“The Paranormal Diaries” On Real Haunted Grounds

The word “paranormal” is used in movies a lot nowadays as the business of exposing people’s darkest fears around ghosts seems to be a profitable one. But what if some movies really do come close to the real thing like The Paranormal Diaries boasts? We’ve heard the rumors on weird “happenings” like the cursed deaths of cast and crew members from the Poltergeist trilogy. So what did the film makers do to supposedly piss off the spirits? Well, they used real human remains as props in the first Poltergeist movie. You know, the movie about how desecrating the remains of the dead angers their spirits. So would shooting on haunted grounds have the same affect? Well, I for one, am too much of a scardy-cat to try, but here’s the real history behind why so many shoot at this location which ultimately begs the question: What’s really so spooky about Clophill?

From the historical United Kingdom website, here is what I dug up on Clophill. Think of me as an ancestry.com-type huntress of long-past stories around the occult and spook-tastic. I love history.

In the Domesday book of 1086, the village is called Clopelle,which means “tree-stump hill”. Near Top Farm at Beadlow, is the site of the Benedictine Priory of Beaulieu which was founded between 1140 and 1146 by Robert D’Albini. At Cainhoe Castle is the remains of a motte and bailey castle dating from the Norman Conquest. It was near here Ampthill Castle that Katherine of Aragon was held until her marriage to Henry the VIII was finally annulled. Inhabitants of a nearby manor in the 70s described apparitions constantly watching them while doing chores throughout the day and night. Often times these ghosts would be sitting on the floor, waiting for the inhabitants to turn around. Talk about getting tripped-up!

In 1969 on Midsummer’s Eve graves were again broken into and bones removed. No clue has ever been found as to the people who did this but it seems likely that the Black Mass was involved as the sixties were a time of occult revival with many groups being interested in the darker aspects. In 1975 bones were again removed from the graves but this time they were just scattered around the site which may, therefore, have been the work of vandals. Local inhabitants believe that the site is haunted by ‘Sophie’s Ghost’ especially when a visitor and his wife photographed the church and discovered a figure in the church window clad in white and looking down.

The picture above is a non photo-shopped image of a weird yellow light emanating from a camera held in a photographer’s hands. Perhaps this is the area of Sophie’s gaze where she looked down on the people from her tower?

And now here is the skinny from the IMDB page on the movie:

In March 1963, a black mass was held at a ruined church in Clophill, Bedfordshire by a coven of dark witches. Tombs were looted, animals sacrificed and human bones arranged during a macabre ceremony. Further defilements continued at Clophill in the following years, with cattle in nearby fields found mutilated, evidence of necromancy discovered and perpetual sightings of paranormal activity witnessed at the isolated ruin. 50 years on from the original incident, the Clophill legend remains etched on the psyches of the local populace. In 2010, a documentary team was assembled to investigate the legend of the Clophill witches and to try and uncover the truth behind the paranormal events. What followed during that long weekend at Clophill was a terrifying journey into the unknown.

Over the course of three nights, its apparent that these investigators stumbled upon something truly deadly after reading the findings on what really happened on Clophill. Sometimes life can be stranger than fiction, eh? And this title is finally landing on VOD and DVD in the U.S. September 30th.

Special Features on the Blu-ray and DVD release will include:

• Audio Commentary with writer and director
• Audio Commentary with cast and crew
• Tales from the Graveyard – The Clophill Archives (Deleted Scenes)

And here is the trailer where you just might see a real ghost…you never know: