The much talked-about documentary film by the star of TV’s controversial Ghost Adventures is sure to be a polarizing experience for afficionados of the paranormal. Love him or hate him, there’s no getting away from Zak Bagans, and ultimately your opinion of Demon House will depend to a large degree on your opinion of him.
Even before reaching our screens, the film has developed its own mythos. Three years in the making, its release was pushed back multiple times. At the beginning, Bagans explains that this is due to the production being “cursed,” claiming that the case were afflicted with a host of unexplained injuries, illnesses, and miscellaneous cases of bad fortune, all of which is said to be attributable to their connection with the Demon House. A disclaimer at the beginning of the movie warns the unwary that demons may be able to attach themselves via electronic means (a sort of demonic computer virus?) and that you should therefore only watch at your own risk. It’s either a sincere gesture of concern on his part, or a very shrewd piece of marketing akin to that dreamed up by the late William Castle, the master of movie-making gimmickry.
The events documented in the film are essentially this: a family living in a fairly innocuous-looking home in Gary, Indiana, are plagued by a series of terrifying events that are said to be demonic in nature. The children supposedly become possessed, culminating in one of them walking backwards up a wall in full view of social services staff and mental health professionals. As the phenomena intensified, witnesses grew to include a number of police officers, who would be considered reliable witnesses in a court of law — so why not in the realm of the paranormal? At the same time, the family doctor writes this all off as being nothing more than a mass delusion.
If there’s one thing I really dislike about the film, it’s the Ghost Adventures—esque dramatic recreations. They’re not just bad, they’re cringeworthy. The scene in which a young boy walks up the wall is just appallingly bad. The movie would have presented a much more compelling case without scenes like this. Bagans knows his audience, however, and doesn’t mess with the tried and tested Ghost Adventures formula too much.
Bagans eventually purchases the house sight unseen, with the express intent of making a documentary movie about the alleged demonic infestation. The family refuse to cooperate, out of fear that the haunting will follow them — although they seem happy enough to talk to Hollywood executives about selling the movie rights to their story. Bagans, his crew, and colleagues such as Dr. Barry Taff begin to fall prey to the dark entities (there are said to be 200 demons inside the house) and we see footage of violent behavior on the part of Bagans and others. One crew member quits on the spot, another has to be fired due to his aggressive behavior.
It’s difficult to say how much of the story is factual and how much is a figment of the original occupants and the director/star’s imagination, but I have to give Zak Bagans big props for his willingness to look at both sides of the story. He dismisses a photograph which supposedly shows some kind of entity in the front window of the house as “probably coming from a phone app” (he’s right on the money) and points out that some family members insist that none of the events happened as described. Squatters living in the home say that there’s nothing out of the ordinary happening, and a property inspection reveals mold and other environmental factors that might induce hallucinations. It’s nice to see Zak attempting a little debunking, something he rarely indulges in on TV any longer.
Every movie needs a climax, and in the case of Demon House it involves Zak being boarded up inside his own house in order to trap himself inside with the demonic entities and “let them have their best shot at me.” He records a piece of audio evidence that is more than a little chilling to hear. After this “final showdown,” he takes the advice of a local cop and has the place bulldozed, keeping a few bits and pieces of its structure to exhibit in his Vegas-based Haunted Museum.
Quite frankly, I expected to loathe this movie. To me, Ghost Adventures is the equivalent of location porn. Bagans and his crew get into some incredible places, but I don’t really appreciate their ‘investigative’ methods — as in a recent episode in which he seriously suggested that the notoriously fickle Colorado weather might be attributable to demonic influence(!) As things turned out, I liked about 80% of Demon House. The story was compelling, and there was less shaky-cam than the TV show. As some have already pointed out, this is basically a longer episode of Ghost Adventures, but the stylistic approach is a little more palatable to me.
We’ll never know how much of the paranormal activity presented in the documentary is genuine and how much of it isn’t. Zak’s huge cadre of fans will no doubt love the movie with little or no reservation. His detractors will hate every frame. For the average person in the street, I suspect that they will find Demon House to be something of an oddity; much better than the average no-budget para-documentary crap that appears on Amazon Prime, but hardly definitive proof of the existence of ghosts, spirits, or demons. Some will find it suitable for a few scares, and others will perhaps find it thought-provoking. Personally, I found it to be worth the $12.99 I plunked down to see the movie, and I’d go so far as to say that I’d like to see more documentaries in this vein from Bagans. The man can certainly tell a story. Demon House will no doubt be a point of contention among members of the paranormal community for quite some time. I’d definitely recommend giving it a watch.
7 Responses
I can see my view point is probably right in line with yours Richard. I watch his TV show, with a hideous touch of embarrassment & cringe; whilst being curious about the locations and my interest in the SLS camera. SLS, is the bomb; I never tire of seeing that kind of evidence. With that being said, pompous as it may sound/be; I don’t care for Zak and what he is doing with his tv show. When a person is serious with the field of the paranormal, Zak’s programs take away the credibility of the whole of paranormal study.
I am pretty sure I won’t spend the money to see this movie, trusting I would be disappointed and saddened as to what his venture is doing to our quest/study of the spiritual world.
Thank you for your review, Richard.
I did not feel right watching it, something in my head was saying “this is not okay”. The beginning made me question it like “yeah okay whatever” but towards the middle to end I just start to feel maybe what I would explain as risidual energy come off and felt somewhat sick to my stomach and just not okay with the whole situation. Just didn’t feel right man felt like I was doing something I shouldn’t be doing. I believe Zak has a nack for over exaggerating and faking things but this is different, I could actually feel this and I can feel that what he did by tearing down the house was a good idea. But if another house is ever built there, which hopefully he owns the land and never allows that to happen, that these things will continue to happen.
Hello, Richard. I look forward to the Oct 14 investigation at Cripple Creek & meeting you. I just watched Demon House the other day and I have to agree with your assessment of it. There are points in the documentary where I wished he pursued it more, like the child walking up the wall in the hospital or at the end when Zak was locked in. I felt he left too much “out there” and what could have been a much needed ‘next step’ in paranormal investigation simply turned into a longer Ghost Adventures episode. I am an investigator but not a fan of a lot of the electronic devices for I personally feel they are a ridiculous waste of money that proves nothing! My question to you is: did you notice that Zak used no ghost box, ovilus or SLS in this documentary? When he locked himself in he had only an audio recorder and video recorder plus the security cameras already set up in the house. Hhhhmmmmmmm. I wonder why he didn’t use the popular equipment? (rhetorical question here). Also, where are his base readings to compare with activity? Where is the soil survey? etc. etc.
Thanks for writing, Joseph. I’m looking forward to the Cripple Creek investigation enormously. I did notice the lack of equipment, and wonder whether it was used but generated no results, or whether he chose not to use it for some reason that I cannot fathom.
Shannon and I are still talking about our ghost adventure at the Jail Museum in Cripple Creek. We had never experienced a ghost hunt and were impressed with how profession you and Jason were. It was interesting to see all of your equipment along with your explanations of the theory behind how each piece of equipment works. We appreciated your credibility. It was clear that you were extremely cautious about drawing conclusions from your and our observations. Everything went through a debunking process. Most of the strange things observed, heard or felt that night had an earthly explanation – which made the few unexplainable observations truly remarkable, whatever they were! By the way, do you have any thoughts regarding the rectangular white “frosted” light that Shannon saw while alone in the completely dark basement? According to Shannon, it appeared about 30 seconds, disappeared about a minute, then reapeared for 10 or 15 seconds. I’ve heard of orbs in photos, mostly debunked. I did a Google search but couldn’t find anything paranormal related to rectangular lights appearing with no explanation in a room without light. We appreciate the opportunity to join your team, the Canadian C.O.P.S group, and the other guests.
Thank you for the kind words, Jim. We very much enjoyed hosting the public paranormal investigation at the Outlaws and Lawmen Museum. The enthusiasm and positive attitude displayed by most of the attendees was very gratifying to us. We were impressed with the willingness our guests showed to get hands-on and to keep an open mind. I’m not entirely sure of what the white light Shannon saw in the basement was, as I never witnessed it myself. The old jail never disappoints! Best, Richard.
Jim, the rectangular light you saw does happen some time. Why do I know, because my dad told some ghost stories brought over by the family from Germany.This one comes from his father’s side. My great grandmother lived in the village of Gambach in Bavaria, and was born there in 1865. The family one day went to a neighboring town for a festival. They were late going home and took this path over the hill or mountainside. As they were walking, they noticed this strange bar of light that seemed to hover in the air behind them. This strange light followed them until they got to a roadside shrine. The light just hovered there as they moved down the hillside and then went out. Her father asked around in town several days later. He was told that yes, people knew about the light.That many believed it was the spirit of a girl who was found dead on the path. The shrine was made there at the spot her body was found.He was also told that most felt she was trying to guide travelers on the path. He was also told the path dated back to the middle ages and had been used during the children’s Crusade,
As far as Demon House goes, started to watch it, but fell asleep.Only got to see The Lost Tapes on it. Wasn’t worried like some people about anything coming out of the tv. Why, because I said a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel before watching it. And I also had my rosary on the bed next to me.I say it just before I go to sleep. In a way, don’t think I missed much anyhow.