Let’s Talk About the Sam and Colby Movie

Author Bee Alves, Published Oct. 7th, 2024.

IMAGE: COLBY (LEFT) AND SAM (RIGHT) AT TCL CHINESE THEATER, LOS ANGELES, CA. PREMIERE OF SAM AND COLBY: THE LEGENDS OF THE PARANORMAL, OCT. 2, 2024. PHOTO BY HOT TOPIC™

Who are Sam and Colby?

Samuel “Sam” Golbach and Cole “Colby” Brock, two best friends from Kansas—who are currently content creators notorious for their ghost-hunting adventures on YouTube under the joined alias Sam and Colby—have released a limited-time movie exclusively playing in Cinemark theaters across America until October 10th. The film was titled Sam and Colby: The Legends of the Paranormal. Upon viewing the film, I have had many thoughts on it. So, here’s my take on the movie from the eyes of a visual arts major—and a fan.

But before this, I would like to give a spoiler warning, as this article includes in-depth details about the movie. Read at your own expense! Also, in no way is this meant to be condescending or hateful; this is just my take on the things that I wanted to touch on. I love Sam and Colby to death, and I’m a huge believer in the paranormal. There are just some things that can be

explained logically, and things I believe can be improved during their next attempt at filmmaking.

Cinematography and Synopsis

The film is recorded in a found footage style— shaky camera, directly addressing audience—similar to highly acclaimed films such as The Blair Witch Project, Creep, and Willow Creek, just to name a few. Colby, Sam, and their friend Nate Hardy are in Mount Wilson Ranch, Nevada. They have heard of legends of an indigenous shaman who protects the land from harm. Amongst this are legends of skinwalkers—or, as I’d like to call them, “flesh pedestrians”—and even possible alien sightings. Sam, Colby, and Nate speak with many different people who have a connection to the property, and

But why is this only a beige flag and not an outright red flag? 1 2

those people provide some information to the three regarding the property’s long history. Then comes the night of their first investigation. Nate is put under for the Estes method , with a REM Pod set on the nightstand. While Nate is doing the Estes method, he mentions a chime and Colby goes to find the chime outside. Colby uses his phone to record his search for the chime; however, the footage does not have sound. When Colby heads back inside, he states that he heard a loud “YIP!”

They reviewed Colby’s video, which he took on his phone, and there was no sound. However, I found this part to be a beige flag.

It is important to note that Colby plays different video on his phone, which has audio. However, when he shows the video he recorded outside the house, there is still no sound. This can be easily explained as an actual feature of the iPhone camera roll. If you select a video, it will automatically start to play on mute. This holds true even if you turn your ringer on. You need to either turn the volume up or manually press the unmute button on the screen. If the volume is already at maximum and you’re trying to use the volume button method, it will not play the audio. It is the same across all iPhone models.

Notice that Colby had his volume up at maximum and did not touch the unmute button on his phone screen.

So why was it silent in the movie?

Well, there's this simple feature on every single editing software called “detach audio” that allows you to delete the audio file. Now, unless Sam and Colby themselves could prove that the raw footage of that moment was captured with no sound, I would gladly eat my own words.

The Infinity Symbol

Another thing that intrigued me was the section where the three men were up on the mountain doing their final investigation. This was just before they went into the cave of the shaman. Sam and Colby use an automatic writing planchette in this part, and the image inscribed into the paper is a figure 8, or an infinity symbol. What could this mean? I have no idea how or why, but I had a premonition that it would be an infinity symbol from 3

the first image that was left incomplete, as other activity from their devices drove them to stop the drawing. It is important to note the historical context for this. The infinity symbol was created in 1655 by Englishman mathematician John Wallis, and it was used for mathematical purposes. It would not have been used by any commonfolk during that time in history, let alone Native Americans. Then why did that get drawn with the writing planchette?

Either it was some nonhuman entity that was knowledgeable and able to learn (as opposed to regular human spirits, which commonly seem stuck in a time loop), or—the other possibility which I don’t like; it was fake. These are the only possibilities that come to mind.

Explosions and AI

There are some other controversies surrounding the film, such as the boys deciding to blow up the land. Historically, the land belonged to indigenous peoples. Causing explosions like this can be seen as incivility. Sam and Colby claimed to be walking a fine line between respect and disrespect—no, really? But yes, this part of the movie irked many people, myself included. I know the present-day property owners permitted it, but it felt like an illicit act. And it was, considering the land initially belonged to the indigenous, and these people did not want to mess with any of the spirits guarding the land, nor anyone else that was non-indigenous.

Another issue is the overuse of AI-generated photos and videos. This is not a once-or-twice thing

either; it happens countless times throughout the film. Sam and Colby's use of AI images is nothing new; they sometimes use them to create visualizers for their YouTube videos, but only at the beginning of their videos when they’re talking about the history of the haunted location. But in the film, they seem to go full send with the images. While I understand that they wanted to make a point and show what the shaman or the old man who—and bless his heart, but I cannot remember his name for the life of me. Nor was there really any information on him online—owned the property might have looked like, the fact that they kept replaying the same images repeatedly was one of the most tedious things in this film yet. Sam and Colby are prosperous enough to where they could have commissioned an artist willing to illustrate those

sequences. There is no excuse for not commissioning an artist, in my personal belief as an artist.

What are my closing thoughts?

All in all, for a first attempt at making a movie, this was not so bad. This felt more like a documentary than anything, with the way it was filmed. I do feel some reviews on platforms like IMDb are rather harsh and complain about things that aren’t Sam and Colby’s—or someone else involved in the making of the film’s—fault (i.e., children screaming, people getting up and leaving or going on their phones instead of watching the movie, etc.) but there are absolutely people out there pointing out what could have been done better (some do it in a more harsh way, however. But their point still comes

across.) If I had to give this a rating out of five stars, it would be a 4.5/5. If I were able to watch this film again via streaming, I probably would, but the copious amounts of AI stuff would be irritating. I love Sam and Colby, as I said before, and this movie wasn’t by far the worst I’ve seen, but it definitely could have been better.

Glossary

Automatic writing planchette: “Invented in Paris in the 1850s, the planchette was a tool for automatic writing. Much like the planchette we recognize from today’s Ouija boards, it was a heart-shaped plank of wood. But it was much larger than today’s planchettes, rested on wheels or casters, and had a slot to put a pencil through. One or several people would rest their hands on the planchette, and see what messages come through.” Amandier, Chris. 25 April, 2023. “The History of Automatic Writing Planchettes,” Published by Buried Secrets. (2) https:// www.buriedsecretspodcast.com/the-history-of-automatic-writingplanchettes/

Estes method: “One investigator wears a blindfold (or noise-canceling headphones) that are connected to a spirit box. These handy spirit boxes, also known as ghost boxes, quickly scan radio frequencies at a high speed. In turn, they effectively create white noise that spirits are said to manipulate in an effort to communicate.” Ashford, Sam. 3 May, 2023. “What Is The Estes Method?” Published by Spirit Shack. (6) https:// www.spiritshack.co.uk/blog/ghost-hunting/estes-method/? srsltid=AfmBOoqsoAxDJJYeFrdxpcTP7Gq8xHXpHENnCncagZoPnbqLnw wos51m

REM Pod: “The REM Pod, standing for Radiating Electromagnetic Field Pod, has been ingeniously designed to serve as a sensitive detector of electromagnetic field (EMF) variations. The brainchild of engineer and paranormal enthusiast Gary Galka, the REM Pod is conceived with the premise that paranormal entities may interact with, or cause disturbances in, electromagnetic fields. This device, available in both handheld and stationary formats, is a testament to the blend of scientific ingenuity And paranormal inquiry.” Exploring the REM Pod: An Essential Tool in Paranormal Investigations.” A Night Among Ghosts, “Deep Dive into the REM Pod.” (2) https://anightamongghosts.com/articles/exploring-therem-pod-an-essential-tool-in-paranormal-investigations/