Distort (2025) Movie Script
Ok, so...
I am going to record
a music album in the forest.
Normally you go
into a studio. You use, like...
You know, soundproof
walls and you record...
Instruments bit by bit to keep
everything nice and clean, I guess.
But I'm doing something a
little bit different with this.
We're going to take
the studio out into nature.
We're going to keep
it nice and stripped back.
It's just going to be
me, the guitar and the woods.
We have our trusty guitar.
We have our trusty tent.
We have our trusty tripod.
I'm going to just see how
inspiration strikes when I'm out here.
I'm going to see what I'm able to
take from nature and invibe into these songs.
I've gotten away from society
and I've gotten away from humanity.
I've gotten away
from the rat race of it all.
I've gone to the forests deep in the
Wicklow hills, try and escape everything.
You know, with all
the pandemic stuff going on...
It's kind of nice to be
able to get away from everything.
I'm just going to
fully embrace this experience.
And for the next few days, I'm
just going to let whatever happens happen.
Let's do this.
Focus... F- F- Focus... And walk.
Oh, there's a lot more
uphill to this than I thought.
So I'm going to find some
nice secluded spots for all this.
Away from towns and away
from traffic, away from power lines.
We're just going to go
back to basics with this one.
Keep going till we find our spot
we're going to camp in for the night.
Fuck.
Em...
OK...
You know what I think?
I might have come far enough.
Here is good.
It's kind of easier to remember.
We're on the borderline here.
You know, it's memorable
because of, eh... You know... Tree.
Yeah, I think...
I think we have our campsite.
All righty.
That is- That is the tent done.
Not too bad a job.
It's not the flattest
of surfaces, but...
If I sleep with my head
near the door, it's fine.
I don't really roll downhill.
It's kind of like, you
know, just at a nice angle.
So I think that'll work.
I am noticing that I did not
bring the spikes to tie the ropes down.
But, em... You know, I
think that'll be all right.
What am I doing?
Tent is secure. All the bits are
put inside so if it rains we're OK.
Got my recording gear.
Got my guitar.
I think it is time to make some music.
Rolling there.
The only sound here
is the sound of the birds.
And it is beautiful.
I'm about 20, 25 minutes from
the camp, about two kilometers maybe.
It's nice. I think this is... This is
the right spot for the first song.
I've got a very good
idea what I want to do with it.
I haven't quite honed in on it, but I'm
just hoping that the energy from the forest
is going to really kind
of guide it to what it has to be.
Found a nice bird's feather.
I think that might be a good omen.
We'll put that in into there.
First song.
First song. Take two.
You, on top of the world.
Be, what you wanted to be.
See, what you wanted to see.
Now, taking you back down...
To be relieved...
OK, so... I just listened back to the
first recording and eh... It's, em...
You know, there's a lot of positives.
I would say...
Vocals like a little bit of the finesse that
I kind of... Maybe I was expecting.
But that's OK.
This is an experiment.
What I'm thinking now is that...
Why don't I just use this setting, the forest,
to get the musical side right.
Get the instrument side right,
the guitar right.
And you know, we'll worry
about the lyrics later.
Yeah, it's you know,
we know what we're doing now.
And that is... That is good.
That is a good thing.
Ah, yeah.
Oh, Jesus...
Taking the gear around is...
It's a lot harder than it looks.
Come on...
Time to start getting set for nighttime.
Alright...
Well, here I am.
Night one.
You know, when I was young...
The one thing I really
wanted to be was a rock star.
And I would spend hours
every day after school playing music.
The results from today
were, eh... Varied. But...
We'll see how we get on tomorrow, huh?
Right now I am here in my tent.
Got my sleeping bag.
Got the nice little
pouch here for my phone.
I'm about ready to
get some shut eye if I can.
To be honest...
The floor is not quite as comfortable as
I thought it might be, but that's alright.
But yeah. Day one of the big adventure, huh?
Guess some good things can
come out of lockdowns.
Goodnight.
There's something outside.
Hear that?
It's about...
3am-ish.
It's some type of dog or something.
Okay.
I think we might be alright.
Good morning.
Well, that was a shit night's sleep but...
Here we are.
It's about 8 o'clock.
Let's get some of that nice fresh air.
Oh my neck is sore!
I'm just out of the tent.
Everything looks
alright around after last night.
Whatever the animal was, knocking
onto it didn't do any damage, but...
It left this weird little mound here.
It looks like it was scooped together.
That's it right there.
My tent.
I hope that's not just a big
shite it's taken and covered up.
Huh?
What?
What the fuck?
I thought this thing was...
Supposed to be easy to find.
Hold on.
Oh, that is cool.
That was worth it.
Take two.
Okay, it's just over here.
This is strange.
I think it's there.
It's there.
There isn't actually any breeze, so
I don't know how it's making that noise.
See? No...
No breeze.
No breeze.
Where's that blowing through?
Breeze coming through here.
What is that?
Hello?
Hello.
What?
This is an old cassette player.
It was jammed in behind those rocks.
It's a bit suspect given I found
a tape outside my tent this morning.
Hello?
Hello?
I wonder what this used to be used for.
What's that?
No.
What the fuck?
Okay, it is February 7th, 1992.
I am Sarah Emerson.
I am a student of history
at Trinity College in Dublin.
And I am here in the woods
to see if I can find any
information on this urban legend
that everyone's been telling me about.
It's the legend of a
'weeping man' or a 'moaning man'.
This guy was accused by the
British government of harbouring terrorists,
So IRA, Irish Republic Army.
And helping to plot terrorist activities
like bombings and stuff like that.
Which he denied.
But they wouldn't take no for an answer.
So they hung him from his favourite tree.
Supposedly it took
about five days for him to die.
He died seeing his dog
murdered in front of him.
After he passed, the British
government tried to seize his land.
But the majority of the people that
they sent to the land didn't come back.
And the ones that did reported hearing a
weeping man or
moaning man and a dog barking.
So that's why I'm here.
I am going to camp out
for a few days and I'm going
to figure out if this
urban legend is actually real.
See if this weeping man can
find me out here in this forest.
Yeah, I'm excited.
It's going to be great.
So I've made it to what I think is part
of the old property, but there's a church.
I've heard nothing. No spooky ghost noises.
No weeping. No dog barking. No nothing.
But the story behind the
legend, that is definitely true.
Now there's some things
that we can't know, but what we do
know is that the guy who
lived here was called Neil O'Byrne.
He was a really quiet man and
was just secluded after his wife died.
I couldn't find
anything about how she died.
I've also found pages from like a journal
of somebody else that came to study this.
These notes must be
20, 30 years old and they
were jammed under
some rocks inside the church.
I can barely read it, but it gives a
lot of insight into what they were doing.
The one big difference between all
of the stories that I've heard and...
The notes that I've found is that day
five is when things start to happen.
You start to hear things at night.
So I'm going to stay here and
I'm going to see if anything happens.
Is that dog?
Okay.
Well, I guess that's the end of that one.
It's funny she mentions dogs and
there's some dogs barking off in the distance.
Em... Okay.
I'm not too sure why someone would
put some old tapes out here for me to find.
I mean, it's interesting, like.
The story she's talking about there,
it's vaguely familiar to me.
I remember when I was
in primary school, you'd have
the older kids telling
people stories of the moaning man.
I didn't realize it was this forest. I
thought it was like a forest or two over...
Or whatever. If you're not too familiar, like lots
of forestries around Wicklow and Ireland.
Whose dogs are that?
So I guess that brings us to Sarah,
who I'm guessing is a student who is...
Doing a paper on the
realities behind these stories.
I'm not too sure why these
tapes were left here for me to find.
Or who did it? I mean, maybe
someone's watching me right now.
No, that's a bird.
I gotta imagine that if they were
going to do something while I was
unaware of anything, in the
tent would probably be the way to go.
So I'm not going to
mind too much for a moment.
Might be famous last words,
but what we are going to do...
We're going to remember why we're here.
Take the guitar back
up and get back on the trails,
well off trails, and we're going
to go make some music.
Oh, God.
Better not be a fucking
psychopath out there.
Over the years then this
legend has grown and there have
been lots of reports of
people going missing in the woods.
But when you track those reports down
and investigate them a little further...
It's either a friend of a friend
or a friend of that person's friend
And they don't really
know them very well.
But everyone had the same experience,
but then how would they know that everyone
had the same experience if
they all went missing? So there is that.
Also, it's quite
unlikely that it was the British
authorities that killed him,
but more likely British loyalists.
There have been reports
of like tension in the area when
Mr. O'Byrne built this church
that was used by local Catholics...
As like a safe space for them
to come and practice their religion.
O'Byrne's death certificate lists
a suicide under cause of death...
Which is just horrendous.
Now, the locals obviously know that that's
not true, that he was in fact lynched...
but the suicide was put on there to
protect whoever actually murdered him.
And it doesn't really feel right that,
you know, the takeaway is there's a....
Big scary ghost kidnapping people in
the forest and not the fact that...
This man was murdered on his
property and his dog was murdered.
It's just absolutely revolting.
Alright, well, there's all the tapes from today.
Bit of a weird day for things. Eh...
Music went a little bit
better, but I guess it's all
been really kind of overshadowed
by these tapes showing up.
I mean, I'm definitely in two minds
about all of it. It's strange, that's for sure.
Someone is probably following
me and leaving these.
In all likelihood, it's very probable
that, you know, whoever is on this...
Tape is one of these... One of these
people who is pranking me, possibly.
One side of me definitely thinks that's
a very strong option. The other side of me...
definitely feels quite sympathetic to the
idea that something is going on with this...
Woman and- Well, went on with this
woman. It's a little late now to do something.
When I get back, I'll definitely be
looking into it to see what the story is.
If other information hasn't come to light
by then, if someone hasn't jumped out of...
The bush and gone 'surprise' and plastered
my face all over TikTok or something.
Yeah, it's...
It's strange.
But I'm glad I have the camera here,
so anything that's going on...
My perspective is on it,
as well as if anyone's following me...
If they're getting their side of things.
I'm not a huge fan of the idea of
someone following me while I'm...
Doing my things out here. I mean,
when you're out here in the forest alone...
It's kind of creepy.
You know, you...
I don't know which is worse sometimes,
being alone or not being alone.
But, listen.
This is what I'm doing.
I'm out here to record this music,
to make this little record.
And that is what I'm going to do,
you know? During this lockdown...
It's been very intense on a lot of people
and, you know, people can be on top...
Of each other a little bit and
get on each other's nerves and all.
So I'm going to take my
chance now, take my time now.
Away from the house, my partner,
the 5KM, all this kind of thing.
And I'm going to do this. I've said
I was going to do it again and again.
I insisted I was going to
do this. And I'm doing this.
These tapes, they are
what they are. They're a side...
Part of what's going on.
They're not why I'm out here.
I'm out here to do this. I'm...
This is the time to do this.
No other time. So I am doing this.
Alright, it is time to get to sleep.
So...
Goodnight.
I think it's back.
You hear it?
I don't know what that was.
Alright... Morning.
Morning Three.
And that was a shit night's sleep.
If I thought the night before was
shit, that night was one for the annuals.
Do we have...
Oh, and as should come as a
shock to nobody, there is a new pile.
Alright...
I am sick and tired of the
dewy morning air at this point.
And there is another tape.
I guess we're going to have a listen.
I just... I just heard a dog barking. I
can't see anything. It was right by the tent.
I'm sure I heard a dog.
There's more pages.
Someone's left them here.
I think I'm being followed.
I can't do anything. It's
too dark. I can't see anything.
I don't want to go too far from the tent.
Okay, okay.
Okay.
Okay.
I mean...
What do I say-
I have some big choices to make.
The pages say O'Byrne was known to be
very selective about who was on his land.
There had been possibilities that he'd
set his dog on a British loyalist who'd
accidentally crossed
over the property boundary.
Hello?
Hello?
Sounds like dogs.
I don't see anyone.
I swear to God it sounds like
someone's following me.
Maybe whoever had the dogs?
I don't know.
I can hear something.
Hello?
Who's there?
I... I feel like someone's watching
me, like someone's chasing me.
And every bone in my body
is telling me I should go home.
I'm probably an idiot for
not following that instinct, huh?
I just, I, uh...
There's something kinda
unique going on here, and...
I'm interested to see where it goes.
Every drop of rain on a leaf sounds
like someone stepping near the tent.
Sounds like someone's crying.
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Are you alright?
What the-?
Hello?
Okay, so...
Like...
I know what I saw last night.
And it's on the camera.
I've watched it back,
I'm not... I'm not crazy.
Just...
I'm exhausted.
Like, I'm... so exhausted.
It's fucking cold.
I did not come out
here ready for this at all.
Like...
I just wanted to make
some music, but I just...
I wanted something to be fucking right.
I just wanted
something to be fucking right.
I just wanted
something to be fucking right...
I just wanted
something to be fucking right.
Oh yeah, there was
another pile this morning.
Let's see if you can see it.
Right there.
I haven't gone near it,
and, eh...
I'm not too sure if I'm going to
or not at this point. I'm...
I don't know, I'm in two minds.
Like, I thought maybe...
The music could be like a
little bit of... A little bit of me.
And maybe people would
connect with that or something.
But at the same time...
Like, I can't not pull
on this thread, you know?
I mean...
These tapes...
Like, what is going on here?
I mean...
This is not the first
time this has happened, obviously.
I've been hearing it on this.
But...
I mean...
What are the two options here? I mean...
This is either... Really dangerous
and I might end up missing.
But I don't even know if she's
missing. Like, I don't know that.
The other option is that...
I could be...
Capturing something
really, really different.
That could be world changing.
I mean...
Maybe that's enough, you know?
We're doing this.
We're sticking around.
We're sticking around
for the last few nights.
And...
We're gonna pull this thread.
We're gonna get some answers.
Or die trying.
Hopefully not die trying.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's so many different areas...
That look like they're paths.
For about... 50 meters.
And then they just stop being paths.
I don't think I've
been to this part yet.
I think it's a good bit deeper
than the other bits I've been to.
I don't even know what I'm looking for.
Hello?
I don't know how well
that comes across on camera, but...
This is a... Really steep
little embankment.
I don't know if that
helps with perspective, but...
That's, eh...
That's quite a drop.
What's that?
What is that?
Looks like a hut.
I think it's empty.
No...
I think that's one.
Is it gonna be one?
Like...
Yeah, that's another one.
We're leaving.
It's night time, I
can't really see anything.
Everywhere I go, I can
hear this dog barking. And...
I can't find my way.
My torch is... It's not very bright,
but I'd rather be on the move.
This is just... It's too much.
It's far too much.
I keep seeing glimpses
of someone else in the forest.
Like a guy. And every
time I call out for help...
He's just... He's gone.
At least when the sun comes up, I
can get my bearing, but I'm not staying.
I'm not staying in
that tent another night here.
I'm just not doing it.
I don't know which
way to go, but I'm just gonna
keep walking, because
the forest can't go on forever.
It's going to be okay...
I also found a wooden hut.
It's like a hide made of sticks.
I don't know if it's been used recently.
And I found another page in it.
It just says 'Night five'.
There's blood on it.
I can... I can hear him.
He's here.
He's next to me.
He's close.
I can't keep running.
I can't find my way out.
Hello.
Okay, so I'm...
I'm up in the tree line a little bit.
I'm a little bit
shook by what I just saw.
Or what I heard, I guess.
Just...
Like, I can't...
It's kind of... It's
unbelievable, like...
I've got the tapes in my bag.
I'm going to...
I'm going to bring them
back to the authorities and...
I guess, hopefully this
is going to be some help, but...
I just... I don't know, my heart...
My heart breaks for her, like...
Down there...
On the other side.
Just by the hut.
Is a relatively recent fire.
I don't know if it's a day old
or a week old or a year old...
Honestly I wouldn't know, but...
If I was to guess....
I'd say that someone
has been living here.
I'm going to set
myself up here in the tree line.
Out of sight. Out of obvious sight.
And wait and see if
anyone shows up in the next...
I guess, hour and a half. I figure...
After that, I'll probably be out of time
to try and get back before it gets dark.
I'm just going to sit
here and wait quietly and...
Hopefully find someone
who has some answers.
Okay.
No one's shown up yet and
it is starting to get quite dark.
The sun is getting very low.
So, I'm going to get my
shit together and make tracks.
I can't see anything, hold on.
I'm just gonna try...
Just listen.
I can't see anything.
Where is that coming from?
What's that?
That's the way I have to go.
But-
My campsite's back this way.
Whatever it is...
Wherever these dogs that are barking...
They're down this way too.
Jesus.
That's the path.
Fuck.
What do I do? What do I do?
What do I do?
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Oh, God. Is that getting louder?
Fuck fuck fuck.
Oh!
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Jesus.
Fuck.
Oh, God.
Jesus.
I'm all right, I'm all right.
I'm all right, I'm all right.
Okay.
Dropped my phone.
That light, that's coming off my phone.
Fuck, they're gonna see my phone.
Okay.
I'm ok...
Okay.
All right.
Okay.
All right.
Okay.
All right.
Okay.
Okay.
I've been here for
about another 90 minutes.
You can hear that.
It's not as much as it was before.
It seems to be
getting further away, I think.
I think.
I have to get back to the camp.
But I need to have
a light on to do it. I...
I don't know. I think I'm just going to...
I'm just going to hurry back.
There's no way I'm going
to get from the camp to the car.
Not in this.
Can you hear that?
I'm going to try it.
I'm going to...
I'm going to try carefully.
I'm going to try it as quiet as I can.
I'm going to have my light on,
but I'm going to keep it very covered.
Just a little glimmer of light
to keep me on my walk.
Okay.
I've been walking now for about-
It's okay.
I've been walking for about 20 minutes.
Going the right way.
I think.
As bad as it is not seeing them...
I don't really want to see them.
I am never coming outdoors again.
I'm back in the tent.
I've got everything packed.
First light in the morning, I'm
back to the car and I'm out of here.
Something's touching me.
What the fuck?
Oh fuck.
Hello?
Who's there?
Who's there?
Can you see me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?!
Hello?
The car.
It's okay, I'm okay, I'm okay.
I didn't crash. I'm okay. I'm okay.
All right.
Good God, is it much further in here?
Yeah, no, I think it's just...
I think it's just down this way a little.
Oh, I think I see something.
That your tent?
Jesus.
- Oh no, my guitar!
- This place is trashed.
Oh wow...
How many is there? I feel like
there's more than there was before.
Come on.
Piles.
These are the piles
you were talking about?
Yeah, and I think...
Yeah.
Is there one?
Yeah, another one here.
You're kidding me.
Yep, another one.
- One here.
- Wild.
What the fuck...?
You want to throw it in there?
Another...
Another?
Not quite.
Maybe we'll hand them
over next time.
There we go.
This has gotta be like hours of recordings.
Richard?
Yeah?
You might want to come
over here and have a look at this.
What?
Is there something
different about this one?
One way to find out.
I saw him again.
The, eh... The guitar guy.
I think he could see me...
In the trees.
Guitar man, whatever your name is.
If you can hear me...
If you're finding these recordings...
Please, please help me.
I really want to get out of these woods.
I am going to record
a music album in the forest.
Normally you go
into a studio. You use, like...
You know, soundproof
walls and you record...
Instruments bit by bit to keep
everything nice and clean, I guess.
But I'm doing something a
little bit different with this.
We're going to take
the studio out into nature.
We're going to keep
it nice and stripped back.
It's just going to be
me, the guitar and the woods.
We have our trusty guitar.
We have our trusty tent.
We have our trusty tripod.
I'm going to just see how
inspiration strikes when I'm out here.
I'm going to see what I'm able to
take from nature and invibe into these songs.
I've gotten away from society
and I've gotten away from humanity.
I've gotten away
from the rat race of it all.
I've gone to the forests deep in the
Wicklow hills, try and escape everything.
You know, with all
the pandemic stuff going on...
It's kind of nice to be
able to get away from everything.
I'm just going to
fully embrace this experience.
And for the next few days, I'm
just going to let whatever happens happen.
Let's do this.
Focus... F- F- Focus... And walk.
Oh, there's a lot more
uphill to this than I thought.
So I'm going to find some
nice secluded spots for all this.
Away from towns and away
from traffic, away from power lines.
We're just going to go
back to basics with this one.
Keep going till we find our spot
we're going to camp in for the night.
Fuck.
Em...
OK...
You know what I think?
I might have come far enough.
Here is good.
It's kind of easier to remember.
We're on the borderline here.
You know, it's memorable
because of, eh... You know... Tree.
Yeah, I think...
I think we have our campsite.
All righty.
That is- That is the tent done.
Not too bad a job.
It's not the flattest
of surfaces, but...
If I sleep with my head
near the door, it's fine.
I don't really roll downhill.
It's kind of like, you
know, just at a nice angle.
So I think that'll work.
I am noticing that I did not
bring the spikes to tie the ropes down.
But, em... You know, I
think that'll be all right.
What am I doing?
Tent is secure. All the bits are
put inside so if it rains we're OK.
Got my recording gear.
Got my guitar.
I think it is time to make some music.
Rolling there.
The only sound here
is the sound of the birds.
And it is beautiful.
I'm about 20, 25 minutes from
the camp, about two kilometers maybe.
It's nice. I think this is... This is
the right spot for the first song.
I've got a very good
idea what I want to do with it.
I haven't quite honed in on it, but I'm
just hoping that the energy from the forest
is going to really kind
of guide it to what it has to be.
Found a nice bird's feather.
I think that might be a good omen.
We'll put that in into there.
First song.
First song. Take two.
You, on top of the world.
Be, what you wanted to be.
See, what you wanted to see.
Now, taking you back down...
To be relieved...
OK, so... I just listened back to the
first recording and eh... It's, em...
You know, there's a lot of positives.
I would say...
Vocals like a little bit of the finesse that
I kind of... Maybe I was expecting.
But that's OK.
This is an experiment.
What I'm thinking now is that...
Why don't I just use this setting, the forest,
to get the musical side right.
Get the instrument side right,
the guitar right.
And you know, we'll worry
about the lyrics later.
Yeah, it's you know,
we know what we're doing now.
And that is... That is good.
That is a good thing.
Ah, yeah.
Oh, Jesus...
Taking the gear around is...
It's a lot harder than it looks.
Come on...
Time to start getting set for nighttime.
Alright...
Well, here I am.
Night one.
You know, when I was young...
The one thing I really
wanted to be was a rock star.
And I would spend hours
every day after school playing music.
The results from today
were, eh... Varied. But...
We'll see how we get on tomorrow, huh?
Right now I am here in my tent.
Got my sleeping bag.
Got the nice little
pouch here for my phone.
I'm about ready to
get some shut eye if I can.
To be honest...
The floor is not quite as comfortable as
I thought it might be, but that's alright.
But yeah. Day one of the big adventure, huh?
Guess some good things can
come out of lockdowns.
Goodnight.
There's something outside.
Hear that?
It's about...
3am-ish.
It's some type of dog or something.
Okay.
I think we might be alright.
Good morning.
Well, that was a shit night's sleep but...
Here we are.
It's about 8 o'clock.
Let's get some of that nice fresh air.
Oh my neck is sore!
I'm just out of the tent.
Everything looks
alright around after last night.
Whatever the animal was, knocking
onto it didn't do any damage, but...
It left this weird little mound here.
It looks like it was scooped together.
That's it right there.
My tent.
I hope that's not just a big
shite it's taken and covered up.
Huh?
What?
What the fuck?
I thought this thing was...
Supposed to be easy to find.
Hold on.
Oh, that is cool.
That was worth it.
Take two.
Okay, it's just over here.
This is strange.
I think it's there.
It's there.
There isn't actually any breeze, so
I don't know how it's making that noise.
See? No...
No breeze.
No breeze.
Where's that blowing through?
Breeze coming through here.
What is that?
Hello?
Hello.
What?
This is an old cassette player.
It was jammed in behind those rocks.
It's a bit suspect given I found
a tape outside my tent this morning.
Hello?
Hello?
I wonder what this used to be used for.
What's that?
No.
What the fuck?
Okay, it is February 7th, 1992.
I am Sarah Emerson.
I am a student of history
at Trinity College in Dublin.
And I am here in the woods
to see if I can find any
information on this urban legend
that everyone's been telling me about.
It's the legend of a
'weeping man' or a 'moaning man'.
This guy was accused by the
British government of harbouring terrorists,
So IRA, Irish Republic Army.
And helping to plot terrorist activities
like bombings and stuff like that.
Which he denied.
But they wouldn't take no for an answer.
So they hung him from his favourite tree.
Supposedly it took
about five days for him to die.
He died seeing his dog
murdered in front of him.
After he passed, the British
government tried to seize his land.
But the majority of the people that
they sent to the land didn't come back.
And the ones that did reported hearing a
weeping man or
moaning man and a dog barking.
So that's why I'm here.
I am going to camp out
for a few days and I'm going
to figure out if this
urban legend is actually real.
See if this weeping man can
find me out here in this forest.
Yeah, I'm excited.
It's going to be great.
So I've made it to what I think is part
of the old property, but there's a church.
I've heard nothing. No spooky ghost noises.
No weeping. No dog barking. No nothing.
But the story behind the
legend, that is definitely true.
Now there's some things
that we can't know, but what we do
know is that the guy who
lived here was called Neil O'Byrne.
He was a really quiet man and
was just secluded after his wife died.
I couldn't find
anything about how she died.
I've also found pages from like a journal
of somebody else that came to study this.
These notes must be
20, 30 years old and they
were jammed under
some rocks inside the church.
I can barely read it, but it gives a
lot of insight into what they were doing.
The one big difference between all
of the stories that I've heard and...
The notes that I've found is that day
five is when things start to happen.
You start to hear things at night.
So I'm going to stay here and
I'm going to see if anything happens.
Is that dog?
Okay.
Well, I guess that's the end of that one.
It's funny she mentions dogs and
there's some dogs barking off in the distance.
Em... Okay.
I'm not too sure why someone would
put some old tapes out here for me to find.
I mean, it's interesting, like.
The story she's talking about there,
it's vaguely familiar to me.
I remember when I was
in primary school, you'd have
the older kids telling
people stories of the moaning man.
I didn't realize it was this forest. I
thought it was like a forest or two over...
Or whatever. If you're not too familiar, like lots
of forestries around Wicklow and Ireland.
Whose dogs are that?
So I guess that brings us to Sarah,
who I'm guessing is a student who is...
Doing a paper on the
realities behind these stories.
I'm not too sure why these
tapes were left here for me to find.
Or who did it? I mean, maybe
someone's watching me right now.
No, that's a bird.
I gotta imagine that if they were
going to do something while I was
unaware of anything, in the
tent would probably be the way to go.
So I'm not going to
mind too much for a moment.
Might be famous last words,
but what we are going to do...
We're going to remember why we're here.
Take the guitar back
up and get back on the trails,
well off trails, and we're going
to go make some music.
Oh, God.
Better not be a fucking
psychopath out there.
Over the years then this
legend has grown and there have
been lots of reports of
people going missing in the woods.
But when you track those reports down
and investigate them a little further...
It's either a friend of a friend
or a friend of that person's friend
And they don't really
know them very well.
But everyone had the same experience,
but then how would they know that everyone
had the same experience if
they all went missing? So there is that.
Also, it's quite
unlikely that it was the British
authorities that killed him,
but more likely British loyalists.
There have been reports
of like tension in the area when
Mr. O'Byrne built this church
that was used by local Catholics...
As like a safe space for them
to come and practice their religion.
O'Byrne's death certificate lists
a suicide under cause of death...
Which is just horrendous.
Now, the locals obviously know that that's
not true, that he was in fact lynched...
but the suicide was put on there to
protect whoever actually murdered him.
And it doesn't really feel right that,
you know, the takeaway is there's a....
Big scary ghost kidnapping people in
the forest and not the fact that...
This man was murdered on his
property and his dog was murdered.
It's just absolutely revolting.
Alright, well, there's all the tapes from today.
Bit of a weird day for things. Eh...
Music went a little bit
better, but I guess it's all
been really kind of overshadowed
by these tapes showing up.
I mean, I'm definitely in two minds
about all of it. It's strange, that's for sure.
Someone is probably following
me and leaving these.
In all likelihood, it's very probable
that, you know, whoever is on this...
Tape is one of these... One of these
people who is pranking me, possibly.
One side of me definitely thinks that's
a very strong option. The other side of me...
definitely feels quite sympathetic to the
idea that something is going on with this...
Woman and- Well, went on with this
woman. It's a little late now to do something.
When I get back, I'll definitely be
looking into it to see what the story is.
If other information hasn't come to light
by then, if someone hasn't jumped out of...
The bush and gone 'surprise' and plastered
my face all over TikTok or something.
Yeah, it's...
It's strange.
But I'm glad I have the camera here,
so anything that's going on...
My perspective is on it,
as well as if anyone's following me...
If they're getting their side of things.
I'm not a huge fan of the idea of
someone following me while I'm...
Doing my things out here. I mean,
when you're out here in the forest alone...
It's kind of creepy.
You know, you...
I don't know which is worse sometimes,
being alone or not being alone.
But, listen.
This is what I'm doing.
I'm out here to record this music,
to make this little record.
And that is what I'm going to do,
you know? During this lockdown...
It's been very intense on a lot of people
and, you know, people can be on top...
Of each other a little bit and
get on each other's nerves and all.
So I'm going to take my
chance now, take my time now.
Away from the house, my partner,
the 5KM, all this kind of thing.
And I'm going to do this. I've said
I was going to do it again and again.
I insisted I was going to
do this. And I'm doing this.
These tapes, they are
what they are. They're a side...
Part of what's going on.
They're not why I'm out here.
I'm out here to do this. I'm...
This is the time to do this.
No other time. So I am doing this.
Alright, it is time to get to sleep.
So...
Goodnight.
I think it's back.
You hear it?
I don't know what that was.
Alright... Morning.
Morning Three.
And that was a shit night's sleep.
If I thought the night before was
shit, that night was one for the annuals.
Do we have...
Oh, and as should come as a
shock to nobody, there is a new pile.
Alright...
I am sick and tired of the
dewy morning air at this point.
And there is another tape.
I guess we're going to have a listen.
I just... I just heard a dog barking. I
can't see anything. It was right by the tent.
I'm sure I heard a dog.
There's more pages.
Someone's left them here.
I think I'm being followed.
I can't do anything. It's
too dark. I can't see anything.
I don't want to go too far from the tent.
Okay, okay.
Okay.
Okay.
I mean...
What do I say-
I have some big choices to make.
The pages say O'Byrne was known to be
very selective about who was on his land.
There had been possibilities that he'd
set his dog on a British loyalist who'd
accidentally crossed
over the property boundary.
Hello?
Hello?
Sounds like dogs.
I don't see anyone.
I swear to God it sounds like
someone's following me.
Maybe whoever had the dogs?
I don't know.
I can hear something.
Hello?
Who's there?
I... I feel like someone's watching
me, like someone's chasing me.
And every bone in my body
is telling me I should go home.
I'm probably an idiot for
not following that instinct, huh?
I just, I, uh...
There's something kinda
unique going on here, and...
I'm interested to see where it goes.
Every drop of rain on a leaf sounds
like someone stepping near the tent.
Sounds like someone's crying.
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Are you alright?
What the-?
Hello?
Okay, so...
Like...
I know what I saw last night.
And it's on the camera.
I've watched it back,
I'm not... I'm not crazy.
Just...
I'm exhausted.
Like, I'm... so exhausted.
It's fucking cold.
I did not come out
here ready for this at all.
Like...
I just wanted to make
some music, but I just...
I wanted something to be fucking right.
I just wanted
something to be fucking right.
I just wanted
something to be fucking right...
I just wanted
something to be fucking right.
Oh yeah, there was
another pile this morning.
Let's see if you can see it.
Right there.
I haven't gone near it,
and, eh...
I'm not too sure if I'm going to
or not at this point. I'm...
I don't know, I'm in two minds.
Like, I thought maybe...
The music could be like a
little bit of... A little bit of me.
And maybe people would
connect with that or something.
But at the same time...
Like, I can't not pull
on this thread, you know?
I mean...
These tapes...
Like, what is going on here?
I mean...
This is not the first
time this has happened, obviously.
I've been hearing it on this.
But...
I mean...
What are the two options here? I mean...
This is either... Really dangerous
and I might end up missing.
But I don't even know if she's
missing. Like, I don't know that.
The other option is that...
I could be...
Capturing something
really, really different.
That could be world changing.
I mean...
Maybe that's enough, you know?
We're doing this.
We're sticking around.
We're sticking around
for the last few nights.
And...
We're gonna pull this thread.
We're gonna get some answers.
Or die trying.
Hopefully not die trying.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's so many different areas...
That look like they're paths.
For about... 50 meters.
And then they just stop being paths.
I don't think I've
been to this part yet.
I think it's a good bit deeper
than the other bits I've been to.
I don't even know what I'm looking for.
Hello?
I don't know how well
that comes across on camera, but...
This is a... Really steep
little embankment.
I don't know if that
helps with perspective, but...
That's, eh...
That's quite a drop.
What's that?
What is that?
Looks like a hut.
I think it's empty.
No...
I think that's one.
Is it gonna be one?
Like...
Yeah, that's another one.
We're leaving.
It's night time, I
can't really see anything.
Everywhere I go, I can
hear this dog barking. And...
I can't find my way.
My torch is... It's not very bright,
but I'd rather be on the move.
This is just... It's too much.
It's far too much.
I keep seeing glimpses
of someone else in the forest.
Like a guy. And every
time I call out for help...
He's just... He's gone.
At least when the sun comes up, I
can get my bearing, but I'm not staying.
I'm not staying in
that tent another night here.
I'm just not doing it.
I don't know which
way to go, but I'm just gonna
keep walking, because
the forest can't go on forever.
It's going to be okay...
I also found a wooden hut.
It's like a hide made of sticks.
I don't know if it's been used recently.
And I found another page in it.
It just says 'Night five'.
There's blood on it.
I can... I can hear him.
He's here.
He's next to me.
He's close.
I can't keep running.
I can't find my way out.
Hello.
Okay, so I'm...
I'm up in the tree line a little bit.
I'm a little bit
shook by what I just saw.
Or what I heard, I guess.
Just...
Like, I can't...
It's kind of... It's
unbelievable, like...
I've got the tapes in my bag.
I'm going to...
I'm going to bring them
back to the authorities and...
I guess, hopefully this
is going to be some help, but...
I just... I don't know, my heart...
My heart breaks for her, like...
Down there...
On the other side.
Just by the hut.
Is a relatively recent fire.
I don't know if it's a day old
or a week old or a year old...
Honestly I wouldn't know, but...
If I was to guess....
I'd say that someone
has been living here.
I'm going to set
myself up here in the tree line.
Out of sight. Out of obvious sight.
And wait and see if
anyone shows up in the next...
I guess, hour and a half. I figure...
After that, I'll probably be out of time
to try and get back before it gets dark.
I'm just going to sit
here and wait quietly and...
Hopefully find someone
who has some answers.
Okay.
No one's shown up yet and
it is starting to get quite dark.
The sun is getting very low.
So, I'm going to get my
shit together and make tracks.
I can't see anything, hold on.
I'm just gonna try...
Just listen.
I can't see anything.
Where is that coming from?
What's that?
That's the way I have to go.
But-
My campsite's back this way.
Whatever it is...
Wherever these dogs that are barking...
They're down this way too.
Jesus.
That's the path.
Fuck.
What do I do? What do I do?
What do I do?
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Oh, God. Is that getting louder?
Fuck fuck fuck.
Oh!
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Jesus.
Fuck.
Oh, God.
Jesus.
I'm all right, I'm all right.
I'm all right, I'm all right.
Okay.
Dropped my phone.
That light, that's coming off my phone.
Fuck, they're gonna see my phone.
Okay.
I'm ok...
Okay.
All right.
Okay.
All right.
Okay.
All right.
Okay.
Okay.
I've been here for
about another 90 minutes.
You can hear that.
It's not as much as it was before.
It seems to be
getting further away, I think.
I think.
I have to get back to the camp.
But I need to have
a light on to do it. I...
I don't know. I think I'm just going to...
I'm just going to hurry back.
There's no way I'm going
to get from the camp to the car.
Not in this.
Can you hear that?
I'm going to try it.
I'm going to...
I'm going to try carefully.
I'm going to try it as quiet as I can.
I'm going to have my light on,
but I'm going to keep it very covered.
Just a little glimmer of light
to keep me on my walk.
Okay.
I've been walking now for about-
It's okay.
I've been walking for about 20 minutes.
Going the right way.
I think.
As bad as it is not seeing them...
I don't really want to see them.
I am never coming outdoors again.
I'm back in the tent.
I've got everything packed.
First light in the morning, I'm
back to the car and I'm out of here.
Something's touching me.
What the fuck?
Oh fuck.
Hello?
Who's there?
Who's there?
Can you see me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?!
Hello?
The car.
It's okay, I'm okay, I'm okay.
I didn't crash. I'm okay. I'm okay.
All right.
Good God, is it much further in here?
Yeah, no, I think it's just...
I think it's just down this way a little.
Oh, I think I see something.
That your tent?
Jesus.
- Oh no, my guitar!
- This place is trashed.
Oh wow...
How many is there? I feel like
there's more than there was before.
Come on.
Piles.
These are the piles
you were talking about?
Yeah, and I think...
Yeah.
Is there one?
Yeah, another one here.
You're kidding me.
Yep, another one.
- One here.
- Wild.
What the fuck...?
You want to throw it in there?
Another...
Another?
Not quite.
Maybe we'll hand them
over next time.
There we go.
This has gotta be like hours of recordings.
Richard?
Yeah?
You might want to come
over here and have a look at this.
What?
Is there something
different about this one?
One way to find out.
I saw him again.
The, eh... The guitar guy.
I think he could see me...
In the trees.
Guitar man, whatever your name is.
If you can hear me...
If you're finding these recordings...
Please, please help me.
I really want to get out of these woods.