One of the greatest fake 'live' programmes ever broadcast, 1992's 'Ghostwatch' really is the high watermark for the 'faux live broadcast' genres. Initally broadcast on BBC1 in 1992, those who tuned in a few seconds late, or tuned out a few seconds early would have completely missed that this was a drama.
Echoing the vibes of the 1930's 'War of the world' broadcasts, the premise is that 'Ghostwatch' (Presented by several of BBC 1's 'faces of the channel' for the time, including Michael Parkinson (national treasure), Craig Charles and Sarah Greene) was a 'halloween' special looking into paranormal activity, with Sarah, Craig and a crew examining a house that has been cited as having high paranormal activity (think; the
'Enfield' case) with one particularly malevolent spirit called 'Pipes' causing havoc to the family of a divorced mother and her two kids.
As the broadcast goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that a paranormal force MAY WELL be holding a power over the residents of the home, and has now set its sights on the presenters themselves.
And one of the things I love about this, is not only that almost noone knew this was fictional (leading a LARGE number of complaints into the BBC over the following week, some from genuinely concerned viewers who thought they'd seen live paranormal activity, and others from VERY angry people who didnt like the fact that, for a breif moment, they'd been tricked.
The script is VERY naturalistic and really doesnt feel out of place from other live shows that were on around the time. In fact; for me that is one of the hinderences of this thing, is that there are several VERY long portions where not a whole lot happens. It helps to set an uneasy atmosphere...but there were points where it went on long enough that i'd flick over to my phone or...y'know...write the letterboxd review for this...
And thats a shame because on the direction and cine side of things this is a masterpiece of subtlety. The first time you watch this, they'll bring up 'ghostly' shapes being seen occasionally during the broadcast. But the reality is, 'Pipes' is LITERALLY all over this movie. he's in the reflections of glass, he's hiding in the top and bottom of shots, he's in the background of group shots. and as the film goes on it gets more and more till one HELL of a finale which, if I DIDNT know this was fictional, I'D have been concerned for all involved!
It means that, while there are long gulfs...you do get at least half a dozen watches worth of value out of re-going through the footage to try and find all the 'Pipes' shots. some become obvious on a 2nd viewing, and it makes you wonder how you missed it the first time. Others are a lot harder and people are still finding 'Pipes' shots to this day! which is amazing really.
With it mimicking live broadcasts of the time, it more than looks the part here acting as most 90s live shows on the BBC did, complete with long unbroken flowing takes of cameras sweeping through the house and up the stairs. the edit is tight, but with noticeable little *purposful* errors here and there to help add to the nervous 'on the fly' energy of the whole thing. Particularly when 'Pipes' starts causing a bit more chaos. Its wonderfully handled and I think really does the job!
The cast are on form, naturalistic, perfeclty in 'hosting' mode and animate. I cant fault them, and the scoring is mainly diagetic, and they do an ASTOUNDING job of getting the silence and creepy noises down to an atmospheric art. I genuinely STILL feel unsettled by this thing in places even 4 or 5 watches in.
In short; Ghostwatch is a fantastic piece of television history, and a pretty solid film. While pound for pound, i'd still probably lean a bit more towards The 'WNUF Halloween Special' just purely because I feel like the commercial breaks help break the action up a bit more and stop it from feeling pedestrian. This is an absolute joy to put on if you want properly unsettling 'broadcast' horror. it'd pair nicely with something like 'WNUF' or maybe to a lesser extent some of the
'V/H/S' shorts...But even on its own, theres fun to be had with this thing, and i'd absolutely recommend checking it out at least once.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/ghostwatch/
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