“Is Discovery Channel venturing into the found footage genre?” I wondered when I first heard about Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes. “How’s that going to work?”
It was the “lost tapes” part that tripped me up. Were there really some lost tapes that someone found that would tell the true story of a harrowing expedition of some sort?
Um, my naïveté was showing again. Turns out, Expedition from Hell is a limited docuseries that premieres on Discovery Channel and Max on May 12.
Expedition from Hell, “A Doomed Expedition”
The series description explains that it tells the tale of “a doomed expedition through the Amazon led by a charismatic guide with unclear motives.”
Uh oh. That doesn’t sound good…but it also sounds like the kind of docuseries I like to watch. The rest of the description confirmed my suspicions.
The series unfolds a stranger-than-fiction story of Mickey Grosman, a former special forces demolitions expert who took a group of amateur adventurers on a nearly impossible journey across South America. Positioned as a charity trek for cancer awareness, participants were to be part of a 5,000-mile expedition across the continent through the deepest parts of the Amazon jungle. Only one claims to have made it to the end…Mickey Grosman.
A press release supplied some additional information, including that it used plenty of real-life footage from the “lost tapes.” Specifically, “over 700 hours of archival footage shot from the trip,” which shows “a fascinating series of misfortunes and ineptitude.”
The docuseries promises to uncover “brand new revelations that shock even those who were alongside Grosman during the ill-fated adventure.” One that was haunted by “kidnapping, prison escapes, and a missing person.”
This sounds like a super hairy (or maybe hair-raising) trek that started out with what seems like good intentions that went sideways. Or did they? Surely they must have in order to spark a docuseries, right?
Mickey Grosman
But what I’m really curious to find out is more about this Mickey Grosman character. Is he a good guy or bad? A con man or not? What happened to him?
I Googled him to see what I could find out. The first result that came up was for his website. I decided to stop there after a few things popped out at me. The first was that I don’t think he’s updated the site since 2014.
The second was how it emphasized the “success” of his Amazon5000 expedition and how he “traversed the continent of South America on foot, from coast-to-coast and through the perilous Amazon.”
It goes on to say, “By succeeding where legendary Spanish conquistador, Francisco de Orellana failed roughly 500 years ago, I am on a life mission to show others that seemingly impossible battles always can be won!”
Sounds inspirational. So what happened? What made this story worthy of a docuseries?
I could’ve dug deeper, but the third thing that caught my attention was that he’s a fellow cancer survivor. Is that still the case? While I want to know, I also don’t. I want to experience Expedition from Hell as green as possible with as few spoilers as possible. Because my interest is piqued to see where this journey leads. What about yours?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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If he’s the only one who completed the 5000-mile Amazon trek, I wonder if that means the others dropped out and had to be helicopter-rescued or if they all DIED. I look forward to your eventual review of the docuseries.
I don’t think all of them died based on the trailer, BUT that was my first thought too. I do think one went missing and is presumed dead? Or maybe is now confirmed dead? I don’t know if he’s still missing or eventually turned up, but that was another hook from the trailer that snagged me. I’ll for sure have to watch this one to get all my questions answered. lol
I really wish they wouldn’t dip into docu-series or faux documentaries a la Blair Witch. If it’s fiction, it tends to cause so much confusion when it’s treated like a real event someone documented.
As you can tell, I won’t be watching it.
“faux Documentaries” = I wish I’d thought of that phrasing! lol
If it’s any consolation, I don’t think it’s an “a la Blair Witch” (bravo on that wordsmithery too) kind of thing. I “think” it’s real, but I’m not sure. I’m just not exactly sure what happened, if there was a crime or con committed, etc…
I’m sure if I looked closer, I’d find out. But I wanted to save it to see where the doc would lead. If it isn’t about something that really happened, I’ll be disappointed….and thinking I wish I was a smart like you and didn’t watch at all. lol
I’ll let you know what happens…
Looking forward to your commentary. I don’t want to get all involved in something promoted as a verite when it actually isn’t, ya know. I’ll stick to Josh Gates’ fun loving expedition shows. The fact that he isn’t crazy about spiders either endears him to me and my mom.
“verite” = you are really improving my vocabulary with your comments lately, Maria! lol Perfect, succinct word I’d never have come up with on my own.
And Josh Gates…hard to beat him. He’s got the “it” factor big time and his shows are always entertaining. Even my husband is now a fan of his. Right before the COVID lockdowns hit (like maybe only 2 weeks before?) I dragged Wayne to see a Josh Gates Live show. Wayne had no idea who he was, but I’ve caught him flipping channels when we’re traveling and coming across an Expedition Unknown episode and stopping to watch. lol