Grade: C+

Tweet

Syfy's latest spooky series entry follows in the footsteps of many supernatural mystifiers that utilize the "dramatic recreation" without any attempt to piece together the clues of why something happened and whether it was paranormal. That's what separates Paranormal Witness from other spookshows, this foregoing of any of the investigation with a focus solely on the recreating. The resulting anthology is akin to Night Gallery with story interruptions, as the people to whom the events allegedly happened explain what you are simultaneously seeing acted out. These are people who have, supposedly, witnessed the paranormal. And there's your title.

The first (and the longer) of the two stories in the debut episode is "Emily the Imaginary Friend," a haunted house story that parallels "The Exorcist," "The Amityville Horror," and "A Haunting in Connecticut." A young couple moves into a new house with their five year old daughter, and soon the daughter has an imaginary friend named Emily. But as the days go on, poltergeist activity (blamed on Emily) and faces appearing in windows have the family seeking out a medium. When the medium is possessed and a man's voice demands the family get rid of all the Bibles in the house... they do it! Of course, that's when whatever ostensible force haunts the house gains carte blanche to start doing serious mischief. (Hint: When a demon asks you to get rid of a Bible, bring in a collection of them!)

The latter story, "The Lost Girl," retreads the urban legend paradigm of the "Phantom Hitchhiker." Although no one is picked up, a mother and teenager pass the same girl a few times on a straight stretch of road. The tension builds up to the spring-loaded cat moment of the reveal.

I don't know if I buy the premise, but if you enjoy your scary with a Blair Witch flavor, then Paranormal Witness may provide some light entertainment. If you're more of a Ghost Hunters fan, and you're looking for evidence beyond the anecdotal, then you'll probably tune in a few times and then tune out.

Paranormal Witness premieres Wednesday, September 7 at 10:00PM ET/PT on Syfy.