directed by:
Matt Benton written by: Matt Benton genre: Documentary, Horror |
Welcome to Hartford, Indiana…home to the notorious Monroe House. We're riding along with Matt Benton, a paranormal investigator with more than a decade's worth of experience under his belt. I have no concept or clue as to where the line is between novice and expert when it comes to this line of work, but he's claiming to be a veteran of the paranormal field, and I suppose we have no real reason to doubt him. He's also the Writer & Director of the documentary we're watching here, "Evil Unearthed." With the amount of headgear he's wearing when you see him for the first time on screen, you'd have to assume the guy's entirely legit, given that he comes so fully equipped to the scene when he's called upon.
Personally, I enjoy these kinds of documentaries. I like the paranormal and subjects like this that blur the lines between real life and fiction. All we have in situations like these are experiences, right? There's enough evidence out there to at least believe in SOMETHING, in my opinion – and I think that we should always be humble enough to consider the fact that we can't know everything about this incredible floating rock we call home & the secrets of the ether around it, so I'm always willing to take a deep dive down the rabbit hole to see what else we can learn. It doesn't mean I believe everything that I see in a film like this, or any other for that matter – if anything, you can trust that I'll approach just about everything in life with a healthy dose of skepticism but a true desire to experience real proof - if that's possible. What I liked right away in watching Benton's "Evil Unearthed" was that it felt natural right from the get-go… Matt's a likeable personality that seems real to me, and he's not like, speaking in a couple of octaves lower than he normally would or being overdramatic in the way so many hosts of these types of shows can often tend to be. I also appreciated a disclaimer I saw towards the start as well, that read: "We do not endorse any claims of paranormal evidence/experiences from footage that we show which is not our own." That kind of stuff matters when you're watching something like this, and it serves the credibility of Benton & his mission to uncover the mysteries of the Monroe House very well. It helps to establish real trust between Matt and the viewer as we all take this journey together, which is crucial. There are things that will, of course, test the limitations of your beliefs. You'll see things like broken arms, implications of possessions, mysterious voices and noises, ritualistic offerings and evidence of witchcraft, things crawling around…the latter of which, I ain't gonna lie, looked basically like a rat or something to me. It's still scary if you're asking for my personal opinion, but perhaps not so much on the paranormal scale. Anyhow. Matt's decided to take on a three-night stay in the Monroe House! I know what you're thinking, and yes, I'm assuming the same thing…all of the places like Bermuda, Belize, Aruba, the Dominican Republic…all those wonderful sandy beaches were obviously completely booked. Otherwise, I'm sure Benton would have chosen those places to vacation instead. But here we are, in the creepy-ass Monroe House, waiting for something horrible to happen to what seems like a pretty nice guy. I love all kinds of found footage shows and movies and whatnot, so watching some guy wander around in the dark is no sweat over here – I truly dig this kind of stuff. We spend a lot of time with Matt wandering around, opening doors, seeing what there is to be seen in what's become a well-known haunted house. A simple Google search will yield a whole bunch of results if you're looking into the Monroe House – Matt's not the first to be taking this tour, and from what I can tell online, it sure seems like anyone who ends up going into this place comes back with some kind of story they'll never forget. Through a combination of still cams and on-the-go footage, we get to see quite a few things we'd have to at least question a little bit, but also stuff that's just undeniably creepy, too. Like when a door just pops open, for example…obviously we can't see what caused it, and the sense of urgency that it opens with is pretty forceful…but we don't hear any significant noise that would suggest it was kicked in or anything like that, and the door goes on to remain open for several hours. It wasn't like some obvious setup where Matt came running as soon as it opened on its own. Do you know what I mean? It's definitely something he notices later on, and in the meantime, we're forced to confront how creepy that would really be if it had happened to any of us. Does Matt get a little on the dramatic side of this whole door-opening scenario? Sure! He's getting there, but I mean, you'd be amped up and talkin' about it too if it happened to you, right? I look at it this way – it's something…and one something can lead to more somethings. Is it proof of the paranormal? I'll refer you back to the previous disclaimer that I cited - and say that basically applies to the way I feel about it all – these are Matt's experiences, but not my own. As he heads into the crawlspace, things get pretty gnarly. Theoretical evidence of voodoo, and honestly, bones…large bones…bones that couldn't just come from mice, and new news that some of the Monroe property likely has a bunch of graves on it. I'll tell you this much: what's fairly certain is that Matt's not the only one that's been inside this crawlspace before and that in itself is kinda concerning, ain't it? Do I buy into a stickman being a definite sign of voodoo? Not really, no – but I can't rule it out for sure. Do I think the audio they record says that Matt should "stay in that hole" when he's in the crawlspace? Not really, no – I think we tend to hear what we want to hear, even if it's something that would terrify us. It is freaky that they're experiencing so many strange instances, I'll admit that – it seems like it would be highly strange for it to all be out of pure coincidence. To Benton's credit, he tries to debunk things as they're experienced in the Monroe House, even though we know he's still very eager to find something.
So here's the thing. Some folks, like me, enjoy watching a dude rummage around in a house looking for things we don't normally see or can't even see at all. For others, there's no doubt that something like "Evil Unearthed" probably moves fairly slowly as Matt and his crew discover something, and then back it up and slow it down and look at it from every different angle they can as they examine it all eight ways from Sunday. I like that he's incorporated other investigations, information, and experiences into this film, even if I didn't necessarily feel like they always provided hard evidence that this paranormal place is fully legitimate. I'm probably more interested in "Evil Unearthed" when Matt's examining things on a physical level, way more than when he goes into how people feel about being in the house, or the weird bouts of indigestion they get or whatever that stuff is…I become much more skeptical about that kind of footage. I like hearing the history of the house, who lived there, what they were like, and what they experienced – still tough to prove, and it's largely speculative, but it's still interesting for sure. Benton starts to get more into that dramatic side of this genre as it carries on, which doesn't really heighten the experience for me, so much as it makes me start to question the information we get even more. It's kind of like how laugh tracks work – would we find the same things funny if they weren't there? Would we feel as creeped out if Matt himself didn't make an effort to sound creepy or include creepy music? Would we feel as creeped out if they like, you know, turned on a light or two instead of all this night-cam style footage? Is hearing something the same as seeing something, evidence-wise? I'm not saying it's not interesting – it is, but we're still being asked to cross many boundaries in order to suspend our disbelief. Take the first possession, for example. We don't see any of that, but we hear plenty. With all this footage of doors and bones and just about every other nook and cranny, it's always strange to meet with these spots that somehow magically defy being filmed. I'd love to say that's not a common trait in content like this, but we're all well aware that it is. So yeah, I get concerned for Matt's credibility in moments like that – I think those are among the tougher spots to keep us viewers as convinced as he is. Some folks also highly dig on getting into the technical equipment being used as well. Do we need to see a new switch added onto a helmet cam up close and in-depth? Not so much, really, but it is what it is. Matt's film is for those who already want to dive into this kind of stuff and is not geared all that much toward bringing new fans in. At about 2:15 run-time, there's no question that Benton is running long and that there was so much that could have been cut for a film like this, or extended, I'm sure, if he was to make a series or short anthology out of this one experience. Again, those who are into it'll love that he's spared no detail along the way and laid out his case as straightforward as it could be done – for those who aren't, they're likely enduring a lot of repetition in Matt's quest to show us convincing evidence. I like the way it's filmed. I like what Benton has chosen to include for the most part, but yeah, even I'd say he dwells on at least a couple of things for way too long along the way. All in all, though, it did feel like he was at least convinced there was evidence of the Monroe House being haunted, and I can appreciate that from his angle/what he personally saw & experienced. Is a documentary ever going to be able to replicate what it would be like to actually be there? No. Are our senses as heightened as theirs are by actually being in a situation like this? No – they couldn't possibly be. Is it still fun to watch and think about stuff like this being real? Of course! There are always going to be more misses than hits in an exploration like this…lots of talking to rooms with no one in them, lots of trying to coach the paranormal into proving they're there - with no results, interviews that go on for way too long, and lots of moments where you have to assume what you're being shown is real in a world full of people trying to desperately tie the spiritual realm to our own. It is all enjoyable and watchable, yes – at least the first half of this film, but is he showing us indisputable proof? No. Did I leave watching "Evil Unearthed" feeling like it's indisputable that the Monroe House is absolutely, 100% haunted? No – not at all, really – but that's okay! It's still fun to consider, and there's no freakin' way I'm going in there myself…but yeah…I still don't think Benton managed to do anything so significant that it would convert us skeptics so much as show us a house that is in sore need of some real repairs and redecorating. It's well-shot, a little repetitive, noticeably lengthy throughout its second half, and quite thin in terms of concrete proof, but certainly entertaining overall – I'm going with three stars outta five for this paranormal activity here. |
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