braddavery Reviews

Death Walker (2020– )

Somehow they managed to make this the most boring PI show ever

[5/10 · 31 January 2023]

I enjoy Groff as a paranormal investigator. I like how he is open-minded about the paranormal, comes across as a nice fellow and is essentially fearless when it comes to investigating, ie he's willing to put himself in crazy situations, engage entities head on, sleep anywhere, etc. But this show is just plain boring. There's little to no post production evidence review, there's too many re-enactments and produced video and audio clips of ghosts, entities, etc. There's not enough assortment of investigative equipment (until Season 3). They're so reliant on the GeoPort and GeoBoxes (which aren't all that interesting) that 75% of every episode seems to be Nick walking around talking with himself through the means of audio pareidolia. It's not engaging. Little to no EVP, thermal, night vision, experimentation (until Season 3), etc. And please stop playing produced audio WHILE we are trying to listen intently to the raw investigation audio. We watch these shows to see and hear REAL evidence and ambiance, not highly produced clips of evidence or ambient noise. I though given Nick's chance to have complete control of his own show, it would be different and BETTER than most of these types of shows. But somehow they managed to make this the most boring PI show ever. Trim the over-production, keep it more raw and make the episodes longer. This could be great. But as of right now, it's not. I will say Season 3 is an improvement from the previous two. And also, Season 3 Episode 2 features a "ghost hand" that is literally just the connector cord from the handicam caught by the static cam. Two experts and neither of them caught it.

Portals to Hell (2019–2022)

Entertaining, not nearly as bad as some (maybe with an agenda?) are saying

[10/10 · 15 May 2019]

It's no Ghost Hunters, but it's certainly better than Paranormal Lockdown, which was good, but succumbed to faking evidence. Jack is cool, but he seems a bit out of his element here. I think he can find a groove though. Katrina is Katrina and is great as usual. If I could change anything, I would have less camerapersons and producers around (it's distracting and bad for evidence collection), I would be more skeptical about what is evidence (not every little thing is paranormal), I wouldn't use the Geobox as much (it's junk "science" that uses matrixing to create evidence that isn't there) and I would ditch the entire "portal" aspect of the show. Keep the name, ditch the assumptions, hypothesis and discussion about portals. They may exist, but what does that matter when you can't prove they do. It sounds like psychobabble at a certain point. I'm rating this 10 to counterbalance all the ridiculous 1s and 2s some of these ignorant people are giving it. They are getting into some fantastic places that haven't been investigated and have an opportunity to progress as a show, as long as they are willing to make some changes. In it's current state, I would give it a 7. But I'm rooting for them.

The House That Jack Built (2018)

Comes across as a student film that used a Wikipedia page about serial killers as it's only source material

[4/10 · 26 March 2019]

Not at all what I was expecting. It feels like how a teenager who just read a Wikipedia page about serial killers would view serial killers while making some oddly forced juxtaposition to art. It's glossed-over, talky and not very believable. The normally seemingly artistically sincere von Trier seems to think endlessly showing us art along with discussion of art makes his film artistic. He even goes as far as referencing some his past films, in this film. Really? Other than some of the worst film editing I have ever witnessed, it's shot well. The final act would have been really cool as it's own film about eternal judgement, but overall this movie is very disappointing. There are some things to like here, but not enough to earn a favorable review.

2 stars out of 5

The Dark (I) (2018)

Top-of-the-line cinematography and atmosphere, tense and intriguing

[9/10 · 1 November 2018]

I love this film. I went in with low expectations and came out pleasantly ecstatic. It has some flaws and some of the characterization could use some work, but it is so wonderfully shot (by wonderfully I mean wonderfully dark and atmospheric) and Nadia Alexander is utterly convincing and fantastic in the lead role of Mina. I must say, you can't watch this and expect a literal story to unfold before your eyes. It's an allegory and should be viewed as such. I can see big things in the future for director Justin P. Lange and cinematographer Klemens Hufnagl. Their work in this is astounding. It looks and flows better than most big money studio monolith horror/thrillers. A truly wonderful film.

A strong 4.5 stars out of 5