Paranormal State: The Complete Season One DVD Credits:

Region: 1

Paranormal State: The Complete Season One DVD Release Date: 28th April 2008

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Paranormal State: The Complete Season One DVD Review:

College classes can be quite boring: lectures that seem to go on for days, cumulative exams, and term papers. The students at Penn State have them too, but they also have the Paranormal Research Society. This class in the supernatural contains all the elements of a normal course, along with numerous field trips for actual field investigation, but only if you pass your quizzes.

The show, Paranormal State, follows 24-year-old Ryan Buell and his team from the Paranormal Research Society through numerous paranormal cases. Sergey Poberezhny is the tech specialist on the team and also takes photos of the group at work. Eilfie Music, the team’s pagan, actually comes off as the most reasonable cast member. Though she performs chants and spells, Eilfie never jumps to conclusions. The cast also consists of two interns: Heather Taddy and Katrina Weidman. Taddy is the film geek and shoots some extra footage with her video camera. Weidman is empathic, or as she puts it “sensitive”, to the world around her and commonly has experiences at the sites.

None of the episodes are particularly scary. Most of the phenomenon can either be explained or are coincidence. In fact, the show flows so well, that viewers begin to question the veracity of PRS. The shots are lit well, there is continuity within the editing, and PRS falls into numerous lucky situations. The episodes are only twenty minutes long, so it is possible that any struggles they have been edited out. But I miss seeing any complications because that would make the show much more plausible and dramatic.

Each disc contains a bit of special features. Disc 1 has cast commentary on the episode “The Name”. Disc 2 has cast commentary on the episode “Beer, Wine, and Spirits”. Disc 3 has the most special features. Along with having cast commentary on the episode “Mothman”, there is a “behind the scenes”, “getting to know the members of PRS”, “guest experts”, and “additional footage”. If you’ve never seen an episode of Paranormal State, check out the behind the scenes. It’ll catch you up on the techniques and goals of PRS. The guest experts segment seem a waste of time, since most of the footage comes directly from the episodes themselves, with the exception of Lorraine Warner (famous for the Amityville Horror case). The forensic experts used in several episodes would have been a nice addition, especially for skeptics to view. The additional footage plays like a gag reel. Speaking of additional footage, the special features commonly repeats footage numerous times.

The main problem I had with the special features was the commentary. The cast mentions that the crew didn’t hang lights or never interfered with the cases, but as a film student I find that highly unlikely. Cast members are lit extremely well, even at night. There is excessive coverage shot for a “reality” show and the sound is impeccable. Also, the cast do discuss how they have to function within a television show. Wouldn’t being aware of the filming process hurt the delicate supernatural balance? I’m not saying that the cast is lying, but if you start to question what they say about crew involvement it makes it even more difficult to believe what they discuss about the paranormal.

Due to the high production value, the show comes off as just another reality series. If you are interested in the paranormal, then by all means check this out instead of Ghost Hunters. Otherwise, skip this un-conflicted hoax.

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Paranormal State: The Complete Season One DVD review written by: Lyz Reblin