Paranormal

Ghost Hunters and GH International

I don’t know why the guys at TAPS keep releasing their DVD in two separate parts, but I did get the second part of season 2 and found it pretty entertaining. Some pretty cool locations and the Halloween episode at the Waverly Hills Sanatorium looks like it will be fun.

The show has definitely changed since the first season, and for the better. They are a lot more focused and a lot more professional. They aren’t taking themselves any more seriously, they still have plenty of fun and are still very enjoyable to watch. If anything, maybe they know what they’re doing now more so than before.

If nothing else they deserve full credit for bringing some validity to a field that really only existed in the paranoid mind of Fox Mulder. Although that was a different kind of paranormal, these guys have actually brought a sense of legitimacy to the idea of spirits and the supernatural. So much so that they have spun off Ghost Hunters International. I have only been able to catch one episode which was at Frankenstein’s Castle, but although Grant and Jay aren’t at the helm the team did seem to do pretty well on their own. By not watching the episodes as they air on TV I have missed something since I didn’t know this show was coming up, have no idea who these two new “head honchos” are, and missed all the pieces that lead up to the “Hunt for the Hunter” episode.

But anyway, GHI has a lot of potential with Donna, Andy and Brian still part of the team. Even in Castle Frankenstein, Brian is still a nutball. Barry is still skittish of things that go bump in the night, but that’s what makes him loveable. I hope GHI stays around, it looks like they get to visit some fantastic places and ruins. If nothing else it’s a haunted travel series and who doesn’t like that idea?

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Ghost Hunters – Live From The Stanley Hotel

Ghost Hunters – Live From The Stanley Hotel

On Halloween the Ghost Hunters went to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park Colorado which of course is the hotel Stephen King based his book The Shining on. So this was their first live investigation which went on for six hours. Season 3 has the TV episode which shows their tour, a few highlights from their investigation then their “reveal” at the end. This disc is a three hour episode that has a lot more footage and shows each one of the teams investigating multiple rooms, plus they were taking advice and information from the audience who was watching it live.

They investigate the room Stephen King stayed in while he wrote The Shining as well as investigate several rooms which have unusual activity. There are plenty of bumps, sounds, shadows, cold spots and even some voices that seem to want to communicate.

Jason and Grant are their usual excited but reserved selves waiting for something to come out at them. Brian and Steve are joined by Tango, Dustin, Lisa and Donna who scour the hotel looking for signs of the paranormal. For this episode they are also joined by wrestler CM Punk. He seems like a normal guy who behaves himself pretty well and keeps himself from getting tangled up in the wires and hurting himself. I was a little confused why they would have him on the show, but he actually blended in with the group just fine.

So out goes the Scooby Gang in search of the restless spirits. There is supposed to be a maid who makes the bed even with guests still in it, puts away the clothes and bags without being asked, a little girl who used to play at the hotel and Mrs. Stanley who doesn’t like her piano to be touched. They go from room to room asking if anyone if “anyone is in here with us” and waiving their EMF meter all over the place. A few suspicious moments come to light, but for the most part the show is made up of Steve and Brian seeing their own reflections and educating “Punk” on the finer details of ghost hunting.

Grant and Jason spend a lot of time in the basement or “Employee Passageway” talking to something which might be the spirit of a little girl. Grant gets to the point of almost losing it he’s so tense and worked up over seeing a spirit. He wants the entity to show itself so badly he’s almost cussing at it.

Brian seems a little off his game in this episode since he’s yawning a lot and seems a little disinterested in what’s going on. He’s still in the game but he doesn’t have the same enthusiasm I’ve come to expect from him. He gets a little more animated when they show them analyzing the evidence when he exclaims, “That’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard in my life dude!” Now he’s all animated and ready to deal with the spirits.

Not quite as humorous or eventful as other episodes but it’s still fun to watch. Considering there is some element of truth to the stories behind The Shining the fact that they’re out there investigating is pretty interesting. The DVD is $10 for 3 hours of entertaining so it’s a pretty good value. It lacks some of the chemistry of other episodes and doesn’t have Brian yelling “Dude, what the hell is that” every few minutes but it’s still fun to watch.

This is good pumpkin carving material to keep things light and entertaining.

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Ghost Hunters Season 3 Part 1

Ghost Hunters Season 3 Part 1

I have to say I think I’m becoming addicted to this damned show. I jumped ahead and bought Season 3. There are some stores about Arizona and Tombstone which sounded really neat, plus I have been to the Bird Cage Theater, Bisbee and the OK Corral. I was also really interested in the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park Colorado because I used to live there. And to top it all off was the added benefit of the Irish hauntings which sounded really wild.

The TAPS team has definitely upgraded the apparatus with bigger IR camera, thermal imaging, bigger monitors, more computers and other nifty gadgets. But they haven’t lost that humorous edge that makes this show worth watching. Brian is still his goofball self with “Dude” spewing forth every other sentence and Steve trying to be serious as he takes his EVP readings and searches for cold spots. You don’t watch this show for ghosts since up to this point I don’t think they’ve done a single thing to prove there are spirits or entities. You watch the show because of the crazy dynamic these guys have together. Jason and Grant forge ahead as the voice of reason trying to find evidence of spirits or debunk them if they can.

Steve and Brian provide the comic relief by bumping into walls, jumping at their own shadows and the constant swearing which has to be bleeped out. They seem to know what their doing, but their approach is more like Dr. Venkman in Ghostbusters rather than serious scientists. But the show is all in good fun and it really is fun to watch. I always get a good laugh out of watching this series and since I watched the first Season on DVD I keep coming back for more.

I hate the way they release the discs in Parts and the cases they use are stupid – they stack 3 discs on top of each other instead of using the standard slim packs which hold 2 discs each. I have to say I’m a fan of the show and will get Season 2 in the very near future (NCIS Season 4 takes precedence). Also the price is a little high considering the production value and cost.

These guys are fun to watch and the kids should get a big kick out of their antics. Fun stuff to watch and hopefully they will be on the air for quite a few more years.

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Ghost Hunters – Season 1 – Rating – Too Damn Funny!

Ghost Hunters – Season 1
Rating – Too Damn Funny!

Sci-Fi Channel s Ghost Hunters introduces Jason and Grant plumbers by day ghost hunters by night! Ghost Hunters a one-hour weekly docu-soap follows a group of real-life ghostbusters as they investigate haunted houses throughout the country. Plumbers by trade Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson head-up a group of intrepid souls that are far from the usual collection of be-spectacled Ph.D.s. They re ordinary everyday people with an interest in getting to the bottom of your otherworldly disturbances. Every week Jason Grant and their team investigate a new case from poltergeists who throw a child’s toys around an attic to a lighthouse whose late keeper still welcomes visitors. This team of moonlighting ghost hunters are our first and last defense against uninvited paranormal visitations.

I just finished watching the first season of Ghost Hunters featuring Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson and I have to say that although they have yet to prove (or even capture) and real evidence of the paranormal, they are wildly entertaining to watch. In the spirit of American Chopper, each episode is more centered on the bickering and the drama associated with the team member rather than the supernatural. But this juvenile squabbling is actually pretty entertaining and does make me keep watching.

Jason and Grant take their tasks seriously, perhaps a little too seriously at time while Brian and Steve seem like a couple of Frat Boys on the loose in someone else’s home. Brian with his constant, “Dude! What was that?!” and Steve with his confused and glazed over look. But over time you grow to love them.

The show isn’t scary and there is nothing chilling or suspenseful about it. It’s pretty much they show up on the scene, turn on a bunch of video cameras and walk around in the dark trying to get the ghosts to speak. Out of the 10 episodes I’ve seen they haven’t come up with anything that would make you a believer. They do visit some cool sights such as the lighthouse, a penitentiary and an armory where the sound guy gets smacked in the face by something (perhaps the most paranormal show thus far).

Unsolved Mysteries Ghosts gives more credible accounts of the paranormal, but this show shouldn’t be discounted. It is funny and entertaining and if you can deal with the cheese factor it’s worth watching. The cost is a little high ($20 for 10 episodes) and future episodes are overpriced as well, but it still makes for an entertaining weekend of viewing.

Ghost Hunters Complete Season 1


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