COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - GHOSTWATCH (101 FILMS BLU RAY)
How much do you trust what you see on TV? It’s a question that has weighed upon human minds since the late 30s when the first TV was sold at the New York City World’s Fair. While the technology is no longer new or novel, the level of distrust in the programming it provides has always been in question, but TV is not unique in this regard. In fact, many of the most common communication tools have struggled at one point or another with authenticity and public opinion. In fact, almost a year prior to that NYC World’s Fair, Orson Welles shocked the nation with a faux radio broadcast that articulated a doomsday scenario where aliens invade the Earth. This broadcast was so believable that it caused people to panic and believe that they were in fact under attack from otherworldly beings. While this was never the case, it was one of the most well-known times when media was used to deceive audiences for the purposes of entertainment. Since then, we have seen phenomena like Found Footage films as well as viral marketing campaigns do all they can to convince us that what we are seeing is real, even if it isn’t. For those who love mass hysteria-generating media, 101 FILMS has released one you may or may not have heard of, GHOSTWATCH. This faux documentary from the early 90s aired on the BBC and has now made its way onto a Collector’s Edition blu ray. Is this “ghost” worth watching or should you avoid it from haunting your collection?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The BBC gives over a whole evening to an 'investigation into the supernatural. Four respected presenters and a camera crew attempt to discover the truth behind 'The most haunted house in Britain', expecting a light-hearted scare and probably the uncovering of a hoax. Ninety minutes later the BBC, and the country, were changed, and the consequences are still felt today.
HOW IS IT?
I’m a bit of a laggard with respect to new movies. In fact, when I look at my letterboxd each year I’m always somewhat regretful that I spend most of my time watching older movies. I don’t hang out at that pity party long, because as the famous Family Guy quote goes, “if I haven’t seen it, it’s new to me!”. Sometimes even older films escape me and GHOSTWATCH is absolutely one film that was totally off my radar. Much like the WNUF Halloween Special, in fact, even before WNUF, GHOSTWATCH delivers a faux documentary in the spirit of Welles’ War of the Worlds that plays the scares straight and is still effective over three decades later.
GHOSTWATCH is essentially a “live” broadcast that premiered on the BBC in 1992 and plays out much like any telethon style special would. Using real actors who use their real names, the authenticity here is pretty spot on. Unlike WNUF, this feels real because it takes itself far more seriously. Perhaps that’s because the British carry a more rigid tone and delivery, but the goofs in here are mostly personality based and not intentionally trying to goad the audience into laughing. If you watch the story and think to yourself, “this looks familiar” it’s because you probably have if you’ve seen THE CONJURING 2 or know anything about the Enfield Ghost then the family under the BBC microscope will seem familiar. This is essentially the same story and is directly referenced, but for my money, this is far more effective in unnerving the viewer than Wan’s supernatural spook fest.
It’s really hard to find any fault with GHOSTWATCH. To be honest, the only people who wouldn’t enjoy this are those who are unwilling to suspend their disbelief and go along for the ride. Sure, it’s old and it clearly isn’t real, but if you leave those notions at the door you would be hard-pressed to abstain from enjoyment since everything about GHOSTWATCH is so sincere and genuine. If I really had to nitpick something, it could be the ending. Without spoiling anything, it kind of loses the plot and gets a tad overblown, but it still doesn’t hurt the overall viewing of the film. I’m so glad that 101 FILMS is bringing this under seen gem to North America and it gets the highest recommendation from the crypt as a “must add” to your collection!
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
GHOSTWATCH is presented in its original fullscreen format with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Considering this was made for television, the aspect ratio is unsurprising and expected. The overall look of the film though is still a bit rough, in fact, it looks about the same as I imagine it would have looked when it first aired. This isn’t to say that it looks bad, it just presents as if very little has been done to correct and improve the image aside from bringing it up to 1080. You can see screen grabs from GHOSTWATCH throughout the review and below:
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
Much like the visual side of this release, the sound is nothing to write home about. A standard 2.0 stereo track is included and is more than sufficient considering most of the noise comes from dialogue and subtle sounds. The ending surely would have benefited some from a surround audio track, but it isn’t fair to critique something that is par for the course for so many made-for-TV releases.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
When I see the words “Collector’s Edition” on movie packaging my expectations for what’s included change. There was a time when supplemental features were the prime selling point for DVDs, and interestingly enough they are less common on studio releases than they were before. Thank goodness for boutique labels, for without them these supplemental features wouldn’t get produced, let alone included on these releases. For this review, I watched the 48-minute retrospective documentary, “Do You Believe In Ghosts?: 30 Years of Ghostwatch.
This newly produced documentary features interviews with surviving cast members and crew as well as other familiar and newer faces in the horror genre. These include the filmmakers behind HOST, who say they are absolutely indebted to GHOSTWATCH as the grandfather of found footage films. What’s even more interesting is the journey this took to get made. Starting out intended as a 6-part miniseries, the BBC wasn’t comfortable committing to a multi-episode horror show and in turn, suggested they turn it into a 90-minute film for a slot they had to fill. To be honest, I’m glad they did it this way. While I’m sure the original script was good, this functions far better in this shorter format than it would have stretched out. Even more fascinating was the pushback and pubic reception, which was not great to be polite. It’s a shame really that the public had such a strong reaction to this, and not because it was horror but because they felt that the faux documentary aesthetic was in contrast to the trustworthiness of the BBC brand. It’s just entertainment, people! A full list of the special features included in this release are listed below:
NEW! 30th Anniversary feature-length documentary
NEW! Audio Commentary with film historians Dr. Shellie McMurdo (University of Hertfordshire/University of Roehampton) and Dr. Stella Gaynor (University of Salford)
Archival commentary with writer Stephen Volk, producer Ruth Baumgarten, and director Lesley Manning
'Shooting Reality' featurette by Lesley Manning
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: 32-page softcover booklet
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: 'Ghostwatch' Slipcase / Slipcover
LAST RITES
GHOSTWATCH is essential viewing for any self-respecting horror fan and in particular, those who enjoy supernatural scares and found-footage style films. Much like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT after it, GHOSTWATCH succeeds in making you question your reality and what you’re seeing on your television. 101 FILMS has put together a great release that will look great on your shelves!
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you to the fine fiends at MVD ENTERTAINMENT for providing a review copy for the crypt, and you can purchase AUDREY ROSE now via MVD DIRECT!
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