We all are well versed in the cinema universe that is based on Ed & Lorraine Warren. They were known as the "grandparents of paranormal research". This particular piece of television was based on their careers and aired on the Travel Channel. The Travel Channel is another of those basic cable networks that no longer serves their original purpose, like MTV, NatGeo, CourtTV, et al. This saddens me, by the way. The Travel Channel is now pretty much dedicated to locations around the contiguous 48 with paranormal activity or Bigfoot hunters, and this is coming from a guy who believes in Sasquatch.
But I digress.
This program, an episode of Shock Docs, is fairly informative, and its accuracy compared to the bombast of The Conjuring film series that is based on their careers, is actually refreshing. Take away the flashing images, (if my epilepsy were of the photosensitive variety, it may have been a problem) stinger music, and growling sound effects and it may actually work as an actual documentary. Those things are elements of your typical hour long basic cable docudramas, that insult the subjects in this example. However, there's some pretty cool original footage, interviews with the Warren's daughter and son-in-law, and other paranormal researchers (including Ghost Hunters' Jason Dawes who I recall rolling his eyes at the Warrens about 15 years ago; I guess he's had a change of heart).
What's nice here among the headache-inducing effects is an actually well done illustration of a love story that lasted decades between two people that, if this is accurate, were really out there just trying to help people pitted helplessly up against evil spirits and demonic presences. They had the respect and support of the Catholic church and very often local law enforcement. It's well known that there may be some reason to feel as if they were bullshit artists, but there's also just as much vindication for their having actually encountered some things that just can't be explained. There's far too many files and tapes, and people they educated and put to work as associates to just wave it all away.
If you are able to see this, particularly this time of year, give it a go, but a properly produced and shot documentary without the cable tv accoutrements would have worked far better.
There's also more than enough evidence that serious negative chicanery took place from the Warrens and that ol' Ed may not have been the angel many profess, despite his life-long connection to Christianity. The divide between them being legitimate and being folks that just happen to be near the noisiness and horror is only made wider by it becoming more and more evident that the cases that made them famous were quite possibly hoaxes.
So, I guess just add this to the "whole damn sad thing" category.
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