The Hollywood Ghosts of the Legendary Viper Room

the infamous viper room you've heard tell of this place right have heard many things you know this place is figuratively rolled out the red carpet for many celebrities rock stars know the old bird mice I wouldn't consider myself in the same category in fact we're actually standing on the spot where something very unfortunate occurred young celebrity lost their life but we'll talk more about that when we get inside we're wearing all black we look like we're gonna rob the place this week on BuzzFeed unsolved we investigate the Viper Room in Los Angeles California as part of our ongoing investigation into the question are ghosts real this historic ninety eight year old landmark has played home to many a celebrity including rock stars a list movie talent as well as mobsters back in the day ooh are you excited Oh tingling I could I could tell in fact the stage we're sitting on is a place where most of those rock stars had their day and now we're up here making our sweet sweet cool music with our mouths yeah dressed as the Wet Bandits from home alone if you have to take your hat off we look exactly like the two guys from Cologne this was unintentional I'll do a getting electrocuted on the side at the same time yeah originally built in 1921 the building at 885 to Sunset Boulevard is one of the oldest remaining structures on Los Angeles's famous Sunset Strip in the beginning the building started out as a humble grocery store but by the 1940s the Hollywood nightlife began to take over Sunset Boulevard and the Cotton Club no relation to the famous one in Harlem replaced the market becoming the first of several nightclubs to call eight eight five to Sunset Boulevard home wild to imagine this place piled high with pears bananas oh you know and meanwhile people are out here doing drugs listening to rock and roll in this guy's like a simple grocer they're like Sir you got to turn this into a rock and roll club baby and he's like all right I think it's switched ownership I don't think he wasn't talking I don't think he was like I think I'll take those pears and peaches and put them in the back of that truck because I'm selling rock music it was a very meek mustachioed grandfatherly type man who probably owned a grocery store and then decided that's treating those baguettes for some bass guitars and get too rugged good trade those lentils for some licks in the 1940s the location changed from the Cotton Club to the Greenwich Village Inn which according to a report by the Subcommittee on public morals for Southern California was one of eight clubs in Los Angeles quote staging indecent lewd and lascivious entertainment end quote On June 14 1951 the melody room took over occupancy and brought with it notorious patrons including infamous mobster Mickey Cohen Cohen and his associates were rumored to have frequented the bar which was only one block west of his own headquarters located in the basement of a menswear store in 1973 yet another nightclub filthy McNasty 'he's moved in bringing rock and roll with it and by the 80s the club owned by Anthony Fox had become the central and was frequented by celebrities like John Belushi and Bruce Willis beluche but also mr. die-hard himself brucey boy yeah I don't think he likes being called that mister die hard or brucey boy either one I think either one would elicit a knuckle sandwich into my face I love it his head looks like one giant nut you imagine being knocked out cold by Bruce Willis I'd love to be head-butted by him we also talked about filthy McNasty yeah that's a good name that's an actual dude yeah wait what the space officially became the Viper Room in August of 1993 when Johnny Depp reportedly spent three hundred and fifty thousand dollars without bidding Arnold Schwarzenegger to become Fox's co-owner and a majority stake holder in the company controlling the bar you imagine Schwarzenegger with that paddle 100,000 150,000 not this time Depp put that paddle down now put it down is my bar you know I'm a pirate Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played opening night in the Viper Room quickly became a favorite among young celebrities like Jared Leto drew Barrymore and Leonardo DiCaprio tragically it was what happened on Halloween 1993 with one such young celebrity that's made the Viper Room infamous in the early morning hours of October 31st 1993 actor River Phoenix went to the Viper Room along with his girlfriend Samantha Mathis and his 19 year old younger brother Joaquin Phoenix security footage obtained of that night shows that the group arrived at the club at exactly 1227 a.m. around 1:00 a.m. River was being escorted out of the club by Mathis and an unidentified male after quote acting strangely and quote recordings of a 911 Joaquin frantically asking for help for his brother who was convulsing on the Sunset Strip sidewalk directly in front of the Viper Room River was transported to Cedar sinai but captain Ray Ribar a paramedic who attended to River on the scene said that it appeared he was suffering quote a classic cocaine overdose end quote in that quote he was clinically dead when we got to the club and quote River Phoenix was 23 years old Jesus sir you know really bums me out every time I read about this river Phoenix was he was also in would you know is maybe my favorite movie of all time The Last Crusade yeah a very talented young guy it's it's a tragedy by all accounts what happened to him so they were only here for a half-hour yes but it was Halloween they were probably out before that there's probably 23 it's a young age yeah I had done nothing with my life at age 23 nothing I believe it no that you know 33 10 years nothing has changed in a decade oh yeah I got these gloves you do got those gloves down and you're looking at me yeah so nothing has happened for you since well I made a friend thanks pal since Phoenix would have presumably spent most of his time in the VIP room that's where we will try to make contact all right so this is the VIP room pretty nice be fun if there was like a birthday party in here oh yeah you know things got pretty crazy in here lots of booze probably spilled on this couch and some other stuff okay it goes without saying it was a tragedy what happened to River Phoenix but it is our job to try to communicate with people that have passed on you seem like a cool guy what was it like being in movies River we've never gotten like a word from anyone why are you expecting you're it's like you're sitting down with Rolling Stone and writing a piece on him what's it what's an on journal II question then like a how do you balance life work and family hey River what's your favorite band what kind of music did you listen to when you came here oh sorry yeah can you answer look for roots maybe it's hard for you to communicate so we're gonna use something that may help you communicate you're gonna love it all right let's try this again my name is Ryan fain can you say our names back to us Webber's in this VIP room with us if you would like to communicate we're nice guys very approachable they're really something like hi how you doing did it really sound like hi how you doing hi hi think that was Japanese rivers was not in Japanese another active area of the viper room is the bar itself Tomi black the general manager who's worked at the Viper Room for the past 17 years told Ghost Adventures that when patrons are standing at a certain point at the bar quote they'll either faint pass out or their knees will buckle end quote quote I've seen people drop in the same spot 16 17 times end quote he added quote I've seen a glass fly from the bar onto a mat end quote right now we're at the bar this is war Tommy the current manager claims he sees a lot of people buckle over in this exact spot right here yeah I've seen no other ghost hunters come here and say that it's very cold and that they see flashes of things are you feeling any kind of particular energy right now here I'm feeling ready for Friday night if you know what I'm talking about no I'm not spiritually no are you no you know let's just give it a shot here let's go for the home run yeah we invite anything in here to communicate with us whether that be touching us like you've done in the past you could say something to us you couldn't move something on this bar you could make a noise in fact I've heard that you pushed glasses you could move this glass I've heard you've moved classes off this bar in the past can you do that now this is a common thing we've heard at bars every bar we've been to there's a story of a glass being pushed off but this is just like that's just bar stuff glasses are falling in bars all the time that's like someone being like well the ghosts make it smell like stale beer in here vomited in the urinal again maybe you forgot how I'll show ya just smashed whoa see easy if that happened on its own oh you poop your little tiny pants we're gonna leave this glass for you here though break it shatter it as they're awake of mark words I don't know how we're gonna be able to tell you move that now moving just a normal thing we're doing at 6:00 a.m. slapping a bar counter balancing coasters on a glass that's probably not go see now that did it well that was wind well that's good to know though if a if some windy ghosts come by even after years of experiencing these strange occurrences black still works in the infamous club but black isn't the only viper room employee who's experienced something they can't explain Macy Jane the Viper rims former manager told Ghost Adventures that she's received the same phone call in the club's office multiple times the phone would ring Maisie Jane would answer and the person on the other end would say hi it's me in a man's voice Maisie Jane reports that there is static after the person speaks the line goes dead look it could be a prank phone call I'll say it for you hilarious yeah get this hi it's me yes it is believed by some that these phone calls are being made by none other than the former co-owner of the Viper Room himself Anthony Foxx a man who's been missing since December 19th 2001 days before Fox was set to testify against Johnny Depp and four others for allegedly defrauding him of profits from the club Anthony Fox disappeared On January 6th 2002 Fox's truck was found in Santa Clara California but no trace of Fox was found let's hit that with a classic no comment because I like my life right now don't want to get sued is that coincidence probably you know that's what we can say okay but people speculate that Anthony Fox isn't missing at all but that he is in fact buried on the Viper Room premises and according to Macy Jane someone who says she cannot name personally confirmed that a body is buried behind the downstairs lounge in a small room with the dirt floor Tommy black the longtime manager refuses to even enter that room okay so this is the downstairs bar and as you can see it definitely does have a little bit more of a sinister vibe if that's what you're gonna look like some nasty stuff went down down here that aside pretty cool lounge we got down yeah oh well don't make that noise ever again if there's anybody down here with us specifically Anthony Foxx we would love to know what happened to you so we're gonna give you some time right now to communicate with us you could say something you could move something in the bar you could touch us one minute coming at you right now please tell us what happened to you I was like scanning the bar looking for ghosts and I pan over to you and you're just passed out like I said there's been a lot of there were mobsters down here this was once a grocery store who knew who knows what happened down here anything could have happened and I'm gonna use something right now that could maybe shed some light on that here we go all right now once again my name is Ryan I'm Shane and we're reaching out to the spirits of Anthony box if you are in fact unfortunately dead mr. Fox can you please tell us what happened to you what were you gonna say on trial that next day all right in like that one bit no I didn't what what the [ __ ] was that if that's you Anthony could you say that again what did you want to say on trial that next day something like you said help once again whoever just spoke can you speak to us again well let's look in that hole do you not want us to look in there ghoul boy see a hole they're gonna look in it that's the ghoul boy promise that's true rise and shine baby closet is it yes basically we'll see you back there what are you doing yes it is pretty creepy in here actually now I'm in your hole I'm reaching out to Anthony Fox are you buried here what was that what happened in here why do people not like coming over here is it because it's a weird baseless crawlspace I don't know turn off the light and shut the door I'm gonna give you one more chance to talk to me on spirit box this may help you speak here we go [ __ ] Anthony barks what happened here don't try that at home folks it's gross I think this is as good a time as any to jump into individual investigations yes I'd like to explore this space on my lonesome I would too more specifically any space but that one cuz it was gross smells like [ __ ] I'm ready to enter the nightmare zone once again you gonna okay that's I was gonna say what you could look for and all that stuff but I'm looking for ghosts descending into the basement both velvety it's very velvety so Shane is down there likely not taking the investigation very serious very off-brand oh oh oh no echoes whatsoever anyway my name's Shane I'm a ghost hunter and I'm here alone right now giving you the perfect opportunity to really give me a spook spook of a lifetime this is a once in a death time opportunity but I will say look at this the straws moved a little bit that may be from just the general rustle and bustle of a set but you know they were like this if you'll recall and I feel like we painstakingly made that clear there moved just saying any much just mobsters and generate some general mobsters here mobsters love a basement oh yeah this one's deep this is one storey underground baby but this basement oh it's a party basement isn't it I'm a little party boy if you're looking for a party boy Here I am let's party baby let's party let's dance and I don't know what to say on these things anymore cuz it's all the same quiet rooms full of nothing okay I'm gonna go now bye ghosts I love you it's me did you fall asleep down there no I actually didn't I was dancing you were dancing well I thought the mobsters might have liked a party boy so I tried to give him a party boy and they didn't want the party boy but I think it's worth maybe trying to give them another party boy go get him I'm gonna go down there and I'm gonna cleanse the basement yeah I'm gonna take my little broom out spiritual of course and shovel in some dirt a little sweep sweep sweep in yeah who are you gonna call Ryan Bergara well I got to do a little offbeat because it's copyright well I hope he finds it ghosts there is an unsolved mystery associated with this place and if you know anything about me you know that that is my cup of tea as they say you're giving me the opportunity right now to solve a unsolved true crime case as well as solve the mystery of ghosts frankly I'm asking you right now to do me a favor if you show yourself you will make me the greatest detective overall I would say of all time and look I'm not a man to chase after glory but I will say I wouldn't mind having that on my mantle you know I've been antagonistic enough this whole time this whole series now I'm just rooting for him it's become very sad there's nothing down there Shane said he did some dancing does that move look good right there a little pelvic action how about those moves huh ghouls I hope he finds a ghost I always do ideally the ghouls walk up the stairs and rhymes just oh he's passed out with fear in between them and they're hauling him up here like he's had too many and the ghouls just say sorry we scared your little buddy too much and I'll say don't worry about it and then I'll say delete this footage the world can never know now I'm gonna talk to River Phoenix River I don't know have you ever spent any time down here in this part of the bar but you honestly wear one of my favorite actors I think you were really talented and it's a shame you're gone now what was that River Phoenix got I heard something behind me thought of steps I guess not oh [ __ ] [ __ ] I actually thought you were a voice screaming through the spirit box at first all right let's get out of here how'd it go down there um can't really tell you know how it is yeah check your audio a little bit maybe yeah check your audio a little bit maybe yeah check your audio a little bit maybe there's somebody opening something down there up here now we have a party let's go check it out I just want to say something what are you talking about going you hear that no you're a dad or a dork week over door squeak at door squeak how many times are we gonna go up and down these I don't know [Music] you heard that their ice adoro been down here no I didn't hear door opened did someone open a door down here doesn't look like it after spending the night exploring every darkened shadowy corner of the infamous Los Angeles night club I can certainly see why many believe the Viper Room to be haunted but whether the dark windowless building also holds within it the ghosts of the not-so-distant Hollywood past will remain unsolved I think this place is finally cleansed after years of paranormal but we've done it that sentence right there communicates a severe misunderstanding of what we do so that being said let's go back out into the mortal world my family's place adieu it's been a treat it certainly has holy smokes what time is it what's up but do you imagine how weird we must look right now to the general public it's okay we're ghost hunters let's go get some breakfast okay I'm gonna go eat some waffles [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeed Unsolved Network

Views: 5,867,838

Keywords: HALLSC, PL-Unsolved, PL-UnsolvedSupernatural, PL-UnsolvedSupernatural-S6, SffZ, The Hollywood Ghosts of the Legendary Viper Room, VXWf, buzzfeed, buzzfeed ryan, buzzfeed shane, buzzfeed unsolved, buzzfeed unsolved network, cold case, creepy, investigatino, mini doc, ryan begara, shane madej, supernatural, theories, unsolved, unsolved hollywood ghosts, unsolved mysteries, unsolved mystery, unsolved supernatural, viper room

Id: fL5DLVqVcis

Length: 23min 39sec (1419 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 11 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/spaghettialis]

Shane "I'm a little party boy" Madej

[u/MarlonBrandoRules]

Not gonna lie, I’m more of a skeptic, but when Ryan was saying how much he loved River Phoenix and the box responded with “Thank you” kind of spooked me a little

[u/DeGeorgetown]

It was actually really creepy the way the ghost box kept saying help/help me. I don't think that's happened so much in any other episode.

[u/RoseFrancis22]

I think the spirit box sessions were pretty strong this episode. The repeated “help me” and the very clear “Anthony” gave me chills.

[u/brittdimov]

When the spirit box said it was Anthony my hair stood up, so creeeepyy!!!!

[u/beestreet13]

There was some spooky things in this one.

[u/amandavieira]

Some good stuff coming from the spirit box this time. That "Anthony" sounded pretty clear. All in all a solid episode! The aesthetic, the movie references, the banter and the "evidence" they got from the spirit box gives me a feeling this is one of those episodes I'll keep coming back to.

[u/brightwings00]

"Well, I made a friend (mutual shoulder pat)". Aww, ghoul boys!

And yeah, that was definitely a freaky spirit box session.

[u/l_snyder13]

This episode had the same energy of Goatman’s Bridge and I loved it