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Indie Film: Filmmaker follows Sabattus woman into the woods in ‘Pine State Phantoms’
The documentary investigates the eerie sightings in a Maine backyard.
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Anomalous light phenomenon on Kathy Fay’s property in Sabattus. Photo by Kathy Fay
When real life gives us scares here in Maine – a still-uncontrolled pandemic, political upheaval, whatever’s going on with the Red Sox – it’s good to kick back and treat ourselves to some good, old-fashioned fictional terror. Stephen King knows it: What’s a haunted hotel or a town full of vampires compared to facing a Maine winter’s worth of heating bills?
But sometimes what seem like fictional scares turn out to be, just maybe, real things going bump in the night, too.
Fay talks about her UFO encounter on Sabattus Pond. Photo courtesy of Pine State Phantoms
“Pine State Phantoms” is the first film from Buxton-born, Biddeford-based filmmaker Nathanial Brislin, a documentary that goes in search of one Sabattus woman’s claims of a truly unnerving number of eerie phenomena that have been circling her wooded backyard. With her home’s isolated location backed up to Sabattus Pond, Kathy Fay, the woman in question, tells Brislin and his intrepid, three-person team of cinematic investigators that she’s been awakened by everything from UFOs to strange lights in the woods to ghostly apparitions to shambling, suspiciously Bigfoot-like shapes to small, humanoid somethings – some caught on camera. It’s enough to make a lifelong enthusiast for the paranormal and cryptozoological grab his camera and stomp off into the Sabattus woods. “It was enough to warrant further investigation,” said Brislin, with documentarian’s understatement.
For those out there who doubt all this paranormal stuff entirely (including, to his regret, this author) and wonder why anyone would watch a movie about such things, well, that’s what we love to do, isn’t it? Brislin and I bonded over childhood memories of being scared to bits by shows like “In Search Of,” “Unsolved Mysteries” and the like, and you only have to look at your cable guide to see that the proliferation of ghost-hunting, UFO-spotting and other paranormal reality (or “reality,” if you must) programming has only continued. And, as Brislin shares convincingly, some really weird stuff is going on in Sabattus.
Explaining that Fay’s tales came to him through cultural anthropology professor Laurie Notch during his time at Southern Maine Community College, Brislin said he felt the hairs on his neck stand up – both at the potential real-life encounters just waiting there, and the possibility of combining his two passions for his first feature film. Notch, who Brislin said appears and serves as a sort of de facto narrator for “Pine State Phantoms,” was on hand (along with one other brave crew member) as the team spoke to the homeowner and then set out on numerous nocturnal expeditions in search of proof. Did they find anything?
Well, that would be spoiling things, wouldn’t it? That said, the fact that Brislin’s original YouTube incarnation of “Pine State Phantoms” caught the eye of Maine producer Benjamin Elliott should provide hint enough that Brislin and his crew didn’t come home empty-handed. Elliott’s RuralChaos.TV has just released a DVD version of “Pine State Phantoms,” which you can get through the company site or at your local, always Maine-friendly Bull Moose location . Still, though, one person’s stories of an alarming-if-true number of weird encounters, all in the last three years? Sounds a little fishy, right? Advertisement
“Well, there’s definitely one incident that sticks out in my mind,” said Brislin. “It happened right around dusk, which, admittedly, added to the creepiness factor. We were shooting B-roll of the woods near the house, and I told everyone to stop. There’d been movement, but it was getting dark, and it could have been anything. But we went in that direction, past the trees and over the hill, and … ”
Here’s the part where Brislin told me what he saw, but I’m not telling you. I will say that – thanks to my experience with a particular, fictional film about people stumbling through some woods in the dark – it got me. And that singular thrill is the sort of experience that still keeps Brislin on the track of the weird and potentially not-wonderful. Asked if he’s a true believer in the paranormal, Brislin pauses before answering.
“That word ‘believe’ contains connotations of blindly putting faith in something. I wouldn’t say I have faith, rather, that certain cases and historical sightings either yield a convincing enough story or evidence to convince me something’s been happening. In this case, there is so much consistent evidence, it would be kind of weird if there weren’t something going on.” With a chuckle, he concluded, “I guess there would be something wrong with me if I were still doing the investigations.”
“Pine State Phantoms,” indeed, just marks the beginning of Brislin’s cryptozoological filmmaking efforts. His next film, “ Eyes from the Pines: The Pine Ape Project, ” will see Brislin once more taking to the deepest Maine woods, this time on a quest to investigate Maine’s very own sightings of that elusive possible myth, Bigfoot. Featuring interviews with legendary Sasquatch expert Loren Coleman (owner of Maine’s Cryptozoology Museum) and plenty of interviews with Mainers who claim to have seen the beast in the hairy flesh, Brislin says that “Eyes from the Pines,” while filming was delayed by COVID, should see the light of day (and DVD) in time for next Halloween. In the meantime, set your trail cameras toward the woods, people. Those noises can’t all be deer, right?
Purchase “Pine State Phantoms” at your local Bull Moose location or through RuralChaos.TV .
Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and cat.
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Pine state phantoms.
2020 Directed by Nathaniel Brislin
There's a place in Maine...
Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed are all common occurrences at this house. Join investigator Nate Brislin as he documents the strange goings-on at the Sabattus house. Hear the story from the eyewitnesses, and embark on an expedition that dares to ask: are there phantoms in America's Pine Tree State?
Nathaniel Brislin Kathy Fay Laurie Notch Karac St. Laurent
Director Director
Nathaniel Brislin
Executive Producers Exec. Producers
Nathaniel Brislin Benjamin Elliott
Editor Editor
Cinematography cinematography, additional photography add. photography.
Laurie Notch Karac St. Laurent
Rural Chaos Productions
Documentary
Releases by Date
17 oct 2020, releases by country.
80 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page
Popular reviews
Review by Brennan Dortch Cornelius Thunderbolt ★
They do that stupid shit where the Kinect camera recording captures the shape of a human form but, as anyone with even the slightest inclination towards technology will tell you, these camera’s are set to map human form and will pick them up in any pattern and inanimate object they come across. No, that’s not the specter of some dead dude humping a lamp or crawling up a wall, it’s just technology trying it’s damndest to do the job it’s programmed for. Ok. Deep breaths. Not even ten minutes in. Indecipherable audio, light reflections off of surfaces and orbs that are definitely bugs also paint a picture of a deeply haunted home. Hey, the history of the area is always…
Review by DFvideodiary
Lots of annoying shakey cam in this 'documentary' about spooky lights at a house in the old town of Sabbatus. Constant chatter, ghost photos, a haunted lamp and Moog music. All bullshit.
Review by josh ½
I assume the filmmaker is extremely young, so like props to them for releasing a feature length documentary.
Sorry for being a dick tho, the production quality is hot garbage. Terrible audio and video throughout. Kathy grifted y’all with potato quality security footage and silly stories. There’s literally nothing here.
I found this on a t0rr3nt site and the poster caught my attention, which is an issue for me, not you.
Review by taylor ½
half the evidence is debunkable or "just trust me, bro." like, the lamp thing, it's trying to look for human shaped things which is why it's such a distorted figure: it's fitting to the lamp. the orbs outside are precipitation and bugs. the "thing jumping over the gas tank" looked like a bat.
low effort. you not being able to explain it doesn't make it supernatural. and did that woman imply the indigenous people there casually left pre-colonization? right.
Review by MasterChaos ★★★
This is a real documentary and not one of those mock ones that keep popping up and pissing me off, because I only want the real shit.
Problem with real shit is that it rarely satisfies like a narrative would.
Here you get an interesting story with some interesting footage and evidence, but it doesn’t really go anywhere beyond two guys tripping over themselves in the woods.
As with anything paranormal, we don’t get a definitive answer, but I wanted a little bit more from his documentary to make it more well-rounded instead of “Well, that’s all we got… so goodbye!”
That “fairy” pic is insane though!
Review by Joe Carson ½
If what this lame documentary says is true, spirits visit my yard and fly around my security cam every night.
Review by keegan!
This is so incredibly "Maine." I've never seen a movie that better encapsulates rural Maine and its people
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Pine State Phantoms (2020)
There's a place in maine....
- Release Date: 2020-10-17
- User Rating: 1 / 10 from 1 ratings
- Runtime: 1h 20min
- Language: English
- Production Company: Rural Chaos Productions
- Production Country: United States of America
- Director: Nathaniel Brislin
Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed are all common occurrences at this house. Join investigator Nate Brislin as he documents the strange goings-on at the Sabattus house. Hear the story from the eyewitnesses, and embark on an expedition that dares to ask: are there phantoms in America's Pine Tree State?
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Pine State Phantoms Trailer
Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed are all common occurrences at this house. Join investigator Nate Brislin as he documents the strange goings-on at the Sabattus house. Hear the story from the eyewitnesses, and embark on an expedition that dares to ask: are there phantoms in America's Pine Tree State?
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Pine State Phantoms (2020)
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Pine State Phantoms
- Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed are all common occurrences at this house. Join investigator Nate Brislin as he documents the strange goings-on at the Sabattus house. Hear the story from the eyewitnesses, and embark on an expedition that dares to ask: are there phantoms in America's Pine Tree State?
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***** EFFECTIVE 10/25/23, MAINE TITLE LAW HAS CHANGED. MAINE HAS BECOME A 25 YEAR STATE. MAINE NO LONGER REQUIRES TRAILERS THAT ARE OLDER THAN 1999 TO HAVE A TITLE. IF YOU HAVE A TITLE FOR A TRAILER OLDER THAN 1999, AND IT HAS AN EMPTY WEIGHT GREATER THAN 3000 POUNDS, WE CAN STILL GET YOU A TITLE. IT IS NOT A REQUIREMENT. ***** Pine State Trailer Tags (formerly known as Ace Registration Services, LLC) is a Veteran Owned, fully bonded, Non-Governmental Registration Agent, authorized by the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. We process trailer & special equipment registrations and title applications for individuals and commercial trucking companies all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
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Get your copy this Saturday (10/17) at Parafest Maine 2020!More info here:- https://www.facebook.com/parafestmaine- https://www.facebook.com/PineStatePhantom...
Pine State Phantoms: Directed by Nathaniel Brislin. With Nathaniel Brislin, Kathy Fay, Laurie Notch, Laurie Notch. Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings.
Purchase the DVD or Download the digital version today!https://ruralchaos.tv/store/ols/categories/pine-state-phantomshttps://ruralchaos.tv/https://www.facebo...
Order your copy 11/11/2020!More info here:- ruralchaos.tv- https://www.facebook.com/PineStatePhantomsMovie- https://www.facebook.com/ruralchaos- https://www....
"Pine State Phantoms" is the first film from Buxton-born, Biddeford-based filmmaker Nathanial Brislin, a documentary that goes in search of one Sabattus woman's claims of a truly unnerving ...
Trailer JustWatch. Pine State Phantoms. 2020 Directed by Nathaniel Brislin. Synopsis There's a place in Maine... Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings.
Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed are all common occurrences at this house. Join investigator Nate Brislin as he documents the strange goings-on at the Sabattus house. Hear the story from the eyewitnesses, and embark on an expedition that dares to ask: are there phantoms in America's Pine Tree State?
IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers.
Pine State Phantoms. 258 likes. Join investigator Nate Brislin and Professor Laurie Notch as they document the strange goings-on at a house in Sabattus, Maine. Hear the stories from eyewitnesses and...
Is Pine State Phantoms (2020) streaming on Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, or 50+ other streaming services? Find out where you can buy, rent, or subscribe to a streaming service to watch it live or on-demand. Find the cheapest option or how to watch with a free trial.
Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed…
Pine State Phantoms is the kind of high strangeness documentary for which forteans have long been clamoring—devoid of spin and focused on the experiential nature of paranormal phenomena. The documentary premieres October 31st, and is available to watch for free on YouTube through BizarreBase.
NR 1 hr 20 min. Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports ...
Summaries. Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed are all common occurrences at this ...
Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed are all common occurrences at this house.
Pine State Phantoms. Documentary, 17-Oct-2020. Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed ...
Pine State Trailer Tags (formerly known as Ace Registration Services, LLC) is a Veteran Owned, fully bonded, Non-Governmental Registration Agent, authorized by the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. We process trailer & special equipment registrations and title applications for individuals and commercial trucking companies all over the United ...
Pine State Phantoms | movie | 2020 | Official Trailer. JustWatch. Follow Like Favorite Share. Add to Playlist. Report. ... PHANTOMS Trailer (1998) Affleck was the bomb in phantoms yo! ... Ticket Box. 13:06. Metal Gear Solid 5 Phantom Pain - Footprints of Phantoms All Tasks (Mission 15) Wrawrea Rwarar. 7:58. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links - Mecha Phantom ...
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All about Movie: directors and actors, reviews and ratings, trailers, stills, backstage. Nathaniel Brislin, Kathy Fay, Laurie Notch, Karac St. Laurent...
Sabattus is an old town and like any old town it has its history of inhabitants, tragedy, and conflict. There's a house in Sabattus, though, unlike any other. The owner reports that the property experiences strange sightings. Shadowy figures, strange balls of light, and the sounds of being followed are all common occurrences at this house. Join investigator Nate Brislin as he documents the ...
All about TV show: directors and actors, new episodes, reviews and ratings, trailers, stills, backstage. Director Nathaniel Brislin...Documentary. United States.