Friend of the site and co-host of the excellent Kryptographik Podcast joins us this week with a guest review! Check out Brian’s review of “Death of a Ghost Hunter” below! Like it? Be sure to add him on Twitter!
Death of a Ghost Hunter
Review by Brian Matus
Plot Description from Amazon.com: “In 2002, renowned Ghost Hunter Carter Simms was offered $5000 to conduct a 3-day/3-night paranormal investigation of the infamous Masterson House. Twenty years earlier, Minister Joseph Masterson and his family were brutally murdered inside their home. With the aid of a videographer, a reporter and a spiritual advocate, Carter set out to prove (or disprove) claims that the Masterson House was haunted. What transpired is the most terrifying and tragic paranormal investigation in the history of modern Ghost Hunting.”
Perhaps, and perhaps not.
Written and directed by Sean Tretta, I can’t help feeling that this film had a good premise, but was lacking in its execution. For example, if Death of a Ghost Hunter was presented as a “found footage” film (similar to The Blair Witch Project), it would have lent an immediacy that I feel the film was lacking. Instead, we’re presented with a film “based upon the events described in Carter Simms’ journal,” which gives the film the feel of a re-creation from the TV show ‘Beyond Belief’.
The film starts out fairly promising, depicting the murders of the Masterson family. The film then skips ahead 20 years to the beginning of “renowned Ghost Hunter” Carter Simms’ investigation. Oddly, she looks more like the kid’s mother from Two and a Half Men than she does a “renowned Ghost Hunter.” Maybe I watch too much TV, but I expected someone “renowned” to look old enough and tough enough to have established such a reputation.
We’re told that the owner of the house, Seth Masterson, is a “Los Angeles based television producer,” and that while he refuses to go in the house, he has a cleaning woman dust the house once a month. Otherwise, the house has been preserved as it was 20 years ago (minus the blood, obviously). Due to a recent traumatic experience, the cleaning woman refuses to clean the house any more, and so Seth has hired Carter Simms to investigate.
Carter tells Seth that she prefers to work alone, which should immediately seem odd to anyone who’s seen Ghost Hunters (yeah, more TV). How she juggles audio and video equipment while conducting an investigation is beyond me. Perhaps that’s why she’s “renowned.”
Regardless, Seth insists on hiring a crew to assist her investigation. The following day, a cameraman (Colin), a reporter (Yvette) and a member of the local church’s youth group (Mary Young Mortenson) introduce themselves to Carter (as Seth seems to have split back to L.A.), and all hell breaks loose.
Eventually.
In the meantime, there’s a “Ghost Hunting 101″ segment that will sound familiar to anyone who’s seen Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi Channel, followed by some wandering around the house, some weird noises, and a chair that seems to move by itself. The “chaste young church member” (Mary) gives everyone a hard time, especially the “slutty reporter” Yvette. By the second night, the supernatural events get more threatening, and our cast gets increasingly strung out. The following morning, Mary’s agenda is revealed, and she gets into the worst catfight ever filmed before getting thrown out of the house.
Naturally, she comes back with a final revelation, as the film makes its way towards its climax.
I almost feel as if I’m making this film sound better than it is.
While the film generally looks pretty good, the acting is, to be polite, “inconsistent,” as if the actors occasionally hit the wrong notes. What makes things even worse is that the film’s volume levels seem to rise and fall depending upon who’s speaking. I literally sat through the entire film raising and lowering the volume just to follow people’s conversations.
Towards the end of the film, there’s yet another re-creation of the original murders from 20 years ago. This time, we see details that were left out when we saw the murders the first time. This is followed by at least 5 minutes (though it felt longer) before the end credits that are not only unnecessary, but could have driven the point home in 30 seconds.
It’s not the worst film I’ve ever seen, but I can’t really recommend it either.
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Wednesday, 20. August 2008
Great review. You almost had me sold on it until you mentioned “the worst catfight ever filmed”. When virgins and whores fight, at least make it memorable.
Wednesday, 20. August 2008
Haha, words to live by
Wednesday, 20. August 2008
Thanks, it looks like you just saved me 90 minutes!
I just watched a movie called TEARS OF KALI,
which seems like a similar
‘I guess it’s ok, considering they had no money…’
or ‘I feel weaker after watching that…’
type of movie.
I recommend a movie called ASWANG,
or anything by Stuart Gordon (Except Faust).
Wednesday, 20. August 2008
Hey, I enjoyed Faust!
Of course, I’m a fan of the comics too. Heh.
Glad you guys liked the review. More to come…
Thursday, 21. August 2008
Excellent review, my friend! And to think I almost rented this. *whew*
-D
Thursday, 21. August 2008
Nice job, Brian! Just clicked “not interested” on my Netflix queue…
Too bad. Like you said, its not a bad premise.
Thursday, 21. August 2008
Thanks for the great review. It seems like a movie like this should hold some creep value or offer some genuine scares, but it doesn’t sound like it does. Since you can’t recommend it, I think I’ll stay away.
Saturday, 23. August 2008
Very nice review Brian! Keep ‘em coming!
Sunday, 24. August 2008
Hmm. Nice review, tells me everything I need to know in order to know I don’t wanna watch that film
)
Monday, 25. August 2008
I just started watching it. When I saw the production value of the opening sequence and the credits I figured it was probably crap. Looks like I was right. Luckily it didn’t cost me anything to rent. I’ll spend the next 90 minutes doing something marginally more productive.
Thanks for the review!
Saturday, 30. August 2008
I just watched this marginal attempt. It’s not a bad premise, but the most annoying thing was the crazy audio mix! Here I am with the volume cranked to catch some dialogue and the sound explodes with a scream or gunshot. Ouch, my ears. Also, my neighbor’s cat knew that Mary Young was Miranda’s daughter. At least they pulled out some fringe denomination for the guy to be a pastor of, instead of blaming him on one of the biggies.
Thanks for the review, ciao.
Saturday, 20. September 2008
I agree this film was not great but when I compare it to new horror movies like ”Shutter or ”The grudge ”I have to say it was better then alot of the crap I see .It was at least different and had a story line I dont see everday.The actors werent the polished beutiful stars like Joshoua Jackson trying to make us beleve he see’s dead people .The acting was raw and inconsistant but I beleived it unlike alot of todays horror movies.I like this movie,would I buy it and reccomend it to everyone I know,probaly not but I would however place it above most of the stuff hollywood throws at us and then has the nerve to call it horror
Tuesday, 23. September 2008
I am a smalltime ghost hunter. I travel in Texas only. I live here. I watched this movie with my husband and thought it was real. How stupid I feel. After many hours of sufing the net, trying to find the “real” carter simms, I came upon this webpage. Thanks for letting me know how stupid I am. I really wanted to plan my next investigation at this house.
Thursday, 25. September 2008
I thought the movie was ok, but I wouldn’t run around telling my friends to rent it. The only real problem I have with the movie, (other than the obvious) is that it keeps going on about how this was a real investigation, real people, real deaths? I am a ghost hunter and I have never heard of this and neither has anyone that I know in the field of paranormal investigation. Just like Blair Witch, they cashed in by fooling people.
Saturday, 27. September 2008
Ok not the best movie i the world but is it worth a look ? I’d have to say yes.Most horror movies comign out of the U.S. nowdays is nothing more then remakes of older movies. For the record that means ,Like most remakes , they are not worth crap.The ones that werent remakes couldnt scare a 10 year old. While the movies has it’s obvious flaws the story is original. Would I recommend it, I guess that would depend on the person. Is it worth at least a look? Again yeah it is.
Saturday, 27. September 2008
Good review Brian! Just watched the movie and will not rehash the already mentioned flaws … but I have seen worse movies. I think the storyline is pretty original and it does have a bit of a “creep factor”. The film was amateurish, to say the least, but if you have nothing better to watch, it’s interesting enough. Some have compared it to Blair Witch. I liked this one better than Blair Witch. You may not. It was good enough to get me(and others)to google “Carter Simms” to see if it were real or not.
Sunday, 12. October 2008
I just rented and previewed this movie and I loved it! It reminds me of the ST Francis Expirement which I also to this day I wonder if it was true and I am kinds wishing this one was too!
Sunday, 26. October 2008
We rented this movie because we are interested in “Ghost Hunters”. we were hoping it was true. We give it a 7 on the “scary meter” Great, not expected ending. If u wanna watch a good jumpy scary movie watch this one. It was very interesting.
Thursday, 6. November 2008
I liked this movie. It actually scared me. But I am always scared by ghost movies. Acting isnt perfect. Posting here because like many of you after watching this movie wanted to find if there ever was such a house, came across this site, and now feeling a bit disappointed. I think would of been a lot better if it was based on true facts kind of like Amityville.
Sunday, 23. November 2008
I just watched this movie last night and enjoyed it. No, the acting was not all that great, but at the same time you have to step back and think about what your truly watching. Never set your hopes too high, for if you do they will be crushed into the ground the moment something doesn’t appear as you wanted it to. This movie is *TWO THUMBS UP* by no means, but its gut wrenching and real. If you believe in this stuff or can’t figure out whether or not you do…watch this movie, it will be enjoyable if you can get past the hype of *NO DRAMATIC EFFECTS* like you see today with half of every movie we watch being done with a computer….
Sunday, 23. November 2008
Meant to word: “This movie is NOT *TWO THUMBS UP* by no means.”
Saturday, 29. November 2008
I lived in Arizona for 10 years and there is no record of the house or the murders of the family or the ghost hunter, reporter, or camera dude.
If it were real there would be actual footage of all this video they filmed in the special features section.
Sunday, 30. November 2008
The premise is ok, the acting suspect and what’s the deal w/ the volumne? Still its worth seeing, only if more than one go in on the movie rental!
Monday, 1. December 2008
I felt the movie lacked acting skills. It could have been a little more believable with some experienced actors. I too also had problem with constantely having to adjust the volume.
Monday, 12. January 2009
You are about the only one on the internet that didn`t like this movie. It was very good, for a low budget movie I can see why it won a movie award. Take a look at all the response on the netflix site about the movie and you will see what I mean.
Sunday, 25. January 2009
I just finished watching this movie. The acting was awful however it wasn’t that bad. I wanted to learn more about Carter Simms’ death and the others which I found more interesting than the hauntings. Is this really an account of actual events?
Tuesday, 10. February 2009
I saw the movie last night and thought the murder of this family really occurred. No? I enjoyed the movie eventhough some of the acting was not very good, it definately held my attention. Energy is neither created or destroyed………..where does it go when you die?
Monday, 16. February 2009
My best friend and I are forever renting “scary movies” in hopes we’ll have to sleep with the lights on, yet we rarely ever find movies to help us achieve that. I am fanatic about shows like Ghost Hunters, GHI, Paranormal State, and Ghost Adventures, etc., so when this movie gave the impression that it was based on real ghost hunting events, we took a gamble on losing $4.99 and rented it. The acting was pretty bad, the special effects weren’t terrific, many parts were easy to figure out, and the sound was definitely all over the place (I, too, had to hold the remote during the last 20 minutes of the movie to adjust the volume), BUT it definitely scared me out of my witts!! After the movie was over, we watched Clueless for a half hour just to calm our nerves!! I couldn’t wait to search the internet to find out more about what really happened, which is how I, too, came across this site. I’m a little dissapointed, yet happy that such a traumatic event didn’t really happen. I would recommend this movie, with disclaimers, to someone who is interested in paranormal investigation or looking for a good scare. All I know is I woke up at 3:33 last night, freaked out!!! My best friend called me today to say her baby woke her up crying last night during the 3:00 hour and she was freaked out!! It just made the movie that much more enjoyable!
Tuesday, 24. February 2009
Is there an RSS feed I can sign up to to get updates?
Monday, 2. March 2009
is the show going to be canceled?
Thursday, 9. April 2009
nigga this aint a tv show
Saturday, 18. April 2009
Ok, so the acting was pretty bad and the audio is horrible as well, but it scared the crap out of my girlfriend which was my goal. Afterwards, I found myself walking through my apartment in the dark and a little freaked out. I would definitely recommend this movie for a good scare. Be sure to watch it at night in a dark room and possible turn on the subtitles.
Monday, 4. May 2009
i saw the movie. i really like to know if it was a true story or not. if anyone has the answer please post it on here. thank you.
Sunday, 17. May 2009
I can’t believe I watched the whole thing!! I would really like to know if this was real too. If it was, maybe they should have had better actors. What a dissappointment.
Monday, 8. June 2009
Every movie has some flaws, regardless of the budget, and this one is no exception. Considering the budget for this movie though, it was well worth it’s weight and then some. It advertised an interestingly enough concept to catch my attention and get me to watch it. Sure, a few parts of the movie were a little bit too “obvious,” but overall it scared the s*^% out of me. It was scarier than most of the big budget horror films I’ve seen in last several years.
Wednesday, 15. July 2009
Ok so i am a paranormal investagitor and after seeing this movie on netflix and thinkin it looked good i watched it. I was very interested in it i watched the whole thing and then when it was over i decided to do some research and maybe plan an investagation there. To my suprise it is a fake!!! talk about mad! well thats the last time i fall for that.
Sunday, 2. August 2009
Not really that bad. Kinda creepy actually. The volume thing did piss me off. Probably my neighbors as well. Could have done with out the last 15 minutes of the movie.
Wednesday, 5. August 2009
wwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww i have the movie .sad….and will ill say its ture………………………..
Sunday, 9. August 2009
lo wache te move thu netflix and decided to read about it after. I do have to sa hat it was ok. It did get a irritatting after a while.
Wednesday, 12. August 2009
I thought this movie was pretty scary and also true. But even though it isn’t true it wasn’t supposed to be like a regular movie more like a documentary of recreated events from the woman’s journal and from recordings both audio and video. The sound was bad and did have to keep turning it up an down but hey it was like it was occurring live. These people were not supposed to be actors but more like the actual people if it had been true. The Blair Witch Project totally sucked and Cloverfield would have been better if not done through a camera because all the shaking was really annoying. If they had just made it as a movie it would have been better. Quarantine was much better done than Cloverfield and you knew it was fiction but there wasn’t any shaking going on. I liked this movie and had to watch it all; I have seen a whole lot worst with top actors.
Saturday, 15. August 2009
For someone that is interested in true haunted stories and has been on Ghosthunts, my first instinct was to research this information, which I did and I came up with nothing, this story is a Hoax just like the blair witch project was. As far as the movie itself it was ok, the volume was kinda bad at points.
Sunday, 30. August 2009
This film is very well made, realistic with a made as occured feature beyound Blair Witch. It is a must see for anyone who enjoys creepy ghost movies not to mention real ghost hauntings. This movie is about a real ghost haunting; not a creepy ghost movie. If you haven’t seen this movie on Netflix or elsewhere I’d suggest you see it! When you see it, you’ll be careful of who you listen to in the future. Death of a Ghost Hunter may be a great work of fiction due to the fact less based on actual events. Dates indicate possible facts. I think you should be the judge of it.