A Haunting on Potter Street

A group of investigators stake out a night within the Potter Street Station in Saginaw, Michigan. This is a documentary in the vein of Ghost hunters and similar shows but a full movie. The investigators split up to go into different locations of the station. This movie is a catalogue of their findings including some full visible apparitions and movements along with a decent amount of EVP.

The editing is workable for a show like this but there are moments where an event would occur and the replays would be inconsistent. EVPs you may get a couple replays while a quick movement or apparition may get more to the point of redundancy. One sequence had something cross a doorway, there were 4 full replays with one of those zoomed in and slow motion. This was overly excessive and felt very much like a slog. Other sequences had an event occurring right during the cut, which supposedly if everyone had separate cameras and recordings we should have seen the lead up to the event which is important for showing the audience it was not staged.

Sound design was the biggest drawback I had throughout this film. Someone thought it was a good idea to have a loud noise or bang. Every sudden cut or event that shows on screen is heralded by over the top sound. It got absolutely silly and brought down both the enjoyment of the film and credibility as it felt like they are trying so damn hard to ‘scare’ the audience.

The interviews, other than the first one which is a description of the history of the place and some experiences, are mostly ineffective. The rest of the interviews have no extra experiences just very generic statements along the lines of “there are many spirits here” “I hope they will be okay” just phrases to bring up whatever drama they are trying to build to make the Ghost Hunters seem like they are risking themselves. While the building yes is crumbling and old that is the most actual danger they are ever in.

While much of the evidence is interesting this film just does everything it can to destroy any real drama or interest it should have. While a show like this is alright to build some tension this one lost its footing from both over and under use of elements. With some more toned down soundwork and more focus on details for the non-investigation side of the work I think this team can make some fascinating entries in ghost hunting.

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