{"id":13117,"date":"2026-10-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/?p=13117"},"modified":"2026-09-26T20:17:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T20:17:37","slug":"britains-worst-investigators-get-their-close-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/britains-worst-investigators-get-their-close-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain\u2019s Worst Investigators Get Their Close-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>7 Minute, 34 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

MOVIE REVIEWS
\nGhoul Squad<\/strong>
\n –  <\/strong> <\/strong> <\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre: <\/strong>Comedy, Mockumentary
\nYear Released: <\/strong>2025
\nRuntime:<\/strong> 1h 27m
\nDirector: <\/strong>Richard Anthony Dunford
\nWriter: <\/strong>Richard Anthony Dunford
\nCast: <\/strong>Caitlin Cameron, Matthew Devitt, Daisy Boyden, Owen Llewelyn, Andrew Norman, Tom Clear, Jamie Langlands, Rob Horrocks
\nWhere to Watch: <\/strong>now streaming; watch here: www.tubitv.com<\/a> or www.fawesome.tv<\/a><\/p>\n

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RAVING REVIEW: <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Ghost-hunting television practically begs to be mocked. A group enters a dark building carrying expensive equipment, asks invisible occupants to make themselves known, hears something somewhere in the distance, and suddenly everybody is whispering about what might have happened. Richard Anthony Dunford’s GHOUL SQUAD starts with that familiar setup and asks a more important question: what if the people conducting the investigation were significantly less capable than whatever might actually be haunting the building?<\/p>\n

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Journalist Wynonna Wiggleton (Caitlin Cameron) has the unfortunate assignment of following a small paranormal investigation team around Britain for a documentary. She arrives hoping to capture professionals exploring supposedly haunted locations and instead discovers a group whose biggest obstacle usually isn’t supernatural. Norman “Jonesey” Jones (Matthew Devitt) leads the operation, joined by longtime investigator Alfred Hall (Andrew Norman), nervous tech-minded Toby Thorbert (Owen Llewelyn), Holly Walker-Thompson (Daisy Boyden), and former pizza delivery driver Pale Dave (Tom Clear). Between accidental interruptions, personal distractions, awkward interviews, and general incompetence, Wynonna spends increasingly less time investigating ghosts and more time trying to keep her production from falling apart.<\/p>\n

The mockumentary format is an obvious choice, but it suits the material. Paranormal reality television already depends heavily on cameras following people into supposedly uncontrolled situations, meaning GHOUL SQUAD barely has to exaggerate the visual language of those programs. Wynonna attempts to remain professional while the people around her undermine practically every serious moment, and Cameron becomes the film’s most reliable source of comedy simply by reacting to what everyone else considers normal.<\/p>\n

That straight-faced approach is important because the movie would become exhausting if every character were actively chasing a punchline. Cameron largely plays Wynonna as someone who believes she’s making a legitimate television program, and her growing frustration gives the sillier personalities something to bounce against. A blank stare or an uncomfortable pause often lands better than the broader jokes because Wynonna looks like someone silently reconsidering every career choice that brought her into the room.<\/p>\n

The rest of the group is built around recognizable comic traits, and the results vary. Alfred’s ability to treat decades of unsuccessful paranormal investigation as proof of commitment rather than a reason to reconsider his hobby is one of the movie’s better running ideas. Toby’s nervousness and his obvious feelings for Holly provide another source of humor, while Dave seems capable of creating embarrassment without putting much effort into it. None of these characters are especially complicated at first, but the cast gives them enough personality that spending time with the group becomes more enjoyable than the actual investigations.<\/p>\n

This is also where the film’s sense of humor becomes the biggest question mark. I’m generally not someone who automatically connects with dry comedy, especially when the joke depends more on silence, discomfort, or restraint than the payoff itself. At the same time, I’ve always loved MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, so there’s clearly a version of British absurdity that absolutely works for me. GHOUL SQUAD sits somewhere between those two ideas. It isn’t as fast, broad, or relentlessly ridiculous as HOLY GRAIL, but it does understand the appeal of people treating complete nonsense with total seriousness. That makes the humor feel less like a constant stream of jokes and more like a waiting game to see which character will quietly make the situation worse next.<\/p>\n

That approach won’t land every time. Some bits get another repetition after they’ve already made their point, and Jonesey’s Tourette syndrome is occasionally treated as such an easy source of disruption that the humor becomes predictable. A rival team of paranormal investigators creates another opportunity for escalating stupidity, but that material never develops as much as it could. Introducing supposedly superior competition should push Jonesey and his crew into increasingly desperate attempts to prove themselves. Yet, the rivalry remains more of a recurring distraction than a strong secondary story.<\/p>\n

Comedy this loose lives or dies on whether the actors feel comfortable together, and that’s where the ultra-low-budget production works in Dunford’s favor. The conversations often have an unpolished quality that makes the group feel like people who actually spend weekends wandering around old buildings, hoping something talks to them. Nobody feels overly concerned with delivering a perfect joke. Instead, much of the humor comes from personalities colliding, people saying the wrong thing, or someone behaving strangely while everyone else has apparently become accustomed to it.<\/p>\n

The limitation is that natural chemistry can’t completely replace structure. At 87 minutes, GHOUL SQUAD isn’t especially long, but the basic rhythm becomes familiar fairly quickly. The team visits a location, Wynonna tries to maintain control, someone causes a problem, and the investigation goes somewhere unexpected. Individual moments are funny, yet there are stretches where the movie feels closer to several mockumentary episodes joined together than a story constantly building toward something larger.<\/p>\n

That changes considerably later in the film. Without giving away the circumstances, Dunford allows the comedy to step aside for something unexpectedly sincere, and the shift is likely to be one of the movie’s most divisive decisions. A film this committed to silliness risks losing its footing when it suddenly asks the audience to care deeply about these people. Oddly enough, that change also reveals why the earlier character work matters. The members of the Ghoul Squad may be ridiculous, but the movie never treats them as completely disposable idiots.<\/p>\n

There’s a surprising amount of affection underneath the jokes. These people aren’t particularly good at what they’ve chosen to do, yet they keep showing up because the group has become important to them. Ghost hunting gives them an excuse to spend time together, chase something they can’t explain, and feel like they’re part of something bigger than their everyday lives. Once GHOUL SQUAD exposes that idea, several earlier jokes take on a slightly different meaning.<\/p>\n

It also prevents the film from becoming nothing more than an attack on paranormal enthusiasts. Dunford certainly has fun with the gadgets, dramatic pauses, questionable evidence, and absolute certainty that accompanies ghost-hunting shows. Still, he doesn’t seem interested in portraying the people who love this stuff as complete fools. The final stretch even complicates the movie’s skepticism enough that dismissing everything supernatural isn’t quite as easy as it appeared in the beginning.<\/p>\n

None of that suddenly turns GHOUL SQUAD into a technically polished production, and its extremely limited budget is visible throughout. The mockumentary format covers some of those restrictions naturally, though, and there’s something appropriate about watching a scrappy movie about a scrappy group of investigators. Expensive effects would almost work against the comedy because these characters are funniest when the biggest thing happening in the room is their own inability to behave professionally.<\/p>\n

The laughs aren’t consistent enough to make every investigation work, and a little tightening could have helped keep the running jokes from wearing out their welcome. Still, Caitlin Cameron provides a strong center, the ensemble has an easy chemistry, and Dunford finds more humanity in these terrible ghost hunters than the basic premise initially suggests. GHOUL SQUAD may not convince anyone that spirits walk among us, but it makes a decent argument that spending an evening with the wrong people in a dark building can be entertaining whether the ghosts ever show up or not.<\/p>\n

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[photo courtesy of HYPERICUM FILMS]<\/em><\/p>\n

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MOVIE REVIEWS Ghoul Squad –      Genre: Comedy, Mockumentary Year Released: 2025 Runtime: 1h 27m Director: Richard Anthony Dunford Writer: Richard Anthony Dunford Cast: Caitlin Cameron, Matthew Devitt, Daisy Boyden, Owen Llewelyn, Andrew Norman, Tom Clear, Jamie Langlands, Rob Horrocks Where to Watch: now streaming; watch here: www.tubitv.com or www.fawesome.tv RAVING REVIEW: Ghost-hunting television practically begs to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/img\/0367\/0367799.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t