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Quote:

Zombies are the middle children of the otherworldly family. Vampires are the oldest brother who gets to have a room in the attic, all tripped out with a disco ball and shag carpet. Werewolves are the youngest, the babies, always getting pinched and told they're cute. With all that attention stolen away from the middle child zombie, no wonder she shuffles off grumbling, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha."

- Kevin James Breaux

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Film Review: THE HAUNTING OF FOX HOLLOW FARM (2011)



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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