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The Unexplained Boxed Set | 
 enlarge | Actor: Collector's Choice
Studio: A&E Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.24
You Save: $6.71 (45%)
New (27) Used (13) from $4.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 71747
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 200
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.9
MPN: 70221
ISBN: 0767036026
UPC: 733961702217
EAN: 9780767036023
ASIN: B00005AA9F
Release Date: April 24, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW AND FACTORY SEALED
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The Unexplained set includes four episodes:
The Unexplained: Vampire Myth
Like other programs in A&E's The Unexplained series, Vampire Myth doesn't provide any final answer to the question, "Are these creatures for real?" It does, however, introduce viewers to a woman who sleeps in a coffin and a man who lives with his "blood donor" and frequents a vampire fetish club in, of all places, Beverly Hills. The hour-long video also offers literary and historical perspectives for our fascination with these denizens of the dark, examining Bram Stoker's Dracula and revealing the grisly details of the 15th-century reign of Vlad the Impaler, who liked to dine among his screaming victims. Although the narration warns of disturbing imagery, the clips of modern-day vampires sucking blood from the shoulders or arms of their donors (necks, apparently, are now passe) are actually fairly tame. For all of its fangs and fanfare, ultimately Vampire Myth lacks bite. --Larisa Lomacky Moore The Unexplained: Poltergeist
Creaking floors and bizarre apparitions turn up in old buildings. People in an old New England inn hear a young girl dancing upstairs, while patrons at a country & western bar in Kentucky are assaulted by characters who seem to emerge from a dark and violent past. The Unexplained: Poltergeist, from A&E, seeks to explain what could be causing these strange phenomena. Interviews with people who have encountered apparitions or have heard the strange sounds in empty rooms appear totally credible, yet psychologists suggest that the witnesses may be imagining more than they actually have seen or heard. The video takes a balanced and open-minded approach, letting the witnesses, ghost-hunters, and skeptics speak for themselves. As one would expect from A&E, the production values are excellent, and the material is presented in a highly professional manner. Still, there's no denying that some of the subject matter is extremely creepy. Are murder victims haunting old buildings and harassing today's inhabitants? If you don't mind the hair on the back of your neck standing up, you can watch and be the judge. --Robert J. McNamara The Unexplained: Extreme Sacrifice
Why would someone risk her or his life to save that of a complete stranger? Few things in human behavior are more puzzling than this. The reasons why some people are inclined to such inexplicably brave behavior is the focus of Extreme Sacrifice, part of The Unexplained series on A&E. Case studies of particular sudden heroes are examined, complete with interviews with the principals and witnesses to their actions. Examined in detail are the examples of a young woman who dove into the fast-moving Niagara River to save a stranger, a Secret Service agent who willingly threw himself into the line of fire during the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan, and a young Marine in the Korean War who survived throwing himself atop a live grenade to save other soldiers. Interviews with the heroes give some insight into why they would behave the way they did, but what's perhaps more fascinating are interviews with medical researchers who are investigating whether there is a genetic predisposition for risky behavior and heroic actions. Some research indicates that a person's brain structure may destine an individual toward heroic and risky acts. This is a thought-provoking examination of a topic that has long fascinated humanity. --Robert J. McNamara The Unexplained: Spontaneous Human Combustion
The term spontaneous human combustion was coined in the 19th century when it was considered a common affliction to befall drunkards. Yet many skeptics challenged the belief that human bodies could erupt in flames and burn from the inside out. Today the debate over this phenomenon has changed little, as can be seen in the hour-long A&E program The Unexplained: Spontaneous Human Combustion. Those who believe in spontaneous human combustion say the typical victim is an older woman who is overweight and an alcoholic (and often a smoker as well). But whether the deaths of these victims were caused by an internal inferno or fueled by another source remains hotly disputed. This video includes interviews with victims' family members, police and fire department officials, noted skeptics, and the author of Ablaze! The Mysterious Fires of Spontaneous Human Combustion, Larry Arnold. The end result is a well-balanced and fascinating exploration of four cases of alleged spontaneous combustion. Warning: This video is not for the squeamish, as it includes graphic photographs of what remained of the victims once the flames had gone out. --Larisa Lomacky Moore
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| Customer Reviews:
 Best DVD I have seen on the paranormal. January 9, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is just the kind of documentary that I enjoy. It gave intensive background on the subjects it discussed as well as interviews of actual persons who have experienced these things. Just the type of great factual programs that you can expect from A&E. If you like factual, informative documentaries then this is for you.
 Not worthy January 22, 2006
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
I hope not to offend anyone. With all due respect to those that may not agree with me, I would like to respectfully share my opinion in case someone finds it useful.
Do not waste your money on this. The stories are so trivial or so superficially explained that you will not know if you should laugh, sleep or regret to have throwing away your money by buying this. The title of the collection is very pretentious, but there are no more than 3 or 4 stories that occurred, mostly, in small towns in Oregon or lonely bars in a Kentucky city. A more accurate title would be "Some unexplained events in small cities in the USA", and then the content would be ok. But "The Unexplained boxed set" will lead you wrong, because this title suggests more than you will receive.
Two examples:
a) The Vampire Myth segment would be richer if it included some research in Rumania (after all, a place with long tradition of the real vampire myth), and would have been more serious by giving less spot to the people referred as "bunch of weirdos" by another Amazon reviewer. Such people, all of them, live in the USA. I would have nothing against it or against them if the title of the volume were, i.e., "The vampire myth in the USA: some true stories" or something like that. Actually, in that context, the stories of the interviewed people may be more appreciated than here.
So, you expect something insightful, but you only find 5 things: i. A guy in LA that sucks blood as a way of life or a hobby, without any other connection with vampirism; ii. A couple that believes that Vlad Draculea ("Tepes") "lives" with them, showing the decoration of their home inspired by the "Impaler" and showing how Tepes actually speaks through them; iii. A woman that likes to sleep all day long in a coffin; iv. Some remarks from Bram Stoker, naturally; and, v. Some comments of Tepes life.
i, ii and iii does not belong to a documentary nor even to a "light-documentary" about vampirism; and iv and v are so obvious that you feel that you are loosing your time.
b) I think the worse segment is perhaps Poltergeist. It is even worse than the Vampire's one. About Poltergeist there are famous cases that should have been mentioned here, from all over the world, staring in Europe (after all "Poltergeist" is a German word); but there are also many cases in USA too. Even tough it might have ended as something else, cases as, i.e., Amityville, have a lot to say about poltergeist; and all the legends surrounding the making of the "Poltergeist" movie would have been far more interesting, etc... But not: the producers decided to go (and with a superficial approach) after two very simple and "typical" stories in Boston and Kentucky ("I saw something on that window", "we heard voices", "we felt something evil", etc., but nothing more) and one story in Yorkshire about some flying eggs (!). I think that this last one was included to say "We included something from Europe!" to avoid to be considered "too local", but sorry, not enough, bad attempt. More local and more simple, would have been impossible.
The only "Unexplained" thing I found was the question "why the producers made something so poor, superficial and absolutely trivial?"
Some interesting material, but a lot of it is explained July 23, 2005
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
What is unexplainable about a bunch of weirdos in California sucking each others blood and talking about their strange sexuality? How about Vlad the impaler? The whole vampire thing is totally explainable, and it even mentions that in the film.
The poltergiests segment is pretty decent, but nothing as good as unsolved mysteries, IMO.
The extreme sacrifice footage is once again, in my opinion, an explainable phenomenon.
The spnotaneous combustion segment is the best of the series, and provides a lot of footage and accounts, interviews, etc.
So as the title of my review states, the footage in this set is interesting, but the title slitghly decieving, as a lot of the phenomenon is very explainable. However, still a reasonably enjoyable watch. I would rent if possible.
 Fairly good introduction to "The Unexplained". July 30, 2002
26 out of 29 found this review helpful
Another A&E 2 disc set which has recently been reduced in price... At 200 minutes it's a waste of two discs - technology advances would put this onto one disc, which would be much more convenient. This set contains four episodes:-
Disc 1: The Vampire Myth. 46'04" 1998. Mono.
Modern Californian Vampires - Moderate.
Bram Stoker & Dracula - Good.
Vlad the Impaler - Good,plus.
Poltergeist. 46'27" 1997. Mono.
Boston Inn Poltergeist - Moderate~good.
Children and Poltergeist - Moderate~good.
Kentucky C&W Bar's evil Poltergeist - Good.
Yorkshire 'Tapping' Poltergeist - Good. Disc 2: Extreme Sacrifice. 46'11" 1998. Mono.
US Secret Service - Moderate~good.
Niagra Rescue - Moderate~good.
Korean War Heroism - Good.
Spontaneous Human Combustion. 46'10" 1998. Mild stereo.
Illinois Incident - Moderate~good.
1964, Widow - Good.
1986, New York - Good.
1982, London - Good.
Charles Dickens - Good,plus. The picture and sound quality is up to the usual A&E standard; as is the lack of sub-titles....
Overall this is a fairly good introduction to Unexplained Phenomena, and a useful addition to one's DVD documentary library. And I think that this is the first time that I have ever seen anything about S.H.C. on DVD...
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