I’ve seen bad paranormal investigation films but nothing is
as bad and horribly cobbled together than the anemic The Haunting of Fox Hollow Farm (2011). This amateur film is made worse by the
frantic MTV video style editing that immediately takes you out of the film but
more on that in a few moments. First of
all the film concerns the property of serial killer Herb Baumeister who
supposedly killed himself after over 17 bodies were discovered buried on his
property of Fox Hollow Farm. The film is
a collage of several different investigations to the property, police footage,
and interviews with various people with knowledge connected to the story.
The film not only delves into the Baumeister’s history and
possible motivations for his crimes but to the mystery surrounding his apparent
suicide as well as the possibility of the spirits of Baumeister’s victims still
haunting the property. With so many
avenues to choose from to focus on producer/director Dan T. Hall decides to
just cobble them altogether in a haphazard way from the many different
investigations that took place on the property.
From EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena) to séances to your typical
paranormal devices no stone is left unturned when trying to get to the
truth. The only problem is that there is
no through line with the material therefore it feels that Hall is just throwing
info at the audience to see what sticks when in reality none of it does because
Hall allows only 1-3 sentences to describe each of his thoughts before moving
to the next one as though there is a set time limit to how long he can stay on
any one given idea.
Because of the editing style the film is a complete mess and
instead of cementing any concrete ideas about Baumeister or the paranormal the
film simply regurgitates a lot of info from a lot of different people whom the
audience never believes have any real authority in their field. If nothing more the film will showcase how
NOT to conduct a paranormal investigation (or film). This film is such a mess that it would be
hard for a fan of paranormal investigations to find anything worth complimenting
the film on.
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