XP3D

PARANORMAL XPERIENCE is a low budget Spanish horror flick with a storyline that'll be familiar from hundreds of similar films: a group of university students travel to a remote mining facility which is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a disturbed doctor. Their job? To prove one way or another the existence of the supernatural. You can guess what happens next.

Sure, the film doesn't have much money behind it, and the overall storyline is rather weak, but there's much to recommend it besides all that. The opening sequence, a psychological experiment carried out by a dodgy professor, is particularly gripping and the best part of the film. The script is more literate than you'd expect, adding a neat psychological angle to the more standard murder plot, and the use of flashbacks is well done and holds the viewer's attention.

Horror fans are treated to some brief but grisly gore sequences and the film was also shot in 3D; I only watched the 2D version but with the amount of stuff popping out of the screen it looks to me like the 3D is pretty effective. The cast initially appear to have been picked for their looks as both male and female actors are equally attractive, but it turns out they have talent too; Amaia Salamanca and Alba Ribas particularly stand out. Watch out for genre icon Manuel de Blas (HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE) who bags a great role late on in his career.