SPOOKED REVIEW by Cinema Nocturna
SPOOKED-THE GHOSTS OF WAVERLY HILLS SANATORIUM (2006/USA)
AS SEEN ON SCI FI CHANNEL/NBC UNIVERSAL
REVIEW BY-STEVE GENIER
A BOOTH BOTHERS HORROR DOCUMENTARY
PRODUCED & DIRECTED BY-CHRISTOPHER SAINT BOOTH
SOURCE-SPOOKED PRODUCTIONS DVD (NTSC REGION 1 / 2006)
DISTRIBUTOR -PLUS ENTERTAINMENT
There are places that are scary and there are places that are truly haunted. SPOOKED, centers on one of the most notorious haunted hot spots in the US, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Built in the 1920's to house the victims of a new virus outbreak back in the day called “The White Plague” or known today as tuberculosis . There are claims of up to 63,000 deaths or more that occurred in the sanatorium up until it’s closing in 1982, when it was first converted into the long-term center, Woodhaven. People who have walked the dark hallways, have seen many things such as a girl with no eyes, a little boy, shadow people and moving orbs. Video, still pictures and EVPS (Electric Voice Phenomena) all have revealed that there is in fact spirits of the dead roaming the once sickened halls of this purgatory like institution.
Film makers Christopher Saint Booth, twin brother of Philip Adrian Booth who directed the film THE DEATH TUNNEL (Sony Pictures) which is also based upon Waverly Hills infamous death tunnel where the dead were once wheeled, hidden away from the patients and visitors alike. Along with co-director Shane Dax Taylor bring a very down to earth, straight talking documentary about this ghost hunter’s paradise. Using Keith Age, President/Founder of the Louisville Ghost Hunters Society as a host and tour guide throughout the sanatorium.
One thing is for sure and very evident, both film makers are able to not only reproduce the eerie atmosphere that surrounds the sanatorium, it is too the point of you actually develop shivers as you are guided floor by floor from the safety of your own chair in your warm and comfy home. Bombarded with images of darkened shadow people roaming the hallways highlighted with only a flashlight of two. Images of ghostly like figures and mysterious imp like creatures, all unseen most of the time to the naked eye but never the less right next to you at that very moment. Yes folks, this maybe a ghost hunters paradise, but to the weak at heart and knees, this is a tour da force head on with unexpected.
Everything you fear, every nightmare you’ve had, they all pale to what you will witness while watching this. Complete darkness engulfs you, uncertainty floods your every thought as the unknown begins to stare right directly at you. This is exactly what is projected not only from the documentaries standpoint but the actual location. Of course this is coming from someone like myself who can only convey this from what is shown to me through this film. Pretty much telling you just how effective SPOOKED really is. This is not some teen-slasher horror marathon pushed into your face as you are sublimely told to expect a sequel in the next few months, this is the real deal.
The documentary is very thorough in it’s history, giving you a complete back history of the Waverly Hills, touching base with the “White Plague” or tuberculosis as well as some of the more famous cases from a nurse who hang herself in room 502 to the death tunnel. There are several areas of this hell on earth like place that would surely reveal some of the most impressive if not most complete aspects of paranormal evidence. This is the wonderful part of diving into the paranormal and to hot spots such as the Waverly, not only are you about to find yourself a kid in a playground when it to this area of investigation, but you are also going to make yourself a whole lot smarting in the history department as well. SPOOKED is yet another fine example of this, to the point that it should be shown in school as apart of local history. Hell, if that were to happen I’d move down there myself and enroll my kids (when I have some) in that school!
The DVD much like the documentary itself is bursting with extra information in the form of mini features and mini documentaries on top of the main feature. Sharing everything from the raw footage, behind the scenes, ghost photography, EVP samples and tons more. Showcasing the film makers, trailers for not only the SPOOKED, but for DEATH TUNNEL as well.
Remember this is the unseen version not seen when televised on the Sci-Fi Channel, so in essences you got a whole lot more and then some. If you are truly a fan of the paranormal, or a ghost hunter at heart this is the grand daddy of them all. Yet the stepping stone for the next and upcoming Booth Brothers horror documentary "CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE."
SPOOKED will air again on December 27 9:OOPM/ET on the Sci-Fi Channel in the US, Canada's SPACE channel in March and also available on DVD. For more info http://www.spooked.org
STORY/FILM-3.5/5
PICTURE-3/5
AUDIO-3/5
EXTRAS-5/5
OVERALL-4/5
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