The GHI team remains in Tasmania to investigate a building that used to be the island's Supreme Courthouse. But its walls also had a darker purpose at one time- it was originally built to be a prison, and execution ground. Then they fly to Malaysia to investigate Kellie's Castle, a fabulous mansion built upon a tragedy- dozens of the Hindu workers died from sickness during its construction.
The GHI team visits a San Lucas island, where many of Costa Rica's worst criminals were sent from 1873 until 1991.
This spin-off of the highly successful Sci Fi Channel show Ghost Hunters assembles a new team of paranormal investigators to test out alleged otherworldly activity in Europe. Ghost Hunters International is produced by Pilgrim Films and Television for the Sci Fi Channel.
This spin-off of the highly successful Sci Fi Channel show Ghost Hunters assembles a new team of paranormal investigators to test out alleged otherworldly activity in Europe. Ghost Hunters International is produced by Pilgrim Films and Television for the Sci Fi Channel.
This spin-off of the highly successful Sci Fi Channel show Ghost Hunters assembles a new team of paranormal investigators to test out alleged otherworldly activity in Europe. Ghost Hunters International is produced by Pilgrim Films and Television for the Sci Fi Channel.
This spin-off of the highly successful Sci Fi Channel show Ghost Hunters assembles a new team of paranormal investigators to test out alleged otherworldly activity in Europe. Ghost Hunters International is produced by Pilgrim Films and Television for the Sci Fi Channel.
It's not Ghost Hunters... hide show
Ghost Hunters International (GHI) could be a really great show. It could investigate some of the most haunted places around the world seriously and competently – it doesn't. Lead Investigator Robb, should turn over the hosting job to the much more experienced and personable Dustin. Robb could possibly be the most boring person on the planet. He shows no emotion at all about anything. The ghost of Jack the Ripper could jump out at him from the shadows and Robb wouldn't flinch. Barry on the other hand would run screaming like a little girl into the night! Everything freaks Barry out and he's always sure he hears, sees or feels something when no one else does. Talk about twitchy – this guy needs some tranquilizers. Brandy's voice is enough to drive me over the edge. Good lord, Honey, get rid of the adenoids for crying out loud! There are surgeons who can do that for you. (Shallow and cruel I know, but I can't stand listening to her!) Joe is okay, as is the new British guy (see he's so memorable I can't remember his name!) and the other gal (again not memorable enough to remember). I can't believe that Jason and Grant are affiliated with this show. It's not even close to the quality of Ghost Hunters.
Take a fun show, remove the fun, film, repeat. This spin-off of Ghost Hunters was dead on arrival, but like the ghosts in the title, it just keeps coming back. hide show
Jay and Grant should be ashamed.
Ghost Hunters International (GHI) is a Sci-Fi Channel spin-off of the more popular and vastly better series Ghost Hunters. The meat of the show involves an unseen reality-TV-type camera crew following a team of ghost hunters around creepy locations, ostensibly trying to contact spirits of the dead.
The original show, mostly anchored by the two lead hunters, Jay and Grant, is at least always interesting, often fun, and involves just enough semi-reasonable pseudo-science to allow viewers to address the Big Question themselves: is it all an act, or are these people really hunting ghosts? Or is it some combination of the two?
Unfortunately, GHI tips the scales in favor of "poorly acted fakery", and by a kind of negative feedback, badly impacts the original show. Ghost Hunters International isn't a horrid show, but it suffers from a host of problems that remove much of the fun.
So where to start with what went wrong? Let's take things in the order presented to us in the title.
The Ghost part: neither GH nor GHI is interested in showing anything "big", so a comparison establishing that one show is weaker than the other is a bit complicated. Those of the opinion that these shows are all a scam reason that there's never a huge reveal because that would be obviously fake, and the producers want the audience to buy in to the possibilities. Incidentally, this argument is bolstered by the existence of a tween's ghost hunting show (different producers and staff) on a different channel, with the child cast hitting the same notes of measured disbelief and skepticism as their older counterparts, and using much the same equipment, all with a more obvious sense of fiction and storytelling.
But whereas GH can send a little chill up your spine even if you believe it's all guff, GHI comes up empty in almost every episode. Every white noise voice sounds kind of like a machine or plumbing or simple line static, every "scientific" experiment can either be easily debunked if one assumes a special effects crew (also true of the original to some degree, of course), or reveals nothing even remotely definite. If these shows are a fake, at least the original is a fun fake. With GHI, you can expect to spend an hour for pretty much zero payoff.
The Hunters part: OK, seriously. Could they have come up with a weaker team? You've got team leader Robb Demarest, who may be OK at ghost hunting (debatable), but is The. Most. Boring. Guy. Ever. Without getting into the gory details, if this is all supposed to be real, then Robb frequently misses opportunities that would get him fired if his bosses were there to oversee him.
But compared to most of the rest of the team, Robb is Egon freaking Spengler (go watch "Ghostbusters"). His current teammates include:
- nice-guy loser Joe Chin, who I'm pretty sure was only cast because he always looks scared. Joe's ghost hunting tactics of choice are asking stupid questions and pretending to hear noises.
- Barry Fitzgerald, who is supposed to be the European expert by virtue of his being Irish. As the series progresses, he's becoming more and more like that crazy, attention-hungry, compulsively lying uncle you kind of remember fondly, but never want around when he comes to visit. Barry likes to make a big deal out of things that aren't very impressive.
- Dustin Pari, the only enjoyable and watchable member of the team. It's worth noting that he got his experience on the original series with Jay and Grant. Unfortunately Dustin doesn't do much but play second fiddle to Robb, but at least he's better at it than the first guy to have the job, perpetual beta male Andy Andrews. Watch some of the earlier episodes to understand why replacing Andy with Dustin was a wise casting move.
- Random Token Females. There's usually a girl or two along for the ride, but each one is only around for a string of episodes, and then they mysteriously vanish . . .
All in all, I can't decide whether these people are dull reality show participants, or good actors PORTRAYING dull reality show participants. It really could go either way, neither of which is particularly good.
The International part: the show does have the virtue of awesome locations around Europe. Unfortunately most all of these places come with their own hokey tour guide, apparently none of which have gotten the memo that this show is supposed to at least have a thin facade of possibility. Seriously -- Robb Demarest and Barry Fitzgerald visit the Gates of Hell? Whether it's all fake or simply stupid, the production staff sure doesn't seem interested in maintaining a sense of reality.
Finally, and potentially the most insulting problem of all, what's with the speaking English to ghosts in Germany? Russia? The Czech Republic? If it's all real, it's complete idiocy. And if it's all charlatanism, then it's lazy charlatanism.
With all these complaints, I still rated the show a 4 out of 10, which is somewhat below average but not terminal. It's not without its minor charms, and it's entertaining if you don't think about it. Not worth cursing, but certainly not worth setting your Tivo for either. More than anything, it makes one pine for the original show, which is getting increasingly shorter seasons. If this is the best sci-fi can do with the premise, they should just drop it and pick up new rights to Firefly or Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Show very interesting, I love to watch the show!!!!!!! hide show
I love to watch the original Ghost Hunters, and really enjoy watching Ghost Hunters International. It is a very entertaining show and I would love to be able to go on one of the investigations. It would be interesting to be on one. Maybe some day?? I think that it would be interesting to be able to find proof that there is truly ghosts around us. And to be able to travel around the world researching places to see if they are truly haunted. It would also be interesting to travel through the states looking for ghosts. Maybe some day, you think?
Who picked this team? hide show
I love watching paranormal programming and Ghost Hunters is my favorite and I never miss an episode. Ghost Hunters International isn't even in the same league. The first season was a terrible excercise in what happens when a group of people doesn't work well together (or alone for that matter.) Robb was far to tight and looked very uncomfortable most of the time while eagerly deeming a place "haunted" with the flimsiest of evidence. Andy was condescending and blantantly rude. All noises heard by anyone who was not Andy were determined to be "nothing" yet he could detect the slightest noise and determine it to be " the heel of a boot turning." I couldn't help but wonder in he was secretly seething that he was not "in charge". Brian never really "recovered" losing his spot to Steve in the original show. Sour grapes if there was ever a case in my opinion. However, the biggest flaw was he had been caught in too many lies (by Grant and Jay) to be trusted. Also, one could make a drinking game consisting of doing shots every time he utters the phrase "What the hell was that?" Donna screamed at everything. You'd think the umpteeth time someone jumped out at her she would have wised up. Her EVP sessions were a silly mix of questions. "Do you like to knit?" was really the low point. Shannon looked uncomfortable and I did see her on another show but certainly didn't care enough to compare facts. She was far too concerned with choosing a hat to wear rather than hunting for ghosts.
Season 2 has a new team and Robb seems a bit more comfortable but with all the newbies it's going to take time to build trust in them with the exception of Dustin who I think is great. Nothing so far has jumped out at me that makes me love/hate any of them. I'm not sure if this will hold my attention for another season.
One final note, I'm a bit tired of Barry (and others) "feeling/seeing a presence" that can't be verified by another person. I like him well enough (cute accent) but the purpose of the show is to collect hard evidence. In all of history there isn't an inch of land or sea that hasn't had something happen on it that could leave a presence or memory but photos and (clear) EVPs give the field of paranormal research something to work with.
im gonna be 100 % honest on this review. i like ghost hunters and i love their method of debunking things and telling people their house wasnt haunted :P. but ghost hunters is almost like a bad spin off....the people in this crew are more willing to believe a place to be haunted and dont debunk as much. they dont have enough evidence sometimes and call a place haunted due to "personal experience". this show annoys me be cause it reminds me too much of most haunted especially how the girls on that team scream too much and should really quiet down. when i watched the original ghost hunters, i would get so scared that i would barely move. now, i can watch this series and go wth was that? well this show is ok and has had its fair share of real experiences and reasonable debunking, but i still like the original better. please stop imitating most haunted!!! :(
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