Let’s see how the team is doing.
I’ve watched quite a few of these “A Haunting” films, and they always scratch the itch for a methodical ghost hunt. I see in the comments section of this movie that people debate whether this is a true documentary or an independent horror film. Full disclosure: this distinction doesn’t matter too much to me. I have made fun of fake documentaries on this blog before, but I still watch them. This has become a genre of horror (whether this is a real documentary or not it still fits into this genre). I’m sure folks have stronger opinions on this than I do.
Anyway, how’s the film?
The host, Steve Shippy, is a likable lead, and this fact helps this series immensely. He guides us through the troubles of a family that bought an old home and seems to have experienced odd phenomena almost immediately.
We get a lengthy interview process with the family where they retell the spooky events that have occurred before we get to the actual investigation. The process is fun, and we have enough intrigue to keep us going.
The film is dark—they rely on natural lighting and during the night shots this becomes a bit of a problem. Coupled with the host wearing a hat, he is almost always hard to see. We do suffer from some technical issues other than lighting. The sound is usually good, and the camera work is usually good, too, but not always. We do struggle with the limitations of the handheld here. Likewise, we sometimes get a bit of an echo with the dialogue when they are speaking in a hallway.
Fans of this genre won’t be surprised by these issues. The lighting is one of the weaker points though. For how many of these films these guys make, I would love to see them get some additional lighting (at least for the interviews).
The other flaw of the film is the length. While the methodical approach does work, I think they could trim this by about twenty minutes and get it to a more manageable chunk. We do get a lot of repeated stories or scenes (where they are kind of going back through something) and these could have been cropped a bit more. Better lighting and a little more cutthroat editing would improve this one vastly.
The film is highly informative though. Unlike a lot of the ghost hunting crews this one seems more concerned with information than showcasing the ego of the hosts. Unfortunately, this is probably the largest reason why this series will never get widespread recognition.
They do uncover some interesting stuff in the investigation. I doubt this one will convince any skeptics, but for folks looking for some entertainment, I think it delivers.
Fans of these guys will enjoy this one, but I don’t think this is the best entry point for newcomers.
Come on guys! Get some lights!
Worth a stream if you’re a fan of the type of film.
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