An absolute JOKE of a documentary. DON'T BOTHER WATCHING.
A friend of mine told me about this show, so I watched it this past week on the Sci-Fi Channel. What we got was a tepid "Ghost Hunters" clone that wasted two hours of my life. I take that back -- I won't insult the "Ghost Hunters" team by making that comparison. Jay and Grant are so above these guys that it's not even funny.
My God, this was one of the worst documentaries that I've ever seen. The "investigators" are a bunch of beret-wearing misfits, who come off looking and sounding like a biker gang. They're approach to investigating is so unprofessional and their presentation of evidence is horrendously flawed. First of all, there is very little set up for the viewer. The documentary just jumps around from place to place and has some very lackluster editing. One moment they're investigating and the next, they're in some classroom setting talking to kids. There seemed to be no order to the show. While the historical aspect of the orphans earns my sympathy, the creators of this show spare no expense in using recreations to milk the viewers' emotions. They display child actors while presenting evidence, with low-budget graphics and heavy metal music in the background.
They lose all credibility in presenting their evidence, because EVERYTHING has been tampered with. They clean and filter EVPs and then have the audacity to RE-CREATE the EVPs, so we can hear what they THINK was said by the "ghosts." I'll give a clear example. In one scene, they supposedly put a doll on a grave and they catch an EVP that says "I want to hold." Well, I never hear the actual EVP, because of the intentional noise/music that is cluttered all over the audio. Then they have a child voice actor come back and re-create that audio. Oh, yeah...that's REAL evidence. It's BS and doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
Later, we're treated to a series of photographs that have been tampered with. If you read the fine print on the screen, it says that it's been "enhanced" or "cleaned up" so we can see it. The same is done with a video that these guys catch in a basement. Never do we see anything worthy of a paranormal investigation. And we're also treated with an array of photographs that have nothing to do with this show. At one point, they throw on the screen some photographs taken by other investigators -- one that says "The Ghost of Jon-Benet Ramsey!" That did it for me. I threw my hands in the air and just laughed.
These guys are a total joke when it comes to paranormal investigating. On "Zombie Road" one of these morons actually dons a bullet-proof jacket for "protecting the team." A few minutes later, this team catches audio of screaming in the background, near the woods. Apparently, the public knew where they'd be and some people went to play a joke on the investigators. They also find graffiti on the ground mocking them and pointing to where the ghosts are. Nobody will ever take these guys serious again.
The show drags on and on, with misspelled captions and moronic graphic displays. We're supposed to actually believe the computer-generated crap that is thrown on the screen. I'm talking about the fake equipment screens that say stuff like "EVP Detected" and the flurry of equipment screen-shots that are tossed about to fill time. Everything comes out cluttered, with static and noise that is intended to make the mood creepy (sudden jumps and gasps). It's obnoxious and at times...desperate.
And I won't even spend a lot of time talking about the so-called psychics these idiots utilize. At one point, we're treated to a psychic girl dressed in a cloak and hood. I was laughing so hard at her pseudo-gift, but at the same time shaking my head at how pathetic her reading came out to be. And appearances can mean a lot with this subject matter. These goofballs look like a cross between Country Music stars and Guardian Angels. Their wardrobe was pretty comical and took me right out of the show.
Overall, this was a sad attempt to bring a serious subject to light in the paranormal community. While these orphan stories and tragic locations merit a proper investigation, these guys really botched it from the get-go. They represent the lowest form of paranormal investigators -- the ones who are out to make a buck and make a name for themselves.
Avoid this show at all costs -- you will thank me later.