|
Ghost Hunters International 1.16: "City of the Doomed" |
|
Thursday, 15 January 2009 |
|
|
By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
| I found this to be a fairly enjoyable episode of the series. Whether filmed in HD or simply up-converted to the resolution after the fact, I enjoy the more complete view of the locations. (At least some of the footage is in HD, if the big letters on the side of the cameras is any indication.) As I said in the previous review, the investigative practices aren’t changing all that much, either from earlier GHI outings or the original TAPS methodology, so that’s status quo.
The cast is still a work in progress, though I’ve warmed up to it relatively quickly. The group could still use a solid debunker again, and I think that lack hurt them in the previous investigation, but I couldn’t fault them too much this time around. I may not have come to the same conclusions, but I can see why they interpreted the “evidence” as they did.
On the other hand, I can see this “rotating sixth member” idea going horrifically wrong should it continue. Robert was fine in this episode, but team chemistry is very important. Personnel issues can quickly drag an investigation into uselessness. GHI only has one shot at gathering data in a location, and they’re still a team that has been cobbled together more often than not. While I’m sure Robb is being as careful as possible in his selections, there’s no guarantee of success.
Case #1: Grande Hotel, Cambuquira, Brazil
I like this idea of renting out an entire hotel for an investigation. I’m sure it’s very expensive, but it’s impossible to get solid data otherwise. I’ve investigated far too many locations where background chatter has undermined the entire point of the exercise.
The main piece of “evidence” was the shadow on the wall, supposedly coinciding with a strange misty formation in front of a light in an adjacent hall. Two things come to mind. First, the “evidence” is flawed because there is no comparative picture from the “normal spectrum” camera to demonstrate that the shadow is unusual. Second, there is nothing to indicate or prove that the unusual mist appeared at the same exact time that the photo was taken. GHI certainly believes so, but the information provided doesn’t make the case.
The other set of photos is interesting as well, because it looks like something is there and moving. Unfortunately, other than the location itself and the stories surrounding it, there’s nothing to add to the photos to give the “evidence” more weight. It’s definitely something worth looking into more closely, but given my skeptical stance on photographic “evidence”, I didn’t find it convincing on its own.
All that said, I can certainly understand why the team interpreted the data as they did, and why they considered the location to be haunted.
Case #2: The Little Castle, Sao Paulo, Brazil
I feel like this location was chosen as an exercise in contrasts. After a vacant hotel with little or no potential for outside contamination, they end up in the middle of a busy city in a pile of ruins. I’m not even sure why they bothered. In practical terms, everything on audio would have to be considered questionable at best and unusable at worst.
Which is why I discount the EVP completely. It’s not as though Eduardo is an unusual name, so why couldn’t it have been someone in the area calling out someone’s name? With the roof completely missing, the acoustics would be a nightmare of apparent contradictions. Under the circumstances, GHI could hardly refuse to conduct the investigation, but choosing to present this “EVP” feels a bit like grasping at straws.
That said, the team didn’t declare the location haunted, and even seemed a bit cagey on the notion that there’s something unusual happening at the site. I felt that their comments about paranormal activity were more for the client than a reflection of their actual opinion. |
