THE HAUNTING LODGE (Documentary, 2023)

New On Demand from Gravitas Ventures!
Directed by Kendall Whelpton, Vera Whelpton.
Starring Kendall Whelpton, Vera Whelpton, Jon Dougherty, Jill Morris

Husband and wife ghost hunters Kendall and Vera Whelpton are asked by the owner of a hunting lodge in Georgia to investigate paranormal activity that has been occurring at the location for years. Almost immediately after showing up, strange things start happening and the events continue to intensify as the investigation continues.

I wasn’t sure what I was in store for when THE HAUNTING LODGE began. I’ve seen too many films to believe when a documentary format is used as a way to tell a fictional tale, so at first, I thought this was just a very good faux documentary I was watching. Turns out this is a real documentary, capturing actual phenomena. Now, whether you believe what is going on is a whole other story, but this is a ghost hunting doc with no actors, though some may think the hunters and especially, the psychic Jill Morris who shows up later, certainly are performing for the camera.

The documentary does capture some compelling evidence. Strange sounds, weird lights, and even person shaped blobs are caught on camera and having sat through many a ghost hunting show, I have to say, this was a lot of great footage the hunters were able to procure. One of the things that makes this doc worth watching is the fact that as the runtime goes on, more and more strange events occur. My main frustration in these ghost hunting programs is that too many times houses shifting, settling, random noises, and other things are accounted as paranormal. While there is a little bit of that at the beginning, once things start rolling, it really makes for one of the most eventful paranormal investigations I’ve ever seen.

Kendall and Vera Whelpton seem like no bullshit investigators. Their reactions feel real and they don’t seem to try to believe every little thing is a ghostly ghost. Vera is obviously terrified in the latter moments as the phenomena reaches peak activity. The same can’t be said for the psychic. While a lot of her constant narration seems to be correct as they pick her up from the airport and she sort of John Edwards her way to events that she seemingly shouldn’t know. But there is something about how certain she is in the way she describes things that felt grating to me. It’s one of those things where she gets a few guesses right and then she begins going on about ghosts and aliens and the Whelptons, especially Vera, seems to go along with her theories as if they were absolute truths.

There is a compelling scene where Kendall goes into a field and strange lights begin appearing all around him. The film culminates with some very chilling scenes where everyone in the house is awoken and all sorts of unexplainable stuff inundate the investigation.

I was honestly impressed with the bulk of this little documentary. If what they captured is real, it really is one of the most compelling investigations I’ve seen recorded. THE HAUNTING LODGE is not going to make everyone a believer, but for those who get sick of people screaming “what the hell is that?” at next to nothing, this one delivers the goods.

Check out the trailer here!!