Edwige, my kangaroo companion from my misadventures in North America, and I were searching for Waldo among rows upon rows of The Warriors movie gang mannequins. I kept seeing his striped shirt out of the corner of my eye. Edwige huffed in frustration and I was about to give up the search when I saw the pom of his hat mixed in the grouping of the Hi-Hats. I nudged Edwige. She nodded and we broke off, ready to tackle our prey.

— To be continued.

This week’s movie is 1998’s The Last Broadcast, another documentary focusing on horrific, unnatural occurrences. We’re introduced to documentary filmmaker David Leigh and his super serious investigation into the Fact or Fiction murders.

What is Fact or Fiction you may ask? Apparently, this was the must see public access show in New Jersey back in 1995. Sometimes weekly ratings would top out at about twelve viewers, so kudos to the creative team of Johnny Avkast and Locus Wheeler!

Fact or Fiction was a show that investigated paranormal mysteries. It was up to the audience to decide if the fantastic tales were indeed fact or merely fiction. We then learn that the two hosts and the camera operator were murdered by Jim Suerd, a young man perhaps possessing psychic abilities. If by psychic you mean an individual that does pathetic card tricks on the rare occasion he leaves his room, then Jim certainly fits the bill.

Why did Johnny and Locus get involved with a psychic? Well, it turns out the show was losing popularity in the fall of 1995 and the two hosts needed to change direction or be forced to leave public access TV and actually get jobs and whatnot. These two asked their audience for show suggestions and then some weirdo from the Internet suggested they investigate the Jersey Devil, a monster from folklore that lurks in the Pine Barrens.

Time to get this out of the way. I’m from New Jersey and even as a child, I was fascinated by the reportedly true stories about ghosts and monsters witnesses swear they say all throughout this great nation of ours. The Jersey Devil, though, is bullshit, a hoax created to save Philadelphia’s Arch Street Museum. T. F. Hopkins bought a kangaroo from a circus and attached fake claws and wings to it. And rubes bought into it.

Kangaroos deserve better, America.

Anyway, Johnny and Locus find Jim Suerd, a purported psychic who could pinpoint the location of the Jersey Devil deep in the Pine Barrens. Jim was also prone to fits and had the demeanor of a serial killer, but Johnny and Locus seemed confident that this nut could lead them through a wilderness he never actually visited before. And Johnny and Locus decided to broadcast the whole thing live over the Internet via a webcast. When the bodies are found butchered, naturally, everyone suspects Jim because, you know, he is Jim.

But we learn that some of the lost footage has been found and as soon as it’s restored the truth of the killings will come out. There’s a twist ending you might see coming.

Jeff Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, episode 124, episode 131, episode 284, episode 441, episode 442, episode 443, episode 444, episode 450, episode 477, episode 491, episode 492, episode 493, episode 495, episode 496, episode 545, episode 546, episode 547, episode 548, episode 549, episode 575, episode 596, episode 597, episode 598, and episode 599) is an MFA graduate from the University of Central Florida.