A paranormal nothing burger with extra cringe, The Sleepless Unrest: The Real Conjuring Home adds nothing to the debate surrounding the existence of the supernatural, save for the desperate attempts some will make to conjure a scare for a buck.

A more accurate title for The Sleepless Unrest would be Ghost Hunters: The Movie, so farcical the whole experience as two pairs of amateur paranormal investigators spend the weekend at a supposed haunted house that was the inspiration for The Conjuring movie. The filmmakers of The Sleepless Unrest often relying on over-the-top reactions or post-production tricks to elevate what is either a fraud or a clear case of mass delusion. Either way, The Sleepless Unrest fails in its promise to deliver a haunted house scare-fest, real or not.

The haunted house in question is in Harrisville, Rhode Island. The farmhouse has a long and notorious history as spook show central, a reputation that The Sleepless Unrest has now certainly tarnished. When the new owners of the “Conjuring house” offer amateur paranormal sleuths the opportunity to stay for a weekend, two couples jump on the opportunity, with one pair Kendall and Vera Whelpton producing and directing The Sleepless Unrest.

With their multiple cameras and ghost busting gadgets in tow, this group of supernatural sleuths go about finding the supposed spirits that has refused to move on from this farmhouse. They venture into the basement, they peak into the ceiling, shimmy down a well, and trod through the woods outside. And yet…nothing. This is unless you count footage of a book falling off a shelf as the scariest thing since Poltergeist.

Amidst the cameras pointed at dark foreboding hallways and carefully placed post-production flourishes that tries to up the creep factor, perhaps the most entertaining aspect of The Sleepless Unrest is the over-the-top reactions to the most obscure of incidents. “I thought I saw…”, “Did you hear?...”, or a personal favourite “My GoPro is acting up!” is littered throughout a film that promises much but delivers very little.

The opening of The Sleepless Unrest has a quote that warns of the consequences of exploring the unknown. Instead, viewers will be left with the message about the consequence of spending money on such drivel.