Castle Ghosts of Ireland

As far as paranormal docs go, this is a classic of the genre. It educates one with historic facts and presents reenactments and eyewitness interviews about the macabre phenomena said to have happened in this beautiful castles.

I saw this once many years ago in my youth and it stuck with me throughout my life thus far, particularly the depiction of the ghastly "Elemental."

To this day I regularly revisit this documentary and the other "Castle Ghost" documentaries in the series. Watch this one with the lights turned down low, just before bed. It'll make that walk down the hallway a lot more exciting.

This is mildly interesting but very slow and as stately as the buildings the programme visits. The narrative, read and 'performed' by Robert Hardy (surely a money motivated move) is obvious, clichéd and staid. It is not scary at all and it seems the same actor, though heavily made-up, crops up in every staged re-enactment of the events narrated by Robert (who should stick to archery, as his arrows in this documentary fail to hit the mark). The best moment is the story of 'IT', a spirit who is portrayed as a sheep's skull with Rod Stewart's hair - or Cousin It with parted hair. But even this story is deflated by the owner and occupier's inane description of the events. The wonderful, atmospheric effects are ruined by the lack of intensity on the part of Mr Hardy, the script, the actors and the real-life interviews. Truly banal.