What Haunts Us

What Haunts Us is about a Charleston South Carolina private school that harbored knowingly a sexual abuser. Eddie Fidcher sexually abused boys at Porter Gaud for 40 years. They knew about it and did nothing. In 1982 he wasn't fired but was allowed to resign. He then taught at College Prep and abused more boys. Finally Guerry Glover and his dad filed a suit against Porter Gaud. The Headmaster, the Major "Maj", who knew, and who was also a pedafile shot himself. Eddie Fischer was given 20 years. Porter Gaud was fined $105 million. Guerry Glover is the hero of this story the moral of which is that it is horrible to sexually abuse children who are haunted sometimes to become suicidal. But it is as bad to ignore sexual abuse and not report it.

Through an unsettling look into the dark history of Porter Gaud High School, Paige Goldberg Tolmach has a created a film of incredible relevance, one which is entirely unafraid to expose the truths behind a scandal which still effects persons to this very day. Here, the perspective is unflinching with horrific details of sexual abuse, suicide, and personal recounting from victims, activists, and perpetrators alike all without a loss of focus. Clearly, it's a subject very close to the heart of Tolmach, a personal project which has been made with the upmost care, concern, and dedication. For a small production team, everything is incredibly professional from the editing, cinematography, animation, and even Tolmach's own voiceover. Everything here is exactly what the title claims, haunting. I don't believe I'll forget the sentiments here anytime soon, for I have been profoundly impacted by the results. Truly a documentary worthy of its title.

I watched this documentary with open eyes. It is easy to say that in the "good old days" these predators had it easy. However, in this film, the high school is a Charleston prep school, filled with talented and often entitled children.

What happened there could happen anywhere--but it was made worse by the status of the school which was willing to hide its secrets to avoid public shame. This didn't work--the rate of suicides of men in the one class is just a leading indicator of the trauma caused by Eddie Fischer and his Citadel buddy Major Anderson. There are other indicators that are have different measures--addiction, cascading abuse perpetrated by victims, among them.

The courage and clarity of Guerry Glover stands out in this film. The director who is an alumnus and had her own story of hearing about the abuse but not reporting it, underlines the ending. This institutional abuse is made more scarring by the refusal of people to stand up and make reports.

That is the specter that haunts us all even if we have never been to Charleston, South Carolina.

As the title suggests, this documentary will most definitely haunt you. It will expose you to forms of evil and treachery that you thought only existed in the movies. While Eddie Fischer, the culprit of these sexual crimes, is the primary focus of the documentary, there is an arguably even greater perpetrator at work below the surface. However, the story and subject of this documentary is handled with deserved respect and care by Paige Goldberg Tolmach, an alumni of Porter-Gaud, where these malicious acts occurred. Had this been piloted by anyone else, the quest for answers and the passion for exposing the truth to the rest of the world could have been easily omitted and left to the wayside. The interviews with the victims, accompanied by some artistically animated visuals, all help to paint this tragic picture for the masses to take in and learn from it. But beyond the feelings of sadness this documentary evokes, it also gives us hope for the survivors of these acts and appreciation for those who tried putting an end to them. Nonetheless, while this documentary is a must watch for almost any viewer of appropriate age, I strongly advise warning anyone considering watching What Haunts Us that has been a victim of sexual abuse to brace themselves for what they are about to see.

Provoking, heartfelt, thoughtful and eye opening; every parent and every school in the world should watch this film. Every school should have a screening and a discussion with the high school level student body. Providing a safe atmosphere with knowledge, flushing out ideas and providing a trusting place to communicate and offer help to those who have been affected, are affected and suffering.