except he does so in the most mundane setting imaginable. There's also Christian's driving lesson, where he spends more time putting on a pair of driving gloves than actually driving. And then, having gone all of four feet (giving himself a bloody nose in the process), he decides he's had enough for the day. Also funny is Claudia's inability to understand why the virgin must be sacrificed on a particular night, with her refrain of "just kill the b***h" one of the film's best running gags. Extra Ordinary is a distinctly Irish film, but it's one whose self-aware brand of Irishness should travel well. Strong performances all-round, constant laughs, some terrific sight-gags, and a warm tone make for a fine film. For some, the highpoint will be Forte's ludicrously over-the-top Christian, for others, it will be the genuinely touching character beats between Rose and Martin. Irrespective of your preference, however, I would strongly recommend this charming film.

For a movie about the supernatural and occult, there is plenty of charm in this dark and off-kilter comedy.

Wildly outrageous meets raucously funny and warmly touching in this off-the-wall paranormal Irish comedy about a psychic driving school instructor who's enlisted to help a widowed father save his teenage girl from a satanic sacrifice at the hands of a second-rate pop star trying to get his stalled career back on track. While the film sometimes drags a bit in the first half hour and occasionally tries a little too hard to land laughs, when it succeeds with its humor, it hits home runs with its one-liners and visual gaffes, especially in a series of ongoing successive blasts in the last half hour. With clever comic nods to horror classics like "The Exorcist," this independent little gem, now available for first run streaming, definitely passes the time nicely. It's not everybody's cup of tea, but, for those who like their humor a bit on the twisted side, this is one for you.

In this horror comedy that really gets on towards the end, Will Forte's part meanders a lot. Which is what affected my viewing experience. But Maeve Higgins (in her feature film debut!) and the overall jocular vein that Extra Ordinary follows makes up for it, giving you shoots of LOL comedy (you WILL chuckle at least a dozen times, thanks to the wicked timing of some dialogues) and novel cinematic elements. Some scenes in here are as novel as the way the directors satirize aspects of black magic (Jarvis Cocker's end credits song is perfect), all of which are absolutely stunning. I really enjoyed Extra Ordinary save for the meandering bits that might test your patience a little. Grade B-. (Watched at the 2020 European Union Film Festival of India (EUFF).)

Dull dull dull. I have just wasted an hour and a half of my life in lockdown over this.... Damn