Customer Reviews

Mysteries & Myths: 20th Century Ghosts & Madonna [VHS]

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The two features on this tape do not really have a lot to offer. Rather than give any detailed analysis about any haunting in particular, the producers seem to jump rather randomly from one ghostly account to the next. It actually starts out referring to historic ghosts reputed to dwell in some of the castles of Britain and France; the Tower of London features prominently here. It cites questionable cases such as the goings-on at Borley Rectory in Essex and the well-known vision of a 17th century courtly audience by two older ladies in Versailles a century ago. When it finally makes its way to Twentieth Century Ghosts, which is the title of the feature after all, it gives us a hop, skip, and a jump between World War I battlefield apparitions (one of which is a myth arising from one of Arthur Machen's short stories), a haunted submarine, reported airliner ghosts, the quintessential phantom hitchhiker, and Alcatraz. The feature on Mysterious Madonnas is even less interesting, I feel. It first covers several reports of weeping icons and statues of the Virgin Mary followed by a mundane image of a Madonna-like reflection on a tall building. One interesting segment addresses rather recent accounts of several Hindu religious icons seemingly drinking up to liters of milk offered in daily devotion. The feature closes with a look at the controversial Shroud of Turin, offering theories as to how it might have been created in the 14th century and seemingly accepting the more than reasonable scientific proof that it is not from the time of Christ. Frankly, I was rather amazed to find no mention of Fatima or other reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary; when I think of mysterious Madonnas, I think almost exclusively of Fatima. Do not let an interest in sightings of the Virgin compel you to buy this tape because you will hear nothing about the subject. Seemingly unable to decide whether it wants to support or argue against the subject matter addressed in both features, this video is not particularly worth watching.

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