I made the serious mistake of watching this feature length documentary shortly before going to bed. I did not sleep at all that night.
This is the allegedly true story of the Parker family, whose eldest son is terribly ill and requires frequent hospital visits. In order to be closer to the hospital where he receives treatment, the entire Parker family move into a new home which is a shorter drive from the facilities. It is also conveniently located quite close to a cemetery. The house itself is a large, impressively grandiose estate, but when Mr. and Mrs. Parker head downstairs just after purchasing the home, they discover a basement room filled with an odd assortment of surgical tools and a large freezer. To their horror, the couple realize they are standing in a disused embalming room. The house was once a funeral home.
Having sunk their life savings into the purchase of their new home, The Parkers have no choice but to go ahead and move in. They decide to conceal the history of the house from their children, but odd things soon begin to occur. A kitchen floor stubbornly refuses to be cleansed of a vicious pool of blood. The sickly teenage boy, Paul, begins hearing voices, and all of the children see phantoms and shadows moving throughout the house. Paul's temper begins to fray and he grows increasingly violent. Not even removing him from the house seems to help, which his parents do after he attacks his own cousin. Instead, the forces inside of the house shift their focus, and the demonic displays of physical violence and destruction reach explosively frightening levels. By the time a team of parapsychologists arrive to investigate, it is almost too late.
This is a very eerie documentary, and incredibly well made. The mood throughout is suffocatingly dreary and filled with unrelenting dread. The performances are all quite good and somehow, genuine fear is infused into every frame. Whether it's the discovery of the embalming equipment in the basement, or a face-to-face encounter with a black-eyed demon in the darkness, this documentary will leave you with a sinking feeling of horror in the pit of your stomach and an overwhelming urge to glance around your immediate surroundings during the commercials, just to make sure there is nothing lurking in the shadowy corners.
I really had not intended to stay up and watch the entire program, but it hooked me easily and kept me watching late into the night, despite the fact that I had to get up early for work the next day. I didn't sleep that night anyway, and kept my bedside light on all night long. That's how unsettling I found this program to be, and I don't scare easily.
If you like ghost stories, historical accounts of haunted houses, and having the holy old crap scared out of you, watch this show the next time it's run on TV. It's one of the best shows of its kind I have ever seen. Be sure to catch its companion piece: A Haunting in Georgia, as well.
