Paranormal Operator Podcast Episode 19 News Jan Week 5 On today’s episode: the DoD Inspector General’s unclassified summary on the state of UAP response, A UAP lands outside of a York School in the UK, UAP sightings above Italy, Ireland, and Canada, sightings of Argentina’s Nahuelito lake monster, a new documentary on New Zealand’s Bigfoot, is Princess Diana speaker to her butler from beyond the grave, can dogs sense ghosts, public ghosts hunts, and is there anything to precognitive dreams.
Take a look at all of the cool stuff I received in this month’s Cryptid Crate. This Cryptid Crate theme is the Bunyip. They are not a sponsor and yes I did pay for the subscription.
Paranormal Operator Podcast Episode 18: The Bishopville Lizard Man
There is something lurking in Scape Ore Swamp. Is it a reptilian? Is it just a misidentified skunk ape? No one really knows. All I know is we will search in the darkness for the truth.
This film came out at the beginning of January 2024, and from the original trailer it had my interest. The overall idea of a haunted body of water is not original, but condensed into a pool, does seem original to my memory. This post will not be a complete breakdown of the film, only a brief summary.
***SPOILER FREE***
The first trailer is what originally caught my interest, and the best part about it was that it gave nothing away only the general idea of the plot. A family moves into a house that has a pool, and at some point during its use people are almost got by something. The cinematography and sound design was good. The characters all acted believable so the writing, or at least the acting was good. The creature design, which you do see a little of in the trailer is eh. I think a lot more could have been done with this movie, but it is a decent film.
Verdict: 3/5
***SPOILER WARNING***
Now you might be wondering: “Operator, why did you put the second trailer in the spoiler section?” You would be justified for asking. The second trailer virtually gives away the entire movie. The son encounters the ghost daughter who was sacrificed, to the water spirit (?), by her mom who was a previous owner. The daughter nearly gets got by the entity. The parents are oblivious until The Mom (current owner) notices her son acting odd. After being told that weird stuff happened and doing a bit of research she seeks out the previous owner mom only to realize that what happened to her is happening to her husband. That is why you see him freaking out. Also, the demon, or water spirit, or whatever it is gets the cat Cider.
Why do I not know what this entity is? Because the film never tells us and current owner mom does not look into it beyond the ton of people who have gone missing. This, the discovery and establishment of the antagonist, is lacking. I feel that more time should have been given to the mom to research because in the end they just fill in the pool. Does this “defeat” the demon, spirit, djinn, etc.? Does it even confine it to their pool? After all, the pool guy states that the whole area was known for healing springs. Who knows?, Probably not even the writer. The villain is there and conquered easily enough. Accept that it must be paid regardless of whose wish it grants.
About the only thing the trailer does not give away is the ending. The dad, Captain America, who is the recipient of a wish and therefore has his health restored, sacrifices himself to save his son.
The world building is pretty good except for the massive gapping hole where we should have learned who and/or what the antagonist is. I saw this film in theaters and paid $24.00 including popcorn and drink. It is available on Amazon for $30! I think someone is greatly overestimating the demand for this movie. I might have paid $30 if it were in Imax, but not to watch it in my house.
When I first saw the original The Exorcist (1973) during my high school years 2005-2009 I did not appreciate the impact it had on some. My dad admitted it gave him nightmares. I wish I could have see it through his eyes. Having rewatched the original in preparation for this review, the difference in quality is noticeable. That being said, while this 2023 movie did get one jump scare in on me, I cannot say it is terribly scary. So, lets get into The Exorcist: Believer.
***SPOILER FREE***
The movie is boring. The cinematography is well done, the music is fine, and the acting kind of falls short in places. The characters are almost nonexistent in that there is only one, Mr. Fielding. The story is an interesting one of fate, choice, love, regret, faith, and family. Too bad that the film only illuminates these ideas about as well as flashlight with a dying battery. It is a sequel to the original 1973 film and you will find some lines of dialog and at least one shot tying the two together.
Overall, if you want to watch a good exorcist movie, watch the original or The Pope’s Exorcist (2023). Don’t get me wrong, it could always be worse, but it could have been better.
Verdict: 2.6/5
***SPOILER WARNING***
The story is about two teen girls who, like in the original, are dabbling with what could be perceived as witchcraft. In this case Mr. Fielding’s daughter is trying to communicate with her deceased mother — using a pendulum? So you can use pendulums in spirit communication, but what the girls describe is not something as mundane as pendulum work but full on channeling, so I am not sure why they have a pendulum. Anyway, they sneak off to the woods, as you do, to perform their “ritual” ( I am putting that in quotes not because they call it that but because I am calling it that). They awake three days later having missing time. After they go missing the parents are introduced and we meet the other not characters. Everyone in this story except for Mr. Fielding is a foil strictly speaking regardless of what the writer/director/executive producer David Green intended. The West family is basically a caricature of the picture perfect “Christian” family. The dad is pretty much introduced as a dick and never really redeems himself, except maybe a little at the end and even that is walked back. The mom is quiet and submissive as I suspect some stereotype Christian women to be.
Once it is established that this is not a medical problem the story quickly shifts to full blown supernatural mode. Remember in the original film when the mom spent a lot of the movie trying to find a medical answer, and established characters as people who could help? It gave depth to the world as even psychiatry was looked down upon by the doctors, but here it is all, as Nick Fury puts it, “black girl magic!” Don’t get me wrong magic is magic no matter whose culture it comes from, but every Christian person and every Christian action taken or presented in this movie is weak, impotent, and second rate to the root magic of Dr. Beehibe. Oh, and I wouldn’t wan to forget to mention Ellen Burstyn reprising her role as Chris MacNeil except that she shows up just long enough to have her eyes stabbed out and does not contribute anything of substance except to complain about the patriarchy.
Moving on, the who diverse community of non-characters and Mr. Fielding come together for an exorcist. You have Mr. and Mrs. West, their pastor, generic Christian friend, Dr. Beehibe, and random nurse neighbor. A priest does eventually show up only to get his head spun 90 degrees which the special effects did looked pretty good. By the end however, a choice must be made: They must choose the form of the destructor, no wait that was a better movie… They must choose which girl to save. Like in Ghostbusters the decision is left up to the first person to speak up, and like the bad guy in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade they chose poorly. Funny thing actually, there is no choice. Mr. Fielding’s daughter received a prenatal blessing (more black girl magic) and Mr. West’s daughter had not been baptized, it is the West daughter who is sacrificed on the proverbial alter of “white Christians bad.” Does the film say this? Not explicitly, but every man who is a foil in this movie are depicted as weak, ineffectual, overbearing, tone deaf, or irresolute. Every woman and person of color is shown as selfless, in-charge, and willing to do whatever is necessary to storm the gates of Hell and fight evil incarnate.
Mr. Fielding, who presumably having lost his faith at the beginning of the film after loosing his wife, comes full circle and believes once again. He lovingly embraces his daughter while the West’s daughter is drug to hell. Unfortunately however, we are left guessing as the nature of Mr. Fielding’s faith at the beginning of the film as it is not shown and only brought up in a throw away line of dialog.
With that said, it is not a bad movie, but it was not worth seeing in the cinema. If you want to see it, I would rent it.
You may recall from last year I made posts about Jamie Maussan and his presentation of non-human bodies. The objects in question, which were purportedly from Peru, saw much scrutiny and at the end of the day was determined to be a hoax. Following the Mexican Congressional conference where the objects were showcased, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture launched a criminal investigation into how Maussan acquired the objects and how he got them out of the country.
This all happened around September of 2023. Well, in October two more ‘alien mummies’ were found in Lima’s airport by a DHL currier. According to the Independent the objects where intended for “illicit” transport to Mexico.
Initial Reaction & Review of It Lives Inside (2023)
SPOILER FREE
For those who follow me on Facebook, You may have seen I went to the movies this past weekend. As you can tell from the subtitle, I saw It lives Inside.
The movie takes place in somewhere America and follows the story of an Indian girl who struggles against her mother’s perception of what she should be, finding her place amongst her peers, and vanquishing a demon. This is what the director and writer probably intended, but is may not be what everyone takes away from it. The dialog is not terrible. The cinematography and photography are pretty good, and the horror aspect is done fairly well as the monster is hinted at, but you do not see it fully until the end. The story is very simple, but it did not deliver the story I was expecting. That said there is a good idea in there, but it could have been done better.
Verdict 2.0/5
***SPOILER WARNING***
Why I do not like this movie. The protagonist is a bitch and we are not given a reason beyond the superficial worry of not being accepted by the end. She alienates almost everyone including her childhood best friend who she almost kills. The mom is very traditional and wants our protagonist Sam to keep true to her roots and Sam does not want to, even through she never explains why. Sam is on a first name basis with her teacher. These issues alone, I feel, do no represent eastern cultures where respecting your elders is paramount.
So, here is the story. Sam is a public school student who seems brilliant and successful at everything she does. Her ostracized best friend is being weird like she in on drugs. The friend has found a jar with a trapped demon and she goes to Sam for help wherein Sam almost immediately releases the demon and causes the friend to be captured and fed on. As payback, now the demon is following Sam. People get got by the demon, and Sam is central to these murder cases, but is never seen being questioned by the police. She discovers a journal and with help from her teacher and eventually her mom, she figures how to capture the demon within herself. Besides seeing her eat what looks like raw meat and a single tear at the end we have no idea what the ramifications for her actions are, but most seems right with the world.
In the story, we do not get to really know the main character, her family or friends until the end. There is no explanation and it makes it feel like a short story not a feature film.
Here is what we do know about the mom She is shown as a rather religious person and keeper of tradition. So, why would Sam, knowing this, feel her mom would not believe her when she says there is a demon tracking her? The mom, who speaks and reads Hindi is the key, so I guess the movie has to movie. I wish they had written a mother/daughter team up, but instead she teams up with her supposedly three-quarters dead best friend who probably would not have been much help.
I would have loved more cultural info. Hindu mythology and religion is a vast and colorful arena to draw from, and while the monster is Indian, and the fix is Indian, I feel the social dynamic between Sam and her mom could have been better. The food is probably the most cultural part, and the food looks absolutely delicious. It is also given focus at the end with the raw meat in stark contrast to the commercial quality meals the moms has previously prepared.
The creature design is alright until the end when you see it in full light. I think it would have been better to have kept it a shadow creature with a rough outline. The idea where it keeps you alive to feed over several days was good, but I do not fell like Sam’s friend was on death’s door when Sam arrives.
Overall, I would not recommend seeing this one in the cinema.
Initial Reaction to American Werewolves (2023), a documentary by Small Town Monsters
Ordinarily, I put a trailer at the top of my review posts, but since the whole film is free on YouTube, I am going to give you my two cents and post it below.
Initial reaction 5/5.
American Werewolves was published on YouTube July 20 and is available on the FilmRise Movies channel.
This documentary is a must see. It is well edited, the cinematography is great, and the sound design for an independent project is superb (as are most projects from Small Town Monster).
The dogman is a relatively common cryptid that is seen in the US, probably second only to bigfoot. The biggest difference is that the dogman, which may be a Werewolf, is a predator that has and will hunt humans as a food source. So, I guess it’s time to invest in silver and cast some .450 rounds.
Many of the interviews in the documentary seem sincere with at least one being brought nearly to tears. Several of the accounts state the creature was or was perceived as actively hunting them. This includes experienced hunters themselves, not just random passersby.
The most chilling interview detailed a horrific scene from April 2006 when female went for a jog and never returned. The interviewee who is a researcher found the remains of this lady’s clothing that were soaked in still wet blood. It happened in the area of Germantown, OH. Other interviews while not gruesome are equally as harrowing leaving many with trauma and nightmares.
This 1hr and 21min documentary is free on the FilmRise Movies YouTube channel.
Additionally, Werewolves Unearthed which will drop on the Small Town Monster’s YouTube channel October 1st at 2pm. In the meantime do check out FilmRise Movies and Small Town Monsters cannels. The latter just uploaded a new episode of On the Trail of Bigfoot.
So, A haunting in Venice released the other week and I happened to be at the cinema see another film so I stuck around for a double feature. I was rewatching the Nun 2 if you are curious. See my reaction and review of The Nun I/II.
My initial reaction is 4.5/5.
A Haunting in Venice is based on Agatha Christie’s novel Hallowe’en Party 1969. I would not call it scary although it is definitely an easy PG-13. Our protagonist Hercule Poirot, played by Kenneth Branagh, is in retirement living out his years in Venice when along comes an old acquaintance who needs his help debunking a psychic medium played by Michelle Yeoh. It is a murder mystery that you will be challenged to solve. I have not seen any of the other Agatha Christie adaptation movies or read her books, so I am a blank slate with no expectations.
I would recommend seeing this movie in cinemas. The atmosphere, cinematography, and imagery make it worth the ticket. Moreover, all the actors play their roles to a “t.” The best part is the juxtaposition of Hercule being a scientific analytical man facing the existential question of whether there is an afterlife. That being said, he spends some of the film experiencing the paranormal and questioning his own sanity. If you watch the trailer, be warned there is only one slight of hand edit. Everything in the trailer is in the movie. By the end Hercule may not be completely sold on the idea of the paranormal, but the movie and Hercule leave room for its possibility.
In today’s episode, possible legal trouble following the reveal of “non-human” beings in Mexico, Space Weather, recent documentaries from Small Town Monsters, a ghostly bicycle caught on camera, and upcoming events. 00:00
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