PLOT: Paranormal investigator Zak Bagans investigates the house surrounding the Ammons Haunting in Gary, Indiana.
I’m not particularly familiar with Zak Bagans, to the point that I keep calling him Zap Bagans in my head, nor am I familiar with his Travel Channel show Ghost Adventures. I assume it’s exactly like Ghost Hunters, a show which my sister made me watch years ago, but with the sort of Hot Topic pre-packaged goth style that comes with this guy Bagans. And I’m assuming, after watching Demon House, I know all I need to know about Bagans and his television series.
Demon House has Zak and his team investigating the titular Demon House, a home in Gary, Indiana which gained notoriety in 2014 when the reports of possession first surfaced. The “documentary” follows close as Zak and his team of investigators and cameramen interview the Ammons family (the homeowners that reported the 2014 reports) and spend time in the house, sometimes together, sometimes alone. It also features a few re-enactments, that, among other things, heavily features a guy in a giant goat costume, similar to Baphomet, I suppose.
I’m going to level with you: I don’t believe in ghosts and as I get older, I’ve found new levels of skepticism in general. This movie showed me everything I need to see from Bagans and Ghost Adventures; this is, what I assume, an extended episode of his television show, and I can’t help but feeling that I’m being lied to at every turn.
At least with what I’ve seen from Ghost Hunters, it’s basically just a bunch of dudes in a dark house saying they hear things that we can’t hear. I appreciate that grift. You have to take their word for it; Bagans, on the other hand, has audio and video that makes his points very clear, like it’s completely obvious that we’re seeing and hearing what we should be. And they are things that, if you know the bare minimum about production, you can explain away. Audio can be faked and the one visual piece of evidence sure looked like someone’s thumb caught covering the lens.
OVERALL
Demon House is not for me, and it probably shouldn’t be for anyone. I may not believe in ghosts, but I don’t usually spend time trying to disprove other people’s beliefs in these sorts of things. But the work of Zak Bagans should not be anyone’s proof that ghosts exist. Maybe his cameraman always wanted to get ‘666’ tattooed on his hands, maybe they were faked, maybe it wasn’t even the same guy. I just find it hard to believe that it was because of this guy’s experience in the demon house.
The Main Damie 