Customer Reviews

Ghost Hunters: Echoes From Beyond the Grave/The Possession/Priest and Professor

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We shot this series back in the UK in 1997 and it was the first of a whole host of "Paranormal" programmes on TV. It came long before "Most Haunted" and the like, and was the Discovery Channel's biggest programme in the UK with over 4 million viewers.

All the stories were so well researched, I believe it is still one of the most honest ghost documentary series ever produced.

My main appearance was in The Phantom Schoolmaster (Disc 1), and that one episode took almost 4 days to shoot which is something not heard of nowadays! The research was real and the stories came from reliable witnesses.

But I could be biased! Have a look for yourself. If you don't like it then you can sell it on an auction site!

After all, there must be something in it. Discovery are still re-running it in the UK after 8 years!

Cheers!

Ian Cashmore

ic@hijweb.com

All four "Ghosthunter" DVDs are well worth your money and time.

It is true that the episodes are all based in Britain, and that's just fine. England is the ghost capitol of the world!

All episodes are well written and very well done. There is a good bit of English history thrown in of course, because you need to understand the haunted area in order to appreciate the haunting itself.Do yourself a favor, if you are a ghost buff, and buy these DVDs. You won't regret it!

Caution: Do not confuse with the Sci-Fi Channel's series of the same name!

No theatrics here, just sober investigations into several purported hauntings. This is not a "balanced" documentary: The emphasis is on evidence in favor of the proposition that these hauntings are real. The film features extensive witness monologues instead of sound bites intercut with special effects and spooky music, as is too often the case in this genre. Some, including at least one reviewer here, may find this approach dull. I found it informative and serious. Usually I find shows like this funny or embarassing.

Part 1: Legends of the Legionnaires
About two thousand years ago, the United Kingdom was part of the Roman Empire. Soldiers could be seen traveling the roads on a regular basis, and some people today still claim to see spirits of Roman soldiers.

This program is a documentary not a reality show. At its worst it is a bunch of talking heads, people who recount their experiences of the paranormal with scattered clips of experts such as scientists and historians offering their explanations. I found the first man shown called Harry to be the most long-winded, his monologue running at 2 minutes. Unfortunately, there are no surveillance camera videos to capture the spirits in action, nor reenactments or special effects or visual aids to show us what the witnesses saw. The viewer must rely on his imagination most of the time to visualize what happened.

I did find the "Stone Tape theory" to be interesting; it's a hypothesis that suggests that surroundings and inanimate objects can absorb energy from living beings and certain circumstances will trigger these "ghosts" (actually images like movie characters) to appear. I think I heard this theory mentioned in another British series, Torchwood.

Part 2: Spirits of the Civil War
On July 2 1644 during the English Civil War, the English Parliamentarians and their allies the Scottish Covenanters fought and defeated the Royalists in North Yorkshire.

What I found interesting about these accounts, is that unlike the Battle of Cedar Creek (which is mentioned) in the American Civil War where gunfire and battlefield sounds are heard, the British accounts generally seem to involve a sighting of one or two persons or a soldier and a horse.

Part 3: The Phantom School Master
Strange occurrences take place in a professional photo studio, and when the employees conduct an Ouija Board session they find that the building is apparently haunted by the spirit of a man called Keith Cook.

While I appreciate that the makers of the documentary brought in a few people not connected to the case such as priests and psychics, I'm disappointed that more was not done to examine the evidence closely. For example, while googling Keith Cook I came on a review on another site that alleged someone had fabricated evidence that Ian Cashmore used in the video. The census did not have anyone called Keith Cook as a "Master" but there was an agricultural laborer named Samuel Cook. Furthermore the census referred to a workhouse only; there was no mention in the documentary of any document or evidence about the Free School.

This is far from suggesting fraud or deceit, but the stories do not match up. Someone (a historian? the producers?) should have exercised due diligence in sorting truth from fiction and collaborating the information obtained via Ouija Board with concrete historical facts.

In short, there may be evidence of hauntings in those locations across the UK. But the program is not very interesting and does not exactly motivate me to learn more. A few computer graphics or pictures depicting what was seen or happened would greatly hold viewer interest, but considering that it was probably done on a thin budget in the 1990s that would have increased costs. The program does not refute or offer logical explanations on what the witnesses may have seen. And it was filmed in standard definition at the time, so the video is pretty fuzzy. For a (non-documentary) program about spirits and hauntings, I will prefer "A Haunting" on the Discovery Channel. For a reality show, I will watch the series "Ghost Hunters" on SyFy with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson which is unrelated to this program, or "Paranormal State" on A&E with Ryan Buell.

I requested this as a gift after reading the other reviews. I thoroughly enjoy the Syfy series Ghost Hunters and thought it would be similar in nature. The episodes were more documentary-like and, while historically interesting, I thought they were biased investigations. I was entertained, but not to the point of ordering the other DVDs. Most likely, I will give this away rather than watch it again.

Loved the historical information given. Places were well researched. I'll be adding others from tis series to my collection.

Whoever you are, you can enjoy the remarkable ambience of this dvd. The wonderful characters who tell their stories are so real. The beautiful landscapes set a fascinating and mysterious background to the supernatural stories of a haunted war-torn moor, of a murderous ghost who tries to hide his crime and of persons who came back from the dead to leave a fond message.

DVD was on one of the English Civil Wars, not US Civil War; misleading, but a good DVD all the same.

Well now these shows are right up my alley! I love Grant and Jaye alot and these guys have made ghost hunting fun but also turned the whole thing into a science with all their gadgetry and very awesome take on the ghost world. Jay and Grant are both very charasmatic as is the team they put together each show to hunt the ghosts. I really highly recommend any Sci-fi Ghost Hunter shows that you haven't yet seen on Sci-fi.

I was disappointed with capital letters. Very bad "ALL". I do not recommend this product.

Tessie Martínez