TV
The Dead Files – Terror in the Shadows – S01E03
October 11, 2011 | 
Author There were a lot of problems with this episode. First off, if Amy has such a hard time dealing with the entities she encounters and feels the urge to run away all the time, why does she keep doing this? She’s constantly going on about how she can’t be in a certain room, can’t go down the stairs, doesn’t like the way she feels and feels pain all the time. If it’s that big a deal maybe you should just stay home? These past three episodes have been about you nearly coming unglued and wanting to hide under the bed. Either face your demons, figuratively and literally, or quit going into people’s houses that might have a problem. If the sight of pizza makes you ill, working at a Pizza Hut might be a bad career choice for you. Just sayin’.
The other problem I have is the claim that shadow figures tried to kill her. When she was four, Amy bit into a power cord and electrocuted herself. She claims that shadow figures encouraged her to do it. Since this sort of thing happens all the time, is she now making the claim that children who bite power cords and stick forks in sockets are at the mercy of shadow figures? I just have a hard time accepting an everyday occurrence and something caused by mystical shadow figures.
What does Amy actually uncover amidst her cowering the corner? She claims there are multiple shadow figures in the house draining the life out of people. She feels they’re evil and could be working to kill someone. Amy is constantly muttering how she’s surrounded by dark energy and they’re all out to get her. She barely manages to stay in one room for more than a few seconds and each place she stops is worse than the last. Finally, she bolts out of the house because she can’t take anymore. When she gathers her wits and can speak again she claims that not only are there shadow people lurking around, but there’s a poltergeist as well. A poltergeist that one of the family members has brought around.
To get away from the house Amy heads over to the garage area where she nearly has another breakdown and claims that two people died in a truck. After only a minute or two, she has to make a hasty retreat from there as well.
Meanwhile Steve interviews the mom, daughter and son to get an idea of what’s going on. They all claim to have had experiences in the house, but mom denies that any of it is real. She believes her kids have seen and experienced things, but she glosses over it and feels she needs to move on with her life. The kids are afraid to sleep upstairs in the house. They didn’t like the place as kids and they don’t like being back as adults. They’re actually afraid for their mom since she lives there alone.
Really the only thing Steve can find is that a death did occur in the garage where a father killed himself and his small son through asphyxia. He hooked up the tailpipe to the interior of a truck and kept it running until they both perished. Horrible to be sure, but how does this explain the shadow figures?
When Amy visits the house to talk to everyone, she’s firmly convinced the mom is causing the poltergeist. She has repressed feelings about the loss of her mother and father as well as the loss of her husband. Because she’s in denial, it’s created this dark energy. Amy doesn’t explain where the shadow figures came from because she doesn’t know. The only thing she can really offer is that mom needs to start dealing with her feelings and maybe some of the energy will dissipate. Not to be rude, but she really doesn’t have much to offer here. Amy basically says she would run away from the house and never come back. Not exactly helpful for the homeowners is it? What do we need to burn the place to the ground to cleanse it?
The kids don’t feel their mother is the cause of the poltergeist either, but that’s to be expected. Not many kids are going to believe their mom is responsible for an evil ball of energy roaming through the house.
When all is said and done, we really don’t settle much. Amy is scared witless by the house and the kids are left in the same situation as before. Is there really something going on in the house or is there some other explanation for the events? Has mom and her repressed feelings about death generated something evil? Is the house really infested with ill-meaning shadow figures?
Is seems to me this is a prime location for a paranormal investigation. Let’s see, who could be get to show up?
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Ghost Adventures – Old Town San Diego – S05E03
Let this episode be a reminder that drinking and interviewing don’t always mix. Zak has one hell of a time doing shots at the Hotel and may have gotten slightly carried away. You never know though, was he really doing shots or as Nick suggest, where they just drinking root beer for the effect of it all? Either way, it makes for some amusing moments as Zak gets his drink on then tries to keep it all together and gets down to business.
The hotel is known for quite a bit of paranormal activity such as, bottles on the bar move, lights go on and off, and a woman felt a spirit go through her. A young girl died and a bed was made as a memorial to her. That bed was brought to the hotel when the owners wanted to get rid of it because of the experiences they were having. People feel the presence of Isadora Bandini, who opens the curtains to the window in her room, adjusts a large mirror in the corner and leaves indentations on the bed. There is a lot of activity, but there aren’t a lot of corresponding dark events. There aren’t stories of people being killed or mistreatment of servants. There just seems to be activity around the place without a root cause.
So, after Zak sobers up we get on with the investigation. They start things off in the Casa de Estudillo where they get a few experiences, but not much else in the way of tangible evidence. They all have a heavy feeling when they enter certain rooms as well as several knocks and the sounds of footsteps.
The investigation moves on to the Hotel where they bring in some dancers to get the party started. Senor Bandini loved a good party so perhaps he will come out to join them. Zak believes he hears some singing, but there isn’t an obvious connection to the dancers and Bandini. When the guys split up Zak brings out the Ovilus and gets several words like Mandy, Rose, Vase and Digging. Again, it doesn’t quite translate into anything solid.
Overall they get a few hard to define EVPs, some footsteps and a general feeling that someone is there. Did they actually capture the spirit of Bandini as he continues to oversee parties in the hotel? Hard to say. What we do know if that Zak had one heck of a good time and hung out with some of his fans.
American Horror Story
Has anyone tuned in for this new series on FX? I just watched the pilot episode and it’s shaping up to be one strange and weird story.
We have a couple on the rebound from a miscarriage and infidelity trying to make a new start and forgive each other. They also have their awkward daughter who doesn’t fit in with the other kids and doesn’t try either. They move across the country to Los Angeles where they get a killer of a deal on an old, spacious house. The deal is too good to be true because the previous owners were killed there in a murder – suicide. Right off the bat we have a bad marriage, troubled teen and a house with a dangerously checkered past. But that’s not all. There’s the nosy neighbor who knows a hell of a lot more than she’s telling. Her daughter who has a habit of breaking into the house and telling people they’re going to die. And the housekeeper that simply shows up to resume her duties. She cleans the house regardless of who lives there. For good measure, there is the other troubled teen that has fantasies about killing his classmates and teachers. He also has a thing for the couple’s daughter.
Things get strange very quickly and nothing is as it appears. It’s Amityville, the Shining and A Haunting all mixed together. It’s a pretty interesting move to make this a series rather than a standalone movie. We should get plenty of character depth, plenty of history and plenty of chances for some good scares. This first episode certainly got the balls rolling; let’s hope the following episodes keep the tension building.
The Dead Files – The Devil Made Me Do It – S01E02
I really want to like this show because of the premise. You take a psychic and a New York cop, take them to a location where paranormal activity is reported, let them come to their own conclusions and then compare notes. The show isn’t too bad and the information they uncover is intriguing, but Amy Allen, the medium, acts like such a complete loon at times it’s hard to deal with. When she’s just talking and going over details, she’s fine. She’s coherent and everything seems normal. On the walkthrough, she becomes babbling and incoherent. Her actions and mannerisms are the cliché way you see characters in a movie act during a séance. It’s just hard to deal with the constant almost nonsensical chatter she comes out with. It’s like listening to an 8-year old hopped up on Pixie Sticks. Plus, that stupid grainy overlay they put up when she’s talking is ridiculous. This isn’t Paranormal Activity. Get rid of that damn thing.
Stephen Dischiavi, the New York cop, always comes across as calm and collected. He has a matter of fact way of doing business and that keeps things grounded. He keeps the show from being laughable. I like what they’re doing, but there are some parts that are really hard to tolerate.
For this investigation, they go to a restaurant where strange phenomena have been occurring. The owner has seen figures and heard noises. The staff has also seen and heard things and many of them won’t go down there anymore. It sounds like there’s trouble in the basement. So what’s going on down there?
Amy does a tour of the place and flat out says she’s scared to go down to the basement of the building. She feels something evil is down there. Meanwhile, Stephen discovers a murder took place down there. The former owner of the property was beaten to death with a hammer. It turns out the owner made a sexual advance toward a male employee and that employee turned on him and beat him over a dozen times in the head and face.
Amy gets the strong impression of something evil and demonic down there. She’s constantly fidgeting with her hands and saying the place is bad. Amy begins to get impressions of what happened and goes to a sketch artist to get a picture of what she sees. Interestingly, the artist’s sketch looks somewhat like the man who’s been incarcerated for the crime. Amy is saying there is a lot of bad energy down there and it’s been there for a long time. This event may have been brought on by someone possessed by negative energy.
It’s a pretty interesting ride and terribly tragic story. One mistake made by both men and lives are ruined. One man’s dead and the other will spend the rest of his life in jail. But is he a victim too? Was he taken over by some force? Was he truly not himself when the events happened?
Amy gets the owner to perform cleansing rituals on the basement to keep the evil entity in check. Is this something they need to do forever? Will this evil force move on? Will it grow stronger and cause even more destruction? It’s hard to say how things will play out, but the restaurant staff aren’t taking any chances.
