The Dead Files: Fake?
Ghost adventures premiered with their fifth new season last night on the Travel Channel. Being the ghost show fanatic that I am – I was sucked into making some popcorn, hopping into my pa-jay-jays (and possibly a diaper), turning off all of the lights and basking in the artificial glow.
After their one-hour premiere, I was coaxed into watching a new show called, “The Dead Files”. Essentially, the show is based around a medium and a retired New York homicide detective that work together to help out random people with their paranormal problems. The detective and the medium don’t speak with each other throughout the whole investigation until the very end when they describe their findings with the person in need. The detective is the “fact finder”. He goes through logs and city records of the house and leaves no stone unturned in the historical happenings surrounding the area that they need to feel out. He interviews people who may have known previous residents and even the current residents. The medium on the other hand, just steps into the house and conducts a “walkthrough” with her gift.
The medium is played by a (mediocrely attractive) woman named Amy. She claims that she can see and interact with the dead and on occasion: let them speak through her. While I personally find mediums a little hard to believe, Amy makes it even harder. Her over exaggeration of “past” events and almost laughable changes in character make this show less convincing. Let me describe a scene in particular that left me with a confused, winced brow sort of look.
Amy is standing on the top of stairs and ambiguously (as usual for mediums) starts talking about her head hurting, her neck hurting, and her head swelling (which will eventually prove “dead on” later….SURPRISE ON THAT -_-). She quickly changes her voice and begins to say, “I don’t want you here! Of course I love my children! Why wouldn’t I love my children?!” Need I say more?
Secondly, the editing drove me crazy. One of the only reasons I love Ghost Adventures so much is because of the raw video footage. The unbalanced handhelds that the crew uses, the interviews that only have one angle and 20 people to get into it, and no video sound effects in the mixture. Every single time the show would go to one of Amy’s scenes, there would be SOME kind of editing. The color would be distorted, her voice would be changed, and suddenly there would be camera lines and interruption. Coincidence? I think not. I think that she may have had a hand in what her scenes looked like.
I don’t really have much to say in the way of the retired homocide detective, Steve. His scenes were pretty cut dry. There was no cosmetic editing involved and he seemed straight forward.
Now, let’s get onto the paranormal victim: a New York farmhouse owner. After recently purchasing the house online, he decided to come down and rennovate the old beat up farmhouse into a bed and breakfast. As he was reconstructing part of house, he started feeling watched. A ghostly woman would fling herself onto him at night and he would hear voices. In his first scene the man describes the “need” to tear down the wood from the walls and make a 14 foot table. He explains that something told him to do it. While he was tearing down said wall, he claims to have found an old picture from the early 1800′s featuring a large group of people, “large enough to fit the 14 foot table”…(OMGZ! -_-) That line was such a stretch and vomit inducer for me. And please keep in mind, I watch these ghost shows just hoping and praying that they’re sincere and real.
Let’s switch to another scene in which the detective is interviewing the farmhouse owner. The owner is pretty ecclectic and almost too nicely dressed. He must either be gay or an actor. (I’m betting on both). The detective notices a box of blocks and a dandelion in a jar sitting on the 14 foot table (and for fuck sakes, it’s obvious because there isn’t anything else laying on the damn table). He inquires to which the farm owner replies, “I made these blocks with numbers and letters with the intentions of communicating with whatever is here. And as for the dandelion: I placed it upside down in this jar and told the spirit to blow away the dried petals if it was real”. All the while, the guy is over his sense of “I….uh….don’t really know why I did that…”.
At any rate, I have to get ready for work. So let me leave you with a half-assed conclusion:
The Dead Files is a show with a premise that can prove to be really entertaining and enlightening… if it were real. The editing, the 20 mins of unneccessary footage of the trees, streets and snow falling, the actors, it’s all just so unbelievable and corny. “The Hills” was more believable.
K Bye – Deanna
Someone told me the farmhouse owner is an actor. They saw him on an episode of L.A. Ink. He plays a contractor who is supposed to put up shelves but instead tear down part of a wall. But The guy said he was from L.A., maybe he’s just looking to get more exposure.
I just watched the Oct. 7, 2011 show and my conclusion is this has to be the worst show of this kind I have ever seen. No doubt that it is totally fake. Why, oh why do these fake shows always depict ghosts, spirits, etc. as evil. Why are there never any benevolent spirits. The “story” would have the viewer believe that shadow people come from the repressed emotions and tragic past of the living. Amy the “medium” who was afraid of all things psychic, which did’t make any sense, inferred that it was the mother’s repressed emotions that created the bad spirits and then those spirits or shadow people sucked the life out of her husband. WTF!! Is the point to make people believe that if they see spirits or shadow people in their home and then someone dear to them passes away in that home that they are the one who created the “bad spirits” and those “bad spirits” sucked the life out of their loved one? Pathetic story line and badly faked “reality show”.
I pooped my pants watching this then proceed to eat it!
I didn’t find it believable either. Amy is way too dramatic. And there are way too many sound effects and background music. It’s just for entertainment. And personally, I prefer Ghost Hunters over Ghost Adventures. I think Ghost Adventures is a little overdramatized sometimes.
I agree Haley! The gal “Amy” on this show is way too overly dramatic. My job (law enforcement) puts me in contact with people on narcotics. Amy’s actions and mannerisms are just like the people I deal with! My doubts into the reality of this show began with the very first episode I watched when Amy was being touched on the back by a spirit. Amy got the “hee-bee-gee-bees” and the shivers after being touched. REALLY?! Someone that sees, speaks, and allows spirits to speak through her gets creeped out by being physically touched by one? C’mon… get real!
I think this show has potential but i agree that i thought the house owner was and is an idiot. I dont see what her looks have to do with the show or why it would matter if the home owner is gay, but ghost adventures also has corny background music. all of the ghost shows do. i’ve never seen one that didnt. even the live shows have that.as for this being faked? i have no idea of course. i agree that the stuff they tell the home owners is not comforting at all. it seems to worry them and then they dont really offer any real help on how to take care of the situation.
Yeah, this Elvis character was on an episode of L.A. Ink. That’s normally something he wears and he is a contractor so that makes sense. As for me thinking this show is real-I’ve been completely stumped. It seems extremely ironic, also, that when the homicide investigator finds something, they show the footage of her saying just what he figured out. It seems to structured, and not as much raw evidence is supported like it is in Ghost Adventures.
The show is pathetically fake. It is a waste of production time and money. Its complete and utter shit. And that chubby cunt they call a medium, is a joke.
And what’s with the cop doing everything old school….like going to libraries and archives. WTF?? I looked up some of the crap he “discovered” on the show over the net, and sure enough…it was there!! And if I can find that shit, 2-sandwich eating Amy can as well. So she goes into her little spiel and pulls all these spirits/”feelings” out of her ass…erm, I mean…her memory…and just plays for the camera. Which she does rather horribly, might I add.
She needs to go in the kitchen or down on her knees and do the only thing she’s good fer!
You go Vinny! I agree man… and what’s up with the creepy looking guy walking around filming Amy? He only speaks about 3 words on each episode. The rest of the time he looks like some pedophile I’d see staring at kids on a playground.
Jesus Christ- what fucking planet are you on man, that it’s ok to speak about women like that? ANY woman.
Three words: “Skilled professional help”. Seriously.
So I have to agree its all fake. Last night, on the show for the Florida Hotel, I caught a boo boo, I suppose…either that, or I am seeing Ghosts! I think they show wants us to believe that she and the camera man walk around alone, but there has to be other camera guys/gals due to the footage of him filming her. And what is up with the four corners when aimed at her as though he is really using his camera. Um…I can see outside the frame!
Ok…so go to the Travel Channel website and click on the video of Amy getting pushed in the kitchen. (of the link below)
http://www.travelchannel.com/Video/amy-gets-pushed-by-a-spirit-16542/
She starts out “Is this that other guy?” and squirms cause she is touched. At about 48 seconds into the clip, you and if you can catch it enough and freeze it, (I did) you can see the man to her left. Its best viewed on DVR if you have it and did not delete it yet.
So…this man to her left that I see looks just like the man she had drawn. Who is this mystery man she walks past quickly and does not mention. Does he work for the show? Are the stories even faked so that they can make up these people and hope we see the editing error and believe it is a ghostly image of the man in question?
I am very skeptic of this show, but do watch it for the fun factor.
The first time that show came out, I decided to watch it, after seeing how Amy acted I changed the channel. She’s fake and what kills the show is that there’s a guy following her with a camera while there’s another guy filming that guy filming her! That’s really stupid! I have a feeling that sooner or later they are going to give that show a booting because no one likes it anyways!
YES!!!! Lets grab our torches and pitchforks!
Amy Allen is a horrible actress! because thats what she’s attemting, acting. i’m a “DIE” hard ghost show fan and this stupid show is faker than pam andersons twins!
Amy Allen and her side kick Detective are fucking clown shoes. If they were real, I’d beat the shit out of them for being so stupid. I can’t believe Travel Channel would have anything to do with this shit. I, for one, will be boycotting this fabricated peice of garbage show. Who’s with me?
And then there are about fifty more posts from people who agree to join Spartacus-here’s boycott of the show.
I’m with ya Dorothy…. I’ve seen one episode of the show and had my doubts halfway through if it was real. Now ten minutes into my second episode I recorded on my DVR I have NO MORE doubts this crap is fake! I’ll never waste any DVR space on this show again… so to reapeat – I’m with ya!
I’ve always figured this show is scripted. After watching the first episode, when it got to Amy’s scenes. She just doesn’t help sell what she is doing as real. The detective makes the investigation look real, but as soon as we get to Amy. She just turns the show’s realism around to make it look as fake as it can be. Her over acting is a joke, and what makes the Amy scenes even more fake is that camera guy! What the fuck is up with that creepy guy who goes in the house ahead of time to turn any family pictures face down. The way this guy does it turns up the creepy factor. My friends and I were joking that this guy goes into the house ahead of time to rob the home owners blind. “A family photo got to place it face down, oh what’s this a diamond neckless” whistles quietly as he puts into his pocket. Than during Amy’s walk-through he just stands there creepily quiet filming her acting. We don’t even see any of his footage. What does he go home after wards and down loads his footage to his computer so he can whack off to Amy’s acting!?!? It would make more sense if they just acknowledge the other camera guy in the room, and cut between both cameras for the show. Have one point of view from the creepy guys camera, and cut to the professional camera man’s camera. As far as the farmer guy Elvis goes. I heard he was from LA Ink some how I’m not surprise that the farmer was just an actor. It reminds me of another fake reality show called Pitt Boss on Animal Plant. Any one who has seen that show remember the blond hair bitch named Amanda Shorty hires for a few episodes as a secretory to help with and find new gigs for Shorty and his crew. Yeah it turns out the real Amanda was just an actress living in LA hoping to land an acting role. So again real no surprise to learn it’s fake. I like Ghost Adventures better, but I will watch Dead Files just for the entrainment factor. Like I do with so many scripted so called reality shows.
I really wanted to like this show, but Amy is SOOOOO annoying.
Anyone ever watch “A Haunting”??? Well, guess what? She was a ghost hunter on one of the episodes (she had red hair and is not all gothed up). She was not a psychic or claimed to be one in that episode….and it is def. the same person…Things that make you go hmmmmm?
After I beat my wood to the fresh face of Amy Allen (first 3 mins of the 1st episode) I doubled over laughing in hysterics and got my goo all over my bed sheets! Damn you Amy and your horrible “bad bad bad bad bad” acting!
This show is crap. Amy is as fake as a three dollar bill. Watching her, you can tell she doesn’t even believe herself. And god, get rid of that loser “detective” with the bad dye job. That guy’s drier than my matzo crackers. These are just a group of show biz types sucking some bucks for themselves. The show is not even entertaining. And apparently Travel Channel producers will buy anything. Maybe I’ll make up a show about some aimless psychic garbage and sell it to Travel channel.