tmdarby Reviews

Monster Inside: America's Most Extreme Haunted House (2023)

How is this "haunted" anything

[5/10 · 18 October 2023]

I know this is an odd thing to get hung up on, but the title is misleading and what they keep calling it is misleading. This isn't a "haunt" or a haunted house, at all. It's a torture house, or a torture session. It has absolutely nothing to do with haunting or traditional Halloween things. I don't see how this is an "extreme haunted house" anything. I'm a vet and they didn't call boot camp an extreme haunt. Just odd terminology.

It's an interesting and kind of messed up documentary. It sad to see the effects of it on the people that have actually done it. The psychological effects are rough. It is good to hear about this from people that actually are involved or have been through it. I think they are nuts but to each their own. I hope the people that it showed at the end that still seek this stuff out get some professional help rather than more torture.

Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies (2022)

I don't buy it even a little

[1/10 · 29 November 2022]

I'm not sold on the tears or the accusations. There is zero proof offered. As per usual if you notice it's all about her... still. The narcissism bleeds through every part of it. All she has is her word, which is good for nothing really after how much she's lied. It's clear she's angry, but that is the only emotion that seems real. The rest is poor me, as usual. This still isn't about Caylee, . It's all about her. Tells me everything I need to know. Apparently everyone on earth abused her, she's not responsible for anything. Nothing new, same Casey we saw years ago.

I'd like to believe that justice was done and Casey deserved to be acquitted. I don't though, and this series actually made me more sure that she did it.

Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes (2022)

Disturbing to say the least

[9/10 · 20 April 2022]

I'm a true crime junkie and of course have seen most documentaries on Gacy. This one though, I hadn't heard any of these audio clips before and it really shows the evil of the man. In most footage and interviews Gacy had a mask on. These tapes are something else though. There is one point in episode three where he laughs and if it doesn't send a chill up your spine, nothing will. Probably the best Netflix documentary series I've watched so far.

Ken and Barbie Killers: The Lost Murder Tapes (2021)

Good series

[7/10 · 2 March 2022]

I thought it was well done. A lot of information I didn't know about the case, including the footage. These two are monsters. People complaining how easy they were on Karla didn't watch the whole series clearly. I'm glad to see they spent a lot of time on the victims, which is how it should be. Hope the police keep an eye on Karla though.

Side note. Leigh-Anne Plato is stunningly gorgeous, almost derails the documentary.

John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise (2021)

Great Documentary Series....until

[7/10 · 17 February 2022]

Great documentary series. Well paced I thought even though it was 6 episodes. The interviews are great to see. It was very good up until the conspiracy stuff in the last episode. Are there some questions about others involved, perhaps, but Gacy was as guilty as they come. Everyone is so obsessed with child trafficking ring conspiracies.

Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America (2021)

Jumps around too much

[6/10 · 26 January 2022]

It's good content and has some of the best experts for all of these cases involved in the docu-series. The only problem is it jumps back and forth between the 5 cases too much and too often. Makes it difficult to focus on the cases.

Serial Killer: Devil Unchained (2019)

Good series...until they start blaming police

[5/10 · 23 December 2021]

Well done and well filmed documentary. I've started noticing more and more documentaries trying to blame for police. I get tired of that. There is one person here that is to blame Todd Kohlhepp. Cops make mistakes, no doubt, but trying to grill them like you did is wrong.

Murders at the Boarding House (2021)

Not you're typical grandma

[8/10 · 21 December 2021]

Very good documentary. Paced and told well. I could have done with out Rosie Gayton's WAY over the top pronunciation of Dorothea's name. We get it you're Latin, thank you.

The Ripper (2020)

Very good series...until

[7/10 · 21 December 2021]

Well done documentary. The police made a lot of mistakes, but it's easy to criticize in hindsight. It was really good up until they decided to make it all about feminism instead of the poor victims of this evil killer. I can see the points to a degree, but they take it way to far and in my opinion do a disservice to the victims by trying to make this about them instead. Typical of this entire society, it's all about how it effects them. What about the people that were murdered and their families. That's the focus of the first 2 episodes. Then it veers off into feminism somehow, like the rippers real victims were women that....gasp...we're asked by men if wanted to be escorted to their car because there was a psycho out there. Takes a pretty selfish attitude to compare that to a woman who was beat to death with hammer.

Shock Docs: Ed Gein: The Real Psycho (2021) Season 2, Episode 3

Good Information

[6/10 · 28 October 2021]

There is some good information on Gein and it's interesting to see the locations as they are now. The ghost hunting is sometimes over the top and difficult to believe. All though I must say the session out at the farm at night was creepy. Wish they'd explain what these "tools" they use do and how they work. In particular this Geoport device. I'm not much of a believer in these things but Cindy seems very genuine.

The North Water (2021)

Very good minus the last episode

[7/10 · 13 August 2021]

I really liked this show, dark and disturbing. Colin Farrell was amazing in it. The last episode felt rushed. It covered more time than the first 4 episodes. Other than that great show.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021)

Can't wait for more

[8/10 · 10 February 2021]

Because with all the negative reviews I expect all the experts on here will be making there own that will be better!

It was a good documentary series. It drug on a bit but they covered pretty much every angle out there and it was well done. Very creepy story and I don't plan on visiting the place.

Becoming Evil: Sisterhood of Murder (2019– )

Good Info......but

[7/10 · 28 January 2021]

The information in this series is very good. However I find it quite annoying when the "experts" continually mispronounce people's names. I don't know if people think this makes them sound smart or something, but it doesn't. Ed Gein is pronounced "Geen" not "Giyn". How do I know this, because the guy himself pronounced it as "Geen". Also most of their nick names they use have never been used or heard by anyone.....ever. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka were never known as the "kinky sex killer buddies" . Also nobody EVER called Bundy the "Genius of Death" nobody. The best expert in this series is Katherine Ramsland, glad she's in it. The rest are questionable. Also please get the one expert some sticky stuff for his dentures.

49 Pulses (2017)

Wow

[16 December 2020]

Charlie Minn's documentaries are pretty good up until the half way point. That's when he starts to blame police instead of the person that committed the crime. It's apparently his formula for documentaries.

1 - show details of tragedy 2 - talk about the victims (bravo by the way) 3 - start blaming and questioning police.

I think for the next horrific event we get Charlie Minn strapped up to go in immediately because he apparently knows best how to deal with these psychopaths.

77 Minutes (2016)

The documentary is okay, the directors approach is not

[1/10 · 16 December 2020]

It was interesting to see some footage and some interviews about this horrible event that I had never seen before. Seeing the director continually go after the police about something that A) he doesn't understand and B) only based on rumor, is kind of appalling in a documentary. The fault of this horrible moment in history lies with Huberty and the director trying to blame other people while making sure he's in front of the camera A LOT, says this is agenda driven.

The Most Dangerous Animal of All (2020)

A true warning tale about getting wrapped up in a mystery

[8/10 · 11 August 2020]

I thought this was a very good mini-series. It's clear a lot of the reviews here come from people that didn't watch the whole thing. It's very clear that both authors involved realized they made a mistake. The point of the mini-series is to show how easy it is to get wrapped up in a mystery like this and make your evidence fit. I felt bad for him. I don't believe he was intentionally trying to deceive anyone. He genuinely believed his father was the Zodiac and it's clear he wasn't.

Evil (2019–2024)

X-Files meets the Exorcist

[8/10 · 12 October 2019]

Don't let the right wing snowflake victims turn you from this show. The one part they are complaining about from episode 2 lasts a couple of minutes. If they payed attention to the show the race card answer doesn't even answer the questions. I'm guessing this episode will be revisited and it won't be the right answer anyway.

On to the show. It's very well done. The acting is amazing, and the cast is terrific. I really enjoy the mixture of science and wonder. It does remind me of the X-files, in a wonderful way. Can't wait to see where this show leads. It's well written and well paced.

The Possession of Hannah Grace (2018)

Not bad, but not good either.

[5/10 · 17 February 2019]

It had potential for sure. Very slow start. The premise of the movie I thought was really good, but poorly executed. The focus was in the wrong place. The camerawork I found very frustrating. It shakes a lot during some of the scenes where you'd actually like to see clearly what's going on. It was very predictable as well.

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019)

Best documentary on Bundy I've seen

[10/10 · 25 January 2019]

I'm a true crime junkie. I've seen and read just about everything out there on Ted Bundy. This is by far the best and most comprehensive documentary on him. It was very well put together and didn't have any of the usual speculation you find in some true crime documentaries. Hard and cold facts only. The only part I felt was missing was Bundy's attempt to help catch the Green River Killer. It really cemented his narcissistic personality as he could have another killer out there working in his old stomping grounds.

Robert Keppel is one of my personal hero's and was glad to see him in this as he doesn't like to talk about it much.

Await Further Instructions (2018)

How is this movie getting so many good reviews

[2/10 · 8 December 2018]

I'm typically not the kind of person to complain about a movie. This one though...I was actually angry for have wasting my time watching it. The first 45 min or so isn't bad, except for the way over the top stereotypical characters. The acting wasn't horrible, the dialogue was okay. The main issue with the movie for me was the the ending. The ending was so unbelievably horrible it made me angry. I can think of at least 12 other endings that would have been better off the top of my head. The ending of this movie is just so childish and cartoonish almost that it turns the movie on it's head from a horror to a comedy in a split second. It's like they just got tired of writing the movie and let a 10 year old finish it. And don't tell me it had some deep meaning either, the deep meaning bashed you over the head and it wasn't deep.

Don't waste your time on this one.

The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

Look "This is Us" and "The Conjuring" had a baby

[9/10 · 15 October 2018]

Over all I really enjoyed the show. I haven't read the book yet so I don't know how it measures up to that. It does seem to me that they more or less took This is us and made it creepy.

I did enjoy it though, very well acted, very well written, and very well directed. I felt it was a bit long in some places, but it still kept me very interested and engaged.

Along Came the Devil (2018)

Didn't stand up to the hype

[3/10 · 15 August 2018]

I had hopes for this one. It had good marketing and a lot of fake reviews it seems.

The acting was okay for a low budget. The movie was very predictable. I can't say there was anything new other than the ending which kind of fell flat. The sound work was well done, the camera work not so much. If shadows work into your story make sure the camera guy's shadow isn't in the shots.

I'd skip this one if I were someone reading the reviews. It offers not much new and it is really, painfully slow moving too.

The American West (2016)

Fun to watch - Not very historically accurate

[6/10 · 18 July 2016]

I don't usually judge these historically based old west shows until they get to the Lincoln County War. I'm not a historical expert by any means, but I have read and seen just about everything there is on the Lincoln County War. It's a bit of an obsession of mine.

I really like this mini-series, but was very disappointed in the historical accuracy of it. I could go into a lot of detail about it but I'll just mention a few things.

They presented John Tunstall as if he were some older ranch man. Tunstall died at the age of 24 and was British. Not showing that kind of surprised me because it left out a major point of the story. The house was more or less run by Murphy and Dolan (who they never even mentioned for some reason), and they were Irish. So there was a great deal of tension between the two sides just because one was Irish and one was British.

Also, there is literally more evidence that the Loch Ness Monster exists than there is that Billy the Kid met with Jesse James. Yet this show presents it as if it were fact.

Also the depiction of the Big Killing was very disappointing. It seems to me they tried to make it more like Young Guns rather than trying to make it historically accurate. The didn't show the house being put ablaze, and they made it look like it took place in an afternoon when in reality it spanned over 4 days and Billy and a few others escaped at night.

I also don't know how you talk about Earp and Dodge City and leave out Bat Masterson. Small detail, but I also noticed that when they were talking about Las Vegas, New Mexico they shoved a photo of the dead Dalton Gang from Coffeyville in there, like it happened in New Mexico?

Anyway I give this a 4 out of 10 for historical accuracy and an 8 for entertainment, so I met in the middle and gave it a 6. Fun to watch, but if you're looking for accuracy look for better documentaries.

Eaters (2015)

I wanted to like it

[3/10 · 3 July 2016]

I really wanted to like this film. The plot seemed decent and i found the villains pretty creepy. The acting in this film though is shockingly bad. I mean really, really bad. There isn't a good way to describe it other than it's like watching a high school play, but in all honesty most high school plays have better acting. Marcelle Bowman was the only decent actor in the cast. The dialogue and delivery was just horrible from everyone else in the movie. There are quite a few plot holes as well.

All in all, this could be a good candidate for a remake with some good actors and a new screen writer.

The Forest (I) (2016)

What could be better Natalie Dormer? Twin Natalie's

[6/10 · 2 June 2016]

I had high hopes for this movie because I've been to the forest and it's very creepy. The movie wasn't terrible, but could have been a lot better. I found the story to be very predictable and a little choppy in it's delivery. The atmosphere was creepy and the filming was very well done.

BUT, Natalie Dormer doesn't smile much and her smile is one of the greatest things on the face of the planet. I'm not kidding, her smile could end war and hunger. If Natalie Dormer had smiled at Hitler WW2 wouldn't have taken place.

Anyway, the acting was good and the special effects were decent. Don't look for anything amazing or new out of it, but it's worth a watch.