The Blackwell Ghost 8

In this, the eighth of the series wherein Turner Clay, likeable husband and father turned widower, answers the enigmatic questions in the search for a serial killer that the cops apparently can't even grapple with, we are further entertained. Yes, he somehow kept me watching again, damn likeable father. This time he finds clues and figures ciphers and, as usual, keeps it all interesting. He matches wooden discs to their destination. However! I'm not getting the scares that the first installments were so good at. The detective story is good but, after all, I'm here for the horror. The horror needs a comeback in this series.

The Blackwell series has been really good, for the most part. While I enjoyed the paranormal aspects of previous, I far prefer the new, grounded in "reality" approach. The shift away from the paranormal was needed. It had run its course. Having an actual killer is genuinely creepy, far more so than flipped tables, open cabinets, and ghosts banging on doors.

The only problem I have is that there's never a sense that Turner is in actual danger. He said so himself. The guy doesn't want to hurt him. It would add to the scares if the killer actually DID want to harm Turner. I'd like to see Turner get sick of being timid and tell this guy enough is enough. Bring it on.

I'm invested again. Hopefully 9 will come sooner than 8 did. Sitting on another year long "to be continued" would be a bummer.

The first movie was intersting and engaging, I liked it enough to buy part 2. Then 3, 4,5,6,7 and now 8.

They're obviously made on a shoestring budget, but the storyline moves right along. The movies end and I want more.

These are clever installments that keep twisting and turning. Original enough to get you hooked.

There's nothing fancy, no extravagant effects, but these movies don't need it. Our protagonist, Turner Clay, has a twangy nasal voice that I find endearing; not annoying. I want to hear what he finds next.

Each installment introduces something new. Part 8 is very different than what got us going in part 1. We're in some strange serial killer with a manifesto territory now and it seems perfectly normal and true to the continuity of our storyline.

Don't skip to part 8. Start at 1 and watch them in order.

I respect what Turner Clay (which appears to be an alias) has been trying to achieve with these films. There's not much else out there like this nowadays - essentially a longform web series like Marble Hornets, with some cheeky social media tricks that have hilariously convinced a lot of folks that this is a real documentary.

All the more impressive is that it's essentially a one man show.

His acting is great, the cinematography and editing is great, he writes all the music for the series, the ghost hunting of the early series was unique and compelling, and the Zodiac killer-style narrative he's designed is ambitious, albeit not at all unique and less compelling.

That said, it's becoming more and more obvious that this project is "steady work." The universe he's built is starting to collapse in on itself. The releases keep coming, but the quality has been on a steady decline since we went from a humble truth seeking ghost hunter, to witnessing his deceased wife playing piano from the afterlife, to now singlehandedly solving an active serial killer case that the police and FBI "don't feel like investigating" with the help of said ghosts.

The series appears to be losing audience interest with each installment as well, judging by Amazon review numbers.

I think he's keenly aware of this, which is why he's pivoting to a new ghost story, but it would probably benefit him to drop the pretense, maybe even rename the project to something fitting of an anthology, and earnestly engage with the audience about the content he's making like every other filmmaker on the planet.

The first few movies were really quite good, and though you knew it was fiction, it incorporated enough real-life stuff and was filmed in a style that created an illusion of it being a documentary rather than a scripted movie.

The illusion has weakened with each instalment (I'd say from 1-4 are good, 5 is mediocre at best, and each one after that gets worse and worse), with number 7 getting to the point of being barely watchable - badly keyed green screens, "in the moment" reaction shots that were very obviously set up from the camera position (and the poor chroma keying), and "effects" that are far from special, e.g. He fires a pistol where the muzzle flash is very obviously added on in post, there's no recoil, the action doesn't cycle, and no cartridge is ejected. It's just starting to feel lazy at this point. It feels like something cooked up by a group of amateurs in an internet forum.

Despite this, I'd say these movies are all worth watching the first 4, and if you want to understand why you needn't bother after that point, watch the 5th instalment. The 7th was really bad, the 8th is somehow worse. Any doubt that this was a movie as opposed to a documentary is completely destroyed. If you've watched the other 7, you may feel as though you may as well watch this one, I'd recommend using your time more productively, perhaps by putting wooden toothpicks under your toenails and kicking a wall as hard as you can.

At this point I feel like I've started watching a TV show, and it's a few seasons in, and it's got really terrible, but I keep watching anyway because I've sunk so much into watching up to this point. It's really a shame, because I found the first few movies to be captivating and enjoyable. Now it just feels like content on YouTube generated by a user with no experience in script writing, directing, or maintaining a cohesive and compelling plot.

I think I've reached a breaking point, and I won't be watching Blackwell Ghost 9 if and when it comes out. Sometimes, you just have to cut bait and admit to yourself that you're wasting time on something that's no longer entertaining or enjoyable in any way.