Saturday, July 25, 2009

Haunting In Connecticut

I didn't care if I saw this movie but somehow it ended up on my netflix list anyway. I didn't care if I rented it but somehow it ended up in my home. Go figure.

I decided to include it here because I'm not going to write a review of it (like I would on my other blog) because to me, the movie was really not worth writing a review. It's not a remake, it's not a sequel, it's a story about a haunting that has a somewhat original story, but I kind of felt like, so what. Although the dead people/ghosties with no eyes are somewhat freaky. AND I am a fan of Virginia Madsen and Elias Koteas. I guess there are worst ways to spend an evening (I'm Not There or The Boring Life Of Benjamin Button, for example) but it was just okay for me.

What I did enjoy (and recommend) are the extras. I had the same experience with that dumbass movie a few years ago with Michael Keaton seeing and hearing ghosts in the TV. Movie- dumb. Extras - kickass. I bought a digital recorder for my EVP work because of those extras.

Here's a rundown.

Two Dead Boys: The Making of the movie: Your normal behind the scenes stuff. Not one of the extras I loved, so skip it unless you really want to know how they got all those words on the fake corpses.

The Fear is Real: Investigating the Haunting:
One thing I didn't know before is that this movie is based on a true story. So right away I wanted to google the real skinny on the family. but I didn't have to, since a very long and pretty thorough documentary on the family is included. The basics of the film are true to the family's story. The oldest son had cancer, they needed to move closer temporarily to his hospital, they rented a house, it turned out to be an old funeral home, and lots of bad shit happened. The 'bad shit' part is where the moviemakers take a lot of artistic license. Although, after listening to the family, whether I believe them or not, I think their actual story would have made a much scarier movie.

I'll save the details so you can hear the story for yourself. Do I believe it? I don't know, but I think they certainly believe it. (However, I did think 'FEAR CAGE' once or twice and then silently fist bumped myself during the interviews)
And I think it's totally possible for certain people to escalate a situation beyond what everyone else would normally encounter. By that I mean, I think some people are just able to draw negative energy to them. I have known people like this and I'm very glad I don't know them any longer. (And keep an eye out for the part where something falls off the wall...not gonna say any more than that but I did have the shiverty- jibberters after that)

Anyway, I'm surprised people across Lake Michigan didn't hear me groan when they got to the part of the story when Ed and Lorraine Warren got involved.

I could probably start another blog about how much and why I hate Ed and Lorraine, but I also found out during this documentary that Ed is no longer of this mortal coil as of the last three years, and I think Lorraine is probably too old to be of much annoyance anymore.

Ed and Lo always described and advertised themselves as professional 'demonologists' and were the caretakers of a museum filled with possessed and/or evil items they had collected. Oooookay. My favorite being (and visible in this documentary!) a Raggedy Ann doll in a glass case with a 'DO NOT OPEN' warning on it. I saw this show, people. It used to be on every week in the 80s and it was called Friday the 13th:The Series. And it was FICTION.

If you want to believe that Raggedy Ann has a case of the boogada boogada and is going to make you sick, or make you fall down the stairs, or make your BF break up with you, then fine. Because you know what, if you believe it hard enough, it probably will. But I'll bet you fifty bucks that I could break that sucker open, take it out, give her a big hug and sleep with her for a week, and I'd still be alive, healthy, with zero broken bones AND still have a BF at the end of the week.

Back to Ed and Lo-Lo.

They just.....bug me. If you google them online, I'm sure you can find equal stories either singing their praises or debunking them as scam artists. All I can say is they have never sat well with me. They always felt .... like hysterics.

In this story, however, we have the actual people involved working with them calling them cooks and accusing them of profiting from cases like this. You'll see when you watch the documentary.

So I thank the paranormal gods for real paranormal investigators like our good buddies J & G, and other people out there who certaintly want to find evidence but at the same time try to debunk any event they can.

Oh yeah, and once Ed said that within his lifetime there would be 'undeniable proof from the heavens' that demons existed. Looks like that prediction worked out well for you, Ed.

Anatomy of a Haunting
More info from paranormal investigators and some discussion of the actual 'Entity' case. Which I believe Ed and Lo-Lo-bo-blow-fee-fi-mo-mo got their pudgy fingers involved in as well. Because well OF COURSE they would. But the documentary just focuses on what this particular investigator found during the case. I have my own thoughts on the Entity case but some other day. This is an interesting docu as well.


Memento Mori
The History of Post Mortem Photography

A few years ago I accidentally (I swear) wandered into a display on photography of the deceased. It was in a small museum that I didn't plan on going to, and up till that point in my life I had no idea that people used to do this. I found it fascinating and creepy all at once. This is a short docu but a nice explanation and history from someone who has studied the phenomenon. (and lots of examples)

So rent this, watch the movie or don't, but definitely check out the extras. Share your thoughts on cases like this one (publicity stunts?) and what you think of Ed and Lo-Lo-Banarama Ding Dong.

Mucho Love
Mother Firefly