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Archive for the ‘Suspense’ Category

First off, the jittery camera work and swinging camera motions made me somewhat motion sick. About halfway through the movie I felt queasy and light headed. Just fair warning if you’re susceptible to motion sickness you need to prepare yourself.

I went and saw this movie last night and for a low budget film this kicks ass! To get a sense of what you’re in for it’s a movie length episode of Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures. Toss in a little Blair Witch action and you’re good to go.

I won’t go into any of the details of the movie since that would spoil it, but the premise is simple: Micah and Kate are experiencing something odd in their home and Micah goes out and buys a video camera to document what’s going on. He puts the camera on a tripod lets it run through the night. We are watching the footage that has been found after all the events have taken place.

It starts off mostly as a game, Micah wanting to capture something and make his girlfriend feel better about living with him. But something is happening, and the lack of sleep and helplessness starts to take its toll and soon the couple is tired, scared and desperate. They begin to lash out at each other which seems to feed this entity and soon it’s all spiraling out of control.

We’ll leave it there for the details of the movie. Half the experience is seeing it all unfold. I had a great time watching this, despite the motion sickness caused by the jerky camera motions. I’m not thrilled with the ending though, I thought it would have been done better. We won’t go into the details, at least not yet, but I think it went a little too Hollywood and broke with the spirit of the rest of the movie. But that aside this is good stuff and it shows that if you have a worthwhile story you don’t need $100 million in special effects.

If you have any interest in the paranormal, enjoy Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures or thought The Blair Witch Project was good then you’ll have a fun time with this one. Lots of bizarre things going on and you’re constantly scanning the screen to see what’s coming.

Definitely worth seeing!

And here is another classic for the iPod, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Again, this story is a mere $0.99 and you can take it with you anywhere. You can’t buy the regular book for that price. I’m sure there are others in the store, but this should get things going. So far we have Dracula, Frankenstein, the works of Poe and the ever popular Dr. Jekyll. That iPod, I knew it would be good for more than just games, watching movies, music and surfing the web.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284940545&mt=8

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (Text Synchronized Audiobook™)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=311225162&mt=8

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=318486181&mt=8

In 2002, renowned Ghost Hunter, Carter Simms, was offered $5,000 to conduct a 3-day and 3-night paranormal investigation of the infamous Masterson House. Twenty years earlier, Minister Joseph Masterson and his family were brutally murdered inside their home. With the aid of a videographer, a reporter, and spiritual advocate, Carter set out to prove or disprove claims that the Masterson House was haunted. What transpired is the most terrifying and tragic paranormal investigation in the history of modern Ghost Hunting.

Basically, a family was brutally murdered in the home and Carter with the help of a cameraman and journalist will try and find some evidence behind the supposed haunting.

Presented as a quasi documentary, Death of a Ghost Hunter feels a lot like watching an episode of the Ghost Hunters TV show on SciFi. Carter Simms explains why she is going to the house, the activity which has supposedly taken place there, the people involved and how she plans to document the activity. There is the quick overview of EMF, EVP and using the night vision cameras to record evidence.

The first part of the “movie” is pretty interesting and is just like watching the TV show. As we progress further we uncover that, Mary Young, is someone who isn’t actually supposed to be a part of the investigation. She is more concerned with protecting the family’s reputation and to make sure their name isn’t soiled by these Godless creatures.

So on with the investigation. Things start happening, figures are seen on the IR cameras, objects actually move. The team becomes unnerved and edgy, but they press on. As they go through the next night they focus on the kids’ rooms and hear and see parts of the crime that took place there. Their nerves are shot and everyone is at their wits end. Tempers flair and Carter and Mary Young come to blows over the family that lived there.

Mary is cast out and sent packing while they prepare for their final night in the house.

** SPOILER ALERT **

What’s starts off as a documentary turns into a horror movie for the final 30 minutes. The evil character is presented and the facts of the case are revealed. Through a slow narrative the details of the crime are presented on-screen, with the true nature of the family being revealed.

I won’t give away what happens specifically, but let’s just say history repeats itself and no one makes it out of the house alive. The evil presence that caused the first murders has returned to complete the cycle.

And in the midst of it all Carter Simms finds herself trapped as one of the ghost she has been previously trying to contact, her ethereal image speaking to the IR camera about the events which have happened.

The ending was only somewhat satisfying because quite frankly it’s a 20 minute narration on what really happened in the house and you have to be force fed the details because there is no way you’re getting this information from the movie itself. And in that big epilogue the whole atmosphere of the ghost hunting and paranormal is totally lost. So basically we shift modes and movie genres mid-stream and then trying and pull it all back together in a separate monologue right at the end. It all works together, but it’s not really seamless and considering the big lead up to the paranormal it’s somewhat of a letdown.

A bit too heavy on the horror movie aspect (but for hardcore horror fans this will be a Disney flick), it’s still atmospheric and creepy, with just enough of the paranormal to keep things interesting. It’s not high dollar or big budget special effects, but it is entertaining and worth renting.

But the big question is, is it a real story?

The movie presents itself as being pieced together from the journal of Carter Simms. From everything I have found and read there was no such person and no such investigation. There is no evidence to support that the story is real in anyway. Once you get to the end you will see it’s a pretty generic storyline with man simply being evil towards man. There is a very slim chance there was a Carter Simms and she met her death while on an investigation, but as you will see it has nothing to do with the ghosts and spirits she was tracking and was more earth bound.

If you scan through the web you get the sense that Death of a Ghost Hunter is film making in the finest tradition of the Blair Witch Project.

Technorati Tags: ghost hunter, horror, paranormal, investigation, haunting, documentary