Ghost Hunters International 1.19: "Buried Alive"

Thursday, 05 February 2009

By John Keegan Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.   This is another episode that should quiet some of those who claim, quite incorrectly, that GHI has never visited a site they didn't conclude was haunted. Here, we have two locations that fail to meet that standard, and with good reason. In fact, despite some serious shortcomings, this episode is closer to the old "Ghost Hunters" mode than most of the recent episodes of that show. Ironically, the biggest problem with this episode is something that was first apparent back in those early franchise days. Complaining about the music in the background has been a perennial pastime (and many fans are tired of hearing about it), but it was really quite obvious in this episode. Did they amp up the music in the mix in some vain attempt to give this episode more heft in the "spooky" department? If so, it didn't work. The current production choices also undermine the episode. When the producers shuffle around the investigations out of chronological order on "Ghost Hunters", it's not always clear that this has been done. This allows less active cases to be moved into different slots in the airing schedule as needed. (In essence, the producers edit down each case as close to a standard length as possible, and then they rearrange to make them fit into the 42 minute run time. It's SOP for television.) This is less effective with GHI, because it's hard to mask the fact that certain cases were all filmed at roughly the same time (and with roughly the same team members). So while the first investigation of a given episode will probably be either an active or compelling location, the second (especially when held over from an earlier time frame) is likely to be a case with little or no activity. Otherwise, why hold on to it at all? The net result is that the past few episodes have been rounded out with cases from South America that feel like filler material. And since the audience knows that this material is likely to be "filler", it lessens the overall interest for those watching the show with some expectation of results. It's just not the smartest move on the part of the production staff. Case #1: Dragsholm Castle, Denmark What exactly was with the client for this case? He sounded like he just stepped off the set of a Hammer horror film, or perhaps found himself channeling Vincent Price. The over-dramatic tour was even more entertaining than the investigation; they should hire him to do voiceovers for the entire franchise! While it was interesting to see Joe get bitten by something in the dungeon (cue the Scooby Doo sequence), it really wasn't indicative of anything. I expected Robb to jump all over that as proof positive, so I was pleasantly surprised by his measured reaction. And this was true to his reaction to the rest of the "evidence". As far as the odd noises on the microphone go, I think that can be easily explained. The interior microphone on most digital recorders will make that sort of noise if the recorder or the surface upon which it is sitting is moved, especially if it's wooden. I've heard it many times before. Both Barry and Dustin were sitting at the table, and it's possible that they didn't realize that they were bumping into the table, even slightly. (It's also something they should have recognized, but given how often they either carry their recorders or leave them unattended, they probably don't hear that sound as often.) The best thing about this case, however, was Barry's decision, during the data analysis, to get up and check a location with potential "evidence" as soon as it was identified. That allowed the team to debunk something that could have been mistaken for potential paranormal activity (though only by the most wishful believers). It's precisely what they should do for any situation like that encountered in this franchise, especially when they know they'll be coming back to a location to do a reveal. It's that kind of basic debunking that was supposed to be the cornerstone of the TAPS Method in the first place. Case #2: Cultural Center, Brazil As noted previously, this case was obviously going to end without much in the way of "evidence". Instead, it was a nice showcase of debunking techniques and the tricky nature of building acoustics. This will strike some as ironic, considering how often teams in the franchise overlook the possibility that "disembodied voices" could be a result of those very same acoustic properties. But they made the right call this time, and even managed to handle what seemed like a semi-hostile client reaction during the reveal. Robb refrained from his usual snippy comments when dismissing some of the claims, which probably kept the client from getting up and leaving! That said, I'm not sure I completely agree with the conclusion that was reached. Yes, the team managed to explain the auditory claims. But the acoustics of the building wouldn't address the visual reports, which Robb notes in the case introduction is the main draw of the location. Without specific explanations for those reports, it's not quite correct to say that the location has no activity. It seems like a minor point, but as has been said many times, it's not possible to prove a negative.

 

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