In Ghostly Secrets of Hotel San Carlos, a bunch of ghost hunters stay overnight at the terrifyingly active Hotel San Carlos in Phoenix, Arizona which has always had an enigmatic and scary past.
Reality TV took a spooky turn in 2002 with “Most Haunted,” the original series that followed paranormal investigators into haunted locations as they recorded their experiences on camera and night vision. It was a phenomenal success, sparking a boom of shows like “Ghost Hunters” (2004), “A Haunting” (2005). and “Ghost Adventures” (2008) around the world, each with its own team of investigators and technological arsenal.
All these years later, we have Clay Moffatt’s new 83-minute mockumentary Ghostly Secrets of Hotel San Carlos, which owes its existence to all those investigation shows. In this case it is called “Talk About Scary”, and it follows the Talk About Scary team as they visit the famously haunted Hotel San Carlos in Phoenix, Arizona.
Like any other show of its kind mentioned above, Ghostly Secrets relies on many different techniques to build its story. Interviews with hotel workers and eyewitnesses are done in talking head scenes with an unseen interviewer; B-roll footage uses additional shots alongside interviews and narration to establish locations or depict actions/events; there are lots of close-up shots of chairs or other objects around location where something weird happened; Moffat himself usually appears on-screen talking directly to camera while also giving us some voice-over narration that guides viewer through story by providing background information or insights commentated upon visually alone.
The editing plays a huge role in establishing suspense throughout Ghostly Secrets. Pacing is controlled by Moffat who sets up scares slowly before building them into climactic moments. There is dramatic music played over certain parts that heighten tension even more so when accompanied by sound effects sometimes silence can be just as effective though because you’re left wondering what might happen next when you don’t hear anything at all.
We have reviewed a couple of Moffatt’s films previously on this site, and we can say without any doubt that Ghostly Secrets of Hotel San Carlos is his best work yet. Going back through those reviews, the criticism always seemed to be down to the lack of budget he had available to him. That isn’t an issue here for Moffat though. He still doesn’t have much money but it is this low-fi nature of film-making which suits Ghostly Secrets so well.
The main thing that people don’t like about the movie right now is that it’s not scary at all. There are creepy moments, but no more than an episode of Goosebumps. The concept of a paranormal TV show losing control of the spirits they’re chasing is solid, but this is a fictionalization of those (already fictional) TV shows you can do whatever you want. Ghostly Secrets unfortunately feels too much like the real thing, ending weakly with no thrill or crescendo of horror.
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