Hellier (2019) User Reviews

Synchronicity

[rycheq-26384 · 6/10 · 13 December 2019]

If you enjoy the word "synchronicity", you're in for a treat.

Season 2 was something

[montgomery-jenna-m · 5/10 · 9 September 2019]

My review of season 1: Every time I thought it was about to get interesting, it didn't. Best "watched" as background noise.

My review of season 2: Here's where things get interesting; however, paranormal research is always so filled with bias. They loosely acknowledge their bias at times but it's still systemic. I like to believe. I want to believe. But it's hard to believe. Also, there's an unethical psychological experiment included In the second season that is very problematic.

Should be one two-hour Movie

[scottlakas · 6/10 · 12 February 2019]

I kind of felt like a sucker after watching this. The episodes are long and too much talking, no action. If you like to see how paranormal investigators operate, this is for you, otherwise...not much story. It falls flat.

Hours of grasping at coincidences and spirit box experiments.

[anitabphoto · 4/10 · 19 February 2019]

I have to admit my bias here: I'm a skeptic who watches these things to be proven wrong. I've yet to find a doc, podcast, or show that does. Some have come close but this one is really, really far away. For one, it's hard to pay attention with such bad sound mixing. There's music throughout the whole movie and the volume differs from scene to scene. Sometimes it's so distracting you can't pay attention to what anyone saying. Two, it's clear the filmmakers set out to make a more substantial show but came up with nothing so decided to frame the whole thing as "synchronicity." It's really just however many hours of assigning importance to coincidences and eschewing any evidence that would suggest otherwise. The lions share of the proof comes from the already controversial spirit box. This results in a really funny moment when the guy hears "48 minutes" on the box and then later notices a seemingly meaningless phone call they have with a friend also lasted 48 minutes. From the way they react you'd think a little goblin walked up to them then and there. Extremely disappointing. I was eager to get creeped out but instead I spent a good amount of time laughing at them. Nevermind the fact that they spend so much time with the spirit box and you never really get to hear it.

Whole lot of nothing going on..but i really enjoyed it.??

[Ivanrosario247 · 8/10 · 16 January 2020]

After finishing both seasons i felt a bit confused with myself. I was aware during every long moment that everything that was being investigated was based on one email that was originally sent to them. That email could have been sent by anyone including themselves.An intriguing story i admit but thats it. Everything that follows is based on believing in this email. I have personally followed these subjects most of my life ( now nearly 50) and i was hooked..why?? Because the group are very likeable and seem very trustworthy and i really want to believe that they are trustworthy. Very well produced and shot. In a strange way i am kinda glad that pan didn't turn up because it would have seemed a bit too convenient. There lies the problem with these subjects.. If they do capture something then "hey it's got to be fake" then if they don't then" Hey nothing happens " Anyway congratulations on a polished product and a great approach.

Started 10/10

[mvike · 7/10 · 29 November 2019]

Either I hate these shows or I love them. This one I actually fell a bit in between. Now days basically anyone with a phone camera is hunting ghosts...and it's annoying. The "oh did you hear that!! Did you feel that!?" Get so old...

This however was more about hunting some unknown creatures ...to start with. Episode one I was SO HOOKED!! However, as each episode went on, I found myself saying "oh come on" and laughing a bit too often...once they break out the spirit box, it hit a low for me. Thankfully that low is never so bad you lose interest...it just becomes very typical/cliche. And I actually felt the final episode was a HUGE let down. The tin can ...if that's the best they could muster up...then I wasn't satisfied.

However as a whole, the show was very good. Left me wanting more...and I believe just last night (Thanksgiving) they dropped season 2!!! Which so far (I'm into ep. 2 so far) it's off to a rocketing start!! I have no clue where it's going to go, let alone end up!! That's good.

I'll say this...if you are able to enjoy thesein search of" type mysteries as long as they're done well? Then you'll love this!! It's not the typical "what was that sound!?" Type lol. If you NEED something found at the climax, it may not be your show. But id say anyone who likes UFO/Monster stuff done WELL...give this a shot!!

Gave it a chance at first

[maddog-89766 · 1/10 · 24 March 2019]

I am reading all of the positive reviews about this snoozer "documentary" and I can't believe any of them. Artistic? Intelligent? Well written? Really? At first, the idea of this email tag situation with some random guy being tormented by strange creatures and the photographic evidence was very intriguing. The interest steadily waned as it went on to mention so many different references from John Keel, Mothman, Terry Wriste, Indrid Cold, underground alien bases, goblins, synchronicities to even poltergeists. Then the attempt was to tie everything together in a neat package by explaining all of the synchronicities as "something much bigger than goblins." Uh, no. The entire reason anyone watched the show was because of the pictures and references to Goblins. Instead of naming this documentary Hellier, they should have named it Coincidences. The problem with swallowing this pill as to whether or not any of this was fake and purposefully hoaxed, was that nothing that actually happened during filming, or even off camera, was that everything could be easily faked. Very easily faked. My biggest problem was when they get to the area where they need to start looking for mine entrances and three toed footprints out in the woods, they instead settle on doing a Tarot Card reading... no I'm not joking. If you are looking for something physical, you know, a creature that supposedly left tracks in the mud and was tapping on a child's window, why would you even think, "I've got it! Let's use Tarot Cards!" They find a reclusive cave in the last episode and they start doing EVP, Spirit Box and more Tarot cards... really? Don't bother looking for tracks, exploring the cave or looking for ANY signs of goblins. No no. Lets just sit at the entrance and consult the spirit box. It was painful to watch and a big waste of time. Finally, the entire series could have been condensed to two episodes instead of five because then at least the viewer wouldn't waste so much time being disappointed at the end. Losing 2 hours of ones life is much better than losing 5. Sorry. This is a big thumbs down.

For the love of everything holy, fire the sound editor!

[msolavpsbp19 · 8/10 · 7 April 2020]

First of all, I was totally hooked by this show. I love all the things they were discussing and half chasing. I completely understand the poor reviews. Let me explain.

The reason that none of these shows actually never find anything, ever, is because they more than likely don't exist. Yes, you can keep pointing into the forest and saying things are being thrown or sit there with "noise cancelling" headphones and spouting out words. "Giraffe", "Purple roof"....see, I just did it. But, at the end of the day, WE WANT TO BELIEVE! But what we are all actually looking for is someone braving than we are to search for these things. I'm a decent sized man who has been in a few fights here and there. I'm not afraid of much, but I'm a firm believer in, "If you go door to door searching for the Devil, eventually he's going to answer!" That's when I nope the hell out. Well.....apparently that's when this shows cast does also. They finally find the great tunnel, and tin can, they've been searching for......and they go twenty feet in! WTF! NO!!!!! You are the nerds( used affectionately) who are supposed to be braver than I am, but you won't actually search for anything. I truly believe that's why people are upset with this show. If this was my passion, and I found this cave, I would be spelunking the heck out of this thing. Well, they don't......even a little bit.

However, great show with an extremely interesting topic.

P.S. The music/sounds over the talking, is absolutely annoying and could possibly give you a headache.

A bit predictable

[sucooke · 6/10 · 20 December 2019]

Ep.3 These 'city slickers' are wandering the woods, at night, and are surprised that they hear things moving. So woods in Kentucky...bears, cougars, deer, badgers, feral dogs...sounds...night jars, cicadas, frogs. And then there could be moonshiners. These people are so naive about their environment. And I'm only 1/2 way thru episode 3. I imagine I'll end up watching it all only cause I'm a sucker for this stuff.

Only worth the watch if you want to turn it into a drinking game

[evelhussey · 2/10 · 24 February 2019]

Wasn't expecting a big payoff, but man was this disappointing. It was leap after ridiculous leap ("synchronicities"), followed by footage of them saying or doing something, and then cutting to an interview of them talking about saying or doing that thing. That's fine if you're going to add content (a reflection, interpretation, realization, context), but we didn't even get that most of the time. They could have cut at least 2 hours by doing one or the other. It's like there was no editing. Just a stream-of-consciousness rendition of their time in the Deep South finding nothing and then remarking on how weird it was that they found nothing. I'm all for weird coincidences, but it was clear that ANYTHING that happened was going to be interpreted as a "synchronicity." That lack of critical thinking makes them unreliable narrators and horrendously bad storytellers.

Cinematic, intelligent paranormal documentary

[razorwirekiss-1 · 9/10 · 22 January 2019]

Caught the trailer on youtube. Decided to give it five mins. There is so much drivel in the paranormal world these days. Mostly driven by the endless disciples of Zak Bagans and his awful melodramatic twaddle. This was smart, beautifully filmed. No drone footage of pretty trees which seems to be the flavor right now. The people involved had back stories and flaws. There was a genuine camaraderie between them and an obvious desire for exploring more fringe ideas. I watched all 5 episodes in a row. It wasnt perfect but it was damned close. Karl Pfeiffer bhas an amazing future as a Director ahead of him. His obvious love of what he does shines through in his work. Some people might get lost as it moves away from where you thought it was going into an investigation into consciousness itself. In the end though. A satisfying modern tale of the darkness and the necessity for opening your mind to see the connections we all miss.

Watch the first two episodes then...

[bnowak · 6/10 · 14 August 2019]

Do something else. It goes on and on and on and on after that. Potential is there just seamed like they had to have 5 episodes. Three would have been nice.

Arrogance Prevails

[lordhelvetica · 2/10 · 1 March 2019]

My wife and I were intrigued by this and according to the rating, it held some promise. We were both in deep after the second episode-there was a lot of suspense and this young crew of experienced paranormal investigators were going to go solve a thing or two, or at least give us a Scooby-Doo-esque mystery to solve.

Instead, and with much regret, it takes a dreary turn for the worse after ep. 2.

I have never seen a more unprepared group of people go out on an expedition. First of all, they don't call ahead to set up any interviews, but rather just sit idle at a gas station hoping for people to come to them-what kind of investigator does that? It doesn't matter if you're a paranormal investigator, or a P.I., you have a job to do and you need to be methodical.

They did at one point drive hopelessly around the town looking for a house that they didn't have an address to, or a chance in hell of finding. Major waste of time. They called around a bit and got no answers from places like the police station and I found myself wondering... "these guys have cars, why don't they just drive to the police station and try to get some answers?" Not very good investigating if you just call and that's where it stops. You're in town... go knock on doors. Investigate for goodness sake. It would have at least been a bit more entertaining.

So what do they do... they decide to go back to their cabin and talk for hours at length about the way the feel, and about synchronicities that honestly feel more like a collective high gathered from the excitement of the group; which apparently has the power to stop critical thinking.

We don't need to hear each person tell the same thing in a slightly different way. It's like, one tiny thing would happen and each "investigator" would get their chance to sit in the cozy chair and talk about it. Why?

It bothered me greatly that they didn't prepare at all for their excursion(s). They didn't have any infrared, or thermal imaging of any kind. They relied on one camera (maybe two) and their cell phones. Absurd! What kind of paranormal investigator doesn't have all of the proper tools to investigate?

Honestly, I believe I could have grabbed my wife and a couple of friends and done a better job. Again, it comes down to planning-there was none-and that made for a thumb twiddling boring and droning documentary.

We didn't even finish the last episode because it was clear they weren't going to find anything, but then... they weren't really looking. Most of the time they stayed at their cabin talking about how interesting this synchronicity was, or how odd that they thought something similar. Who cares?

They went on two night excursions (both lame) and on the second one they went to a cave to investigate the would be goblins lol... now, as any person going to investigate something you'd think, "hmm, surely they'll go in the cave to investigate." You'd be wrong. Instead, they sat milling about outside of the cave too afraid to go in. What was the whole point of going to the cave again... to just sit outside of it? Oh yeah, right! They could have just stayed at their damn cabin because they just sat outside looking like a bunch of high school students too scared to go in. It's embarrassing.

Instead of doing any REAL investigating, They put on these noise canceling headphones to listen for spirits... they hear like one or two things and of course we, the audience, is forced to sit through another round of all of them sitting in a chair talking about it-AGAIN!... It's like, dude, we just saw it... we don't need all of you to retell it to us. I think they all just like the sound of their own voice a bit too much.

I think they believe they are much smarter than they are and it just comes across as being arrogant and verbose. Furthermore, isn't this supposed to be about the search for goblins? The whole thing seemed to be more about ghosts than goblins.

Also... guys. There's no one named David Christie. You know it, we knew it... you don't need to do an entire episode getting to that point. Complete waste of time. This entire documentary could have been 1.5 hours MAX. That would have made me at least less sour that I wasted 5 hours of my life on the most boring documentary I have ever seen.

My advice... next time you decide to make a documentary: be prepared, have a plan for God sakes, and actually do some investigating.

The one thing I did like about this documentary was that it seemed well polished with some nice suspenseful music and graphical treatments (post production). However, that just makes the bitterness of the experience that much less palatable. It had the framework of a good documentary, it simply lacked the depth to carry it through. Too bad!

p.s. If this IS fiction as some of the reviews state, then it's even worse and poorly written. If it was actually fiction, I would think the writers would write in actually finding something; so this gives me doubt that it's fiction. Cause... blah!

It's not how you start, it's how you finish

[mattquinlan-38976 · 3/10 · 12 February 2019]

Spoilers

This show started STRONG, I was super into it. Then episode 2 came and it got less and less thrilling, it starts as aliens, then they use a spirit box and communicate with ghosts (maybe) then they find out that what brought them there was most likely a hoax but essentially they say "well we are already here, let's grasp at straws" so then they find stuff but never really investigate it, miss opportunities to talk to people who could actually matter and help, talk about how they feel, talk about hearing things that they never let the audience hear. It gets less exciting with each episode.

Curious & Curiouser

[sandraeastin-76330 · 8/10 · 17 March 2019]

I'm just your average person with a lifelong fascination with the paranormal and unsolved mysteries. I've checked out the Week in Weird occasionally and listen to various podcasts when i have time. That's the extent of my paranormal experience. I'm not a hardcore skeptic or a true believer. I'm simply open to the possibilities. I did originally read about the David Christie emails on the website but had no idea there would be a documentary till I heard about it on a podcast. My only bias here is I like a good story. This is a good story.

I have to wonder what the negative reviewers expected when watching this. Beyond the good story, I enjoyed the inside view of an investigation. The mystery only became more mysterious in my eyes. Your enjoyment of the movie may depend on your perspective going into it. I wasn't expecting them to present proof on a shining platter at the end. I'm left with even more questions and that's ok with me. This was certainly better than anything in the paranormal genre on tv in quite some time. I'd definitely watch more documentaries by this team.

Series for fans of paranormal

[aaaatomik-39608 · 7/10 · 9 December 2019]

If you are into this kind of stuff then it's pretty good if not, it's not going to convince you about anything paranormal.

Full of itself

[mercyaintfree · 1/10 · 30 November 2019]

Wow....looooooooong...slowwww....painfully droll and drawn out. Way over-explained. You sit there and listen to this guy explain every small detail of what you may or may not see. This is one of the most boring views on today...in fact...if im drowsy and want to finish myself off I play an episode of this...better than Nyquil. I have spent this entire review explaining how dull this is and thats fitting...because YOU will be waiting for something....anything to happen...and it just isnt there.....how do they stay awake in edit and production I cant tell you. A complete waste of time.

Hope we get season 3

[mindlessmoviemaster · 10/10 · 14 April 2021]

They were on to something with the goblins and pan and aliens in the caves maybe hope they do another series or get more info on this.

A Disappointing Paranormal Salad

[valhallalujah · 23 December 2019]

An absolutely incoherent and pretentious mishmash of "spooky" concepts. Conspiracy, occult organizations, government agencies, coded messages, obscure/mystery contacts (likely themselves/staged), aliens, ghosts, alien ghosts(?), Bigfoot, Mothman, cave critters from another dimension, ritual magic, tarot cards, spirit boxes and (in the second season) it all culminates with numerology...because. An adventure that starts out as an "investigation" into strange, possibly alien creatures traumatizing a family ends with trying to summon an ancient god in some cave. Technically, it ends with a dramatic shot of (even more) dialogue from the crew about how nothing was accomplished but they're not done yet, but I digress. You may be asking "do any of the events in between relate?" No! But hey, synchronicity (or something).

A few positive things I can say about this series is that it is well-shot. The cinematography is pretty decent. The audio, while inconsistent, is audible throughout. I did enjoy the presentation of rather obscure folklore and long-forgotten stories. Much of I never heard before. But that doesn't do much to save the day. By the end of watching through two seasons, I still don't know what the point was.

Enjoyable and Thought-provoking

[dannymitt · 7/10 · 25 February 2020]

There's going to be a number of poor reviews from people who expect a monster or demon to be hiding behind every door like the locations Zak Bagans "investigates," but this isn't that.

I found this much more enjoyable because it asks a lot of questions, and teases some answers, but shows you very little. That "little" may actually be "none" to others and I can understand that opinion as well.

The team's investigation ultimately didn't find much and left it open to what, if anything, is going on, BUT I really enjoyed how they admit this and offer their reasoning behind it... so no, they don't leave you high and dry.

If anything this documentary opens the door for some good conversations to be had about the curiosities of our world, and for that I will be watching season 2!

Come on, guys, this is really bad

[horrorismyhome · 1/10 · 22 February 2019]

Where are all these glowing reviews coming from? I can only assume they're friends of the filmmakers, because there is absolutely nothing compelling about this "documentary." It doesn't matter if it's real or if it's fake, it has zero entertainment value. Fake reviews are the worst, it's no way to promote a film and it serious cheats the viewers.

I was interested in the beginning, but the filmmakers spend way too much time early on talking about themselves and their backgrounds. That could have been 5 minutes but it just went on and on in each episode.

When we finally get to some "action," it immediately stops and picks up again years later.

Goblins, Bigfoot, aliens, Mothman--they throw all these together but still have no idea what their focus really is. Native American legends? Those are all over the US, one in Kentucky doesn't automatically correlate to one in Point Pleasant. Come on!

The spirit box episode was embarrassing. They all acted just blown away by the accuracy of the answers, but their entire conversation was based on the answers that were given. So bad.

I'm super into this subject matter and I'll give anything a shot, but I'm bummed I spent so much time waiting for something to happen, and I'm mad at myself for purposely wasting my own time. Don't waste your time, it's really really bad.

Please, keep going!

[chompygator · 9/10 · 7 December 2019]

This docuseries seems so sincere. I can't wait to see more.

For all those negative reviews - really?? I don't get it. This was excellently shot, directed, and produced - and has a great soundtrack. Maybe you should look within for short comings? I dunno lol I just hope that, now that I've watched it, that I have become a part of it, because it's captivating and compelling. Bring it on!

Fun to watch

[lenacrowley · 6/10 · 24 December 2021]

First, I do not believe in aliens, goblins or "the green man" but I like creepy. The poster was so creepy that I gave it a watch. It's fun! As I said, I don't believe that anything paranormal really happened but that's not the point. Just go on the ride with them. Very likable people, interesting twists and turns and an easy watch. I binged it all over a few days.

Grasping at straws

[gsurveil1 · 2/10 · 1 February 2019]

A documentary? This started off pretty interesting but after halfway through episode 2 it lost its focus and then became almost embarrassing to watch. The investigators(?) spent more time trying to verify to themselves sounds they heard, which I didn't, supposed clues, that I never saw and a desperate attempt to try and hype the story by constantly referring to past events like the mothman and bigfoot. All in all I feel it set back any validity to paranormal investigations or those involved or have had strange experiences by trying to make something out of nothing. I don't watch paranormal reality (loosely used term) tv and I don't refute that it exists, but this series made it seem contrived and I guess that's what pissed me off for wasting my time on this. Skip it or watch it but ultimately you're left with "who cares".

Uh really

[bdelaney-36052 · 2/10 · 3 November 2019]

The story was good, but embarrassing investigation. Amateurs you could have figured out this was fake, use online resources like property tax lookup. Abandoned property I bet they haven't paid their taxes start there. Freedom of information act the police report. Of course they will stonewall you ask for it correctly. Really tarot cards and spirit boxes? For a second there I thought they were going to use divineing rods next.