Through an unsettling look into the dark history of Porter Gaud High School, Paige Goldberg Tolmach has a created a film of incredible relevance, one which is entirely unafraid to expose the truths behind a scandal which still effects persons to this very day. Here, the perspective is unflinching with horrific details of sexual abuse, suicide, and personal recounting from victims, activists, and perpetrators alike all without a loss of focus. Clearly, it's a subject very close to the heart of Tolmach, a personal project which has been made with the upmost care, concern, and dedication. For a small production team, everything is incredibly professional from the editing, cinematography, animation, and even Tolmach's own voiceover. Everything here is exactly what the title claims, haunting. I don't believe I'll forget the sentiments here anytime soon, for I have been profoundly impacted by the results. Truly a documentary worthy of its title.
9 Reviews
Good but misleading tagline
peculyer7 March 2021
Absolutely Haunting
jakeetobiczyk17 July 2018
As the title suggests, this documentary will most definitely haunt you. It will expose you to forms of evil and treachery that you thought only existed in the movies. While Eddie Fischer, the culprit of these sexual crimes, is the primary focus of the documentary, there is an arguably even greater perpetrator at work below the surface. However, the story and subject of this documentary is handled with deserved respect and care by Paige Goldberg Tolmach, an alumni of Porter-Gaud, where these malicious acts occurred. Had this been piloted by anyone else, the quest for answers and the passion for exposing the truth to the rest of the world could have been easily omitted and left to the wayside. The interviews with the victims, accompanied by some artistically animated visuals, all help to paint this tragic picture for the masses to take in and learn from it. But beyond the feelings of sadness this documentary evokes, it also gives us hope for the survivors of these acts and appreciation for those who tried putting an end to them. Nonetheless, while this documentary is a must watch for almost any viewer of appropriate age, I strongly advise warning anyone considering watching What Haunts Us that has been a victim of sexual abuse to brace themselves for what they are about to see.
Two abusers: Eddie Fischer and the Major
sjanders-864305 January 2021
What Haunts Us is about a Charleston South Carolina private school that harbored knowingly a sexual abuser. Eddie Fidcher sexually abused boys at Porter Gaud for 40 years. They knew about it and did nothing. In 1982 he wasn't fired but was allowed to resign. He then taught at College Prep and abused more boys. Finally Guerry Glover and his dad filed a suit against Porter Gaud. The Headmaster, the Major "Maj", who knew, and who was also a pedafile shot himself.
Eddie Fischer was given 20 years. Porter Gaud was fined $105 million.
Guerry Glover is the hero of this story the moral of which is that it is horrible to sexually abuse children who are haunted sometimes to become suicidal. But it is as bad to ignore sexual abuse and not report it.
say nothing, do nothing, people die
toothmanmichaelc2 March 2022
I watched this documentary with open eyes. It is easy to say that in the "good old days" these predators had it easy. However, in this film, the high school is a Charleston prep school, filled with talented and often entitled children.
What happened there could happen anywhere--but it was made worse by the status of the school which was willing to hide its secrets to avoid public shame. This didn't work--the rate of suicides of men in the one class is just a leading indicator of the trauma caused by Eddie Fischer and his Citadel buddy Major Anderson. There are other indicators that are have different measures--addiction, cascading abuse perpetrated by victims, among them.
The courage and clarity of Guerry Glover stands out in this film. The director who is an alumnus and had her own story of hearing about the abuse but not reporting it, underlines the ending. This institutional abuse is made more scarring by the refusal of people to stand up and make reports.
That is the specter that haunts us all even if we have never been to Charleston, South Carolina.
What happened there could happen anywhere--but it was made worse by the status of the school which was willing to hide its secrets to avoid public shame. This didn't work--the rate of suicides of men in the one class is just a leading indicator of the trauma caused by Eddie Fischer and his Citadel buddy Major Anderson. There are other indicators that are have different measures--addiction, cascading abuse perpetrated by victims, among them.
The courage and clarity of Guerry Glover stands out in this film. The director who is an alumnus and had her own story of hearing about the abuse but not reporting it, underlines the ending. This institutional abuse is made more scarring by the refusal of people to stand up and make reports.
That is the specter that haunts us all even if we have never been to Charleston, South Carolina.
Documentary done in a melodramatic way, poses more questions than answers
dale-516492 January 2021
Nothing new here- decades after a serial pederast assaulted multiple victims they look back on what now looks to be odd behavior by those surrounding the case. Decades ago we lived in a much more naive ,( or much less suspicious )depending on how you look at it, world than we do today. Like the Joe Paterno case, the "retrospectascope" makes everyone who was in the same city as the perp look guilty, especially if they have good insurance.
Any a baby boomer will tell you that back in the day intergenerational friendships didn't raise eyebrows , and a man walking down the beach surrounded by children didn't raise questions . So drawing a cartoon of a man walking with kids with foreboding music overlay comes off as a comic book horror look instead of actual evidence.
The problem I have with the piece is that they don't look at it thru the lease of the time , and most of the people they interview weren't there . They are women who have dolled themselves up in their "preppy best" for their 15 minutes of fame. One is an older lady who has nothing but hearsay. Another supposedly had a friend or boyfriend that allegedly confessed to her "Eddie Fisher touches me and says it's good because it will help me when I get with girls". WHAT ? ?? I was a teen before these guys, and none of us would ever have bought into such a ridiculous rational for someone to "touch " us., and if we had, we certainly never in a million years would have told a girl about it, one who would think we were an incurable idiot for not immediately leaving the second we heard it. These were regular kids, not special needs.
It reminds me of the Dr. McDonald case where he got convicted of killing his family he said hippies had done it , and his "kill the pigs acid is groovy" contention was so laughable that he ended up behind bars. Most of the on camera people are peripheral women who were not there, or a guy who had major litigation going, and once money gets into the mix it becomes difficult to discover what actually went down.
The admin and school district have been accused of not reacting appropriately, although at that time people knew less, and were much less proactive about stopping people from re offending, because they didn't know the recidivism rates yet . Fortunately, the creep that perpetuated all this is behind bars, but instead of hearing evidence we get what sounds like hearsay accounts , or victim impact statements written by lawyers.
It would have been interesting to hear from some of the actual victims , alleged victims who defended Fisher if there were any, or defense attorneys on the other side. The jury hopefully got to hear everything, and the viewer should get exposure to the same.
Any a baby boomer will tell you that back in the day intergenerational friendships didn't raise eyebrows , and a man walking down the beach surrounded by children didn't raise questions . So drawing a cartoon of a man walking with kids with foreboding music overlay comes off as a comic book horror look instead of actual evidence.
The problem I have with the piece is that they don't look at it thru the lease of the time , and most of the people they interview weren't there . They are women who have dolled themselves up in their "preppy best" for their 15 minutes of fame. One is an older lady who has nothing but hearsay. Another supposedly had a friend or boyfriend that allegedly confessed to her "Eddie Fisher touches me and says it's good because it will help me when I get with girls". WHAT ? ?? I was a teen before these guys, and none of us would ever have bought into such a ridiculous rational for someone to "touch " us., and if we had, we certainly never in a million years would have told a girl about it, one who would think we were an incurable idiot for not immediately leaving the second we heard it. These were regular kids, not special needs.
It reminds me of the Dr. McDonald case where he got convicted of killing his family he said hippies had done it , and his "kill the pigs acid is groovy" contention was so laughable that he ended up behind bars. Most of the on camera people are peripheral women who were not there, or a guy who had major litigation going, and once money gets into the mix it becomes difficult to discover what actually went down.
The admin and school district have been accused of not reacting appropriately, although at that time people knew less, and were much less proactive about stopping people from re offending, because they didn't know the recidivism rates yet . Fortunately, the creep that perpetuated all this is behind bars, but instead of hearing evidence we get what sounds like hearsay accounts , or victim impact statements written by lawyers.
It would have been interesting to hear from some of the actual victims , alleged victims who defended Fisher if there were any, or defense attorneys on the other side. The jury hopefully got to hear everything, and the viewer should get exposure to the same.
Groups Protect and Enables Predators
katiemadonna-13 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
As I was watching this, I thought everything here sounds like the culture at University of Notre Dame. The filmmaker does a fabulous job of unraveling an the horrific events at her high school aided by the elite community members. She covers the culture of enable so well in this film. I kept thinking, "This sounds exactly like the culture at Notre Dame" At ND, the elite keep the campus rapes and sexual assault hush hush while attacking the victims. "The Hunting Ground" documentary covers Notre Dame's culture very well. But "What Haunts Us" really captures the echoes of abuse that ripple out into the future, leading many victims to kill themselves. This is a hard film to watch but I do hope more people will watch it and question how they respond to the sexual assault in their community.
A story so in the open you will be forever moved
adubrowa31 October 2017
Provoking, heartfelt, thoughtful and eye opening; every parent and every school in the world should watch this film. Every school should have a screening and a discussion with the high school level student body. Providing a safe atmosphere with knowledge, flushing out ideas and providing a trusting place to communicate and offer help to those who have been affected, are affected and suffering.
Heartbreaking
conniebuy15 August 2021
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