The Unbinding(2023)(Review) - Gruesome Gazette

Everybody’s heard the stories of cursed objects – from possessed dolls to malicious mirrors, there’s no shortage of urban legends when it comes to the paranormal. While there are many famous collectors that already have films or TV series about them (such as the Warrens or Zak Bagans), there’s one team of paranormal collectors who have been gaining a following for years. Meet Dana & Greg Newkirk – a married couple that is composed of a practicing witch and a paranormal investigator. While they have many stories in their catalog, today focuses on what they claim to be one of the most shocking and bizarre cases they’ve ever encountered – ‘The Unbinding’.

The story goes that a few years back on Reddit, a man went onto a haunted forum and told a story about a friend of his who went hiking through the Catskills Mountain, only to discover a strange cave near the summit. Inside the cave was a strange wooden figure that had a noose tied around it’s neck and 3 thick nails hammered into each of its eyes. For whatever reason, he decided to bring it home. Things only go from weird to downright terrifying as he claims to have been visited by nightly terrors that take the form of an elderly woman, drenched in stinky swamp water, and causing mayhem throughout his apartment. Terrified, they send the doll to the Newkirks who own a traveling museum of haunted objects – but even they admit that the first night of them living with the thing was beyond anything they expected. The cursed artifact has come to be known as ‘The Crone’, and this film shows their story of acquiring it, all the way through returning and unbinding it from the curse they feel it has.

This film is a documentary that includes re-enactments and a little bit of actual footage from their archive – they often livestream events and conversations, so many times they have actual video evidence to justify their claims of what happened. But nothing could have prepared them, or us, for what ends up happening throughout their time with this artifact.

Truth be told, this is one of the creepiest documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. The story never hits a point of feeling unbelievably over-the-top, and instead feels grounded in realism. The Newkirks had released a previous series a few years back called “Hellier” which essentially documented their time traveling to the town of Hellier, where someone had claimed to been visited by these goblin-alien-like creatures. While the show is rather fascinating, ultimately there is no big payoff, so I’ve never covered it here. However, what this show did do was really show the authenticity that this couple portrays and has when it comes to the paranormal – they are simultaneous believers and skeptics, which means we don’t get any exaggerated responses or obviously bunk stories to accompany their claims.

Believe what you wish, but I absolutely believe the Newkirks. And this story of theirs is absolutely shocking. See it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions.

4/5
“The Unbinding” is currently streaming on Tubi, and also available to rent/buy on Prime.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra