Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hills Sanatorium

OK so its a documentary about an old hospital that was used to treat TB and then was an old folks home. My first complaint is that I couldn't figure out why the director had the need to constantly plug his movie 'death Tunnel' whenever he could get a chance (it looks like a terrible movie). I also found some of the 'eyewitness'' accounts are no very convincing. However I did find some of the cinematography to be good and some of the stories (they more than likely made up) where entertaining. The saving grace for me was the actual location. If you google it and do a little research of your own you might enjoy this doc more. The history of this place is very interesting and tragic and while the movie has moments were it portrays this well it just cant keep it up. Good attempt but lack credibility.

Let me preface by stating that I have lived in Louisville, Kentucky all of my life. I grew up about ½ mile from Waverly. In the wintertime we would pull our sleds down Maryman road and cross Dixie Highway to go sleigh riding on Waverly Hill. Many times during the winter of 76-77 we would climb into the Tunnel to warm ourselves. The place was still being run as a "Geriatric Center" at the time. We would go all the way through the tunnel up the hill to bang on what we thought was the "Door to the Morgue". I have to be honest. The only sensation we felt was that we were getting away with something we should not be doing. I would have to say we went up that tunnel over 50 times that winter. Nothing stranger than teen-aged boys acting stupid ever happened. I love the fact that it is getting attention after all these years. One evening when I was young we looked out our front porch and it appeared that the entire hill was on fire. There was an older hospital on the hill that burned down. It burned for hours while the entire neighborhood sat outside and watched. The thing that gets lost about Waverly is that many people survived TB there. Let's face it…The doctors back then did everything they thought was correct to save people. It took a lot of guts for people to work there knowing how contagious TB was. Too much is focused on those who suffered. I also have traveled into the building several times in the early 70's. We would go and visit shut-ins in the Nursing Home through a church youth group. By the way, the doors there were not prison like steel doors with chains and padlocks as portrayed in the film. They were wooden and open…sometimes too open. It did smell of urine and feces and you saw the occasional open gown associated with patients with dementia. It was true that it was closed by the state in the early 80's. A lot of that may have to do with the age of the building or the right guy wasn't paid off. This is after all Kentucky. The part of the documentary that turned me off the most was the piling of bodies into a cart. If I am not mistaken it appears to have been Holocaust footage. That was added for dramatic effect. It left me with a sour taste in my mouth for the filmmaker. I am a skeptic when it comes to "Ghosts". I do believe that many around here truly think the place to be haunted. Waverly for me however symbolized a fun place for adventure for a boy with a sled.

Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hills Sanatorium (2006)

*** (out of 4)

Effective documentary talking about the history of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, KY, which for years was used as a TB hospital where legend has it over 63,000 people died. All five floors of the building have had strange things over the years including various ghostly sightings and especially in a notorious Room 502 where legend has it a pregnant nurse hung herself and of course "The Death Tunnel," which was a 500-foot tunnel used to send the dead down. Being from Louisville I've always been interested in the history of this place and it appears that just about every show that deals with ghosts have visited and all came away saying there's some pretty strange stuff going on. This documentary is far from perfect but in the end I think it did it's job and that was to make a creepy picture. I'll start off with the negative stuff and that's all the "added" stuff that never really should have been here. This includes a few re-enactments, really fast editing that does nothing and a few moments where some heavy metal music was used. All the added effects really kill the atmosphere of the hospital itself. With that said, I found the rest of the picture to be entertaining for a number of reason. Most shows dealing with this place have shown ghostly images and other strange effects and that stuff is on display here. What really separates this documentary is that they interview several people who worked at the hospital as well as a couple who were patients there. The staff members are also interviewed and share their stories about the place. The documentary does a nice job talking about the history of the place and I think most should come away satisfied.

This was a very good movie I mean it,but it sort of freaked me out because I live in Louisville,it only takes me about 5 minutes to get up there.So I have been in there,I have heard a lot,but whenever I go in there I feel sad,for no reason,and when I get out I feel like crying. This movie was very informing and interesting,that place is a bit creepy but it is very cool!!But if you go to the haunted house they have up there you only go in the mourge,1st,and 2nd floors,because the building is very old and is starting to collapse.But there are times during the year where you can actually take a tour of the whole hospital.I hope someday that I do get to take a tour as well.

The show was very informative and very detailed accounts of history. Interviews with past employees and patients. Many historical pictures. The pictures of ghost were hard to make out at times and the video of the shadow people goes by way to fast. The music and sound effects tended to drown out anyone who was speaking. When interviewing the elderly you cannot have loud background music. It actually took away from the scary and went toward annoying. I would have to say the computer voice introducing each floor was equally hard to understand. Example the fourth floor scenes show interview with old man in green sweater. I could hardly hear him when the music attempted to go from scary to sincere. I would like to see more shows like this.