Ghostwatch (1992)

Ghostwatch

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Notice: No significant spoilers.

Overview: An unmitigated triumph of innovation and design, this is one of found footage's most influential films. But the content will seem dry by today's standards.

The phrase "ahead of its time" encapsulates this obscure 1992 TV movie, aired once on Halloween and then banned from ever airing again in its native UK. Although it caused quite a few water cooler conversations in the homeland, it has never been made officially available in the US, and was only recently releasd on DVD in the UK.

It's not strictly "found footage," more of a faux-cinema verite. Ghostwatch is a facetious BBC documentary investigation, pruporting to include live feed from a haunted house on Halloween night. Interviews with the family and exposition from reporters accompany scenes of ghoulish activity, such as objects moving of their own volition and stange loud noises. Reputable BBC personalities cooperated with this clever hoax to give it an extra-dose of realism. Unsurprising considering found footage was a deceit still unknown to the public at large, many were convinced by this production, and the film has even been accused of influencing one child's suicide!

In addition to pioneering the ghostly premise for countless found footage films (as ghosts easily represent the most common antagonist in found footage) and pre-empting the genre's most successful franchise (Paranormal Activity), Ghoswatch can also be linked to any number of faux-documentary films such as Fourth Kind and the TV version of Incident In Lake County. Most intriguing of all, perhaps, is it's obvious parallel to the now-omnipresent trend of faked ghost-hunting TV programs, like 'Ghost Adventures,' 'Paranormal State,' 'Ghost Hunters,' and MTV's 'Fear.'

But aside from its influence, how high quality of a film is it, really? Well, it gets a 10 out of 5 in originality amd craft. but probably only a 2 or a 3 in watchability. It's a very dry program. It's very REALISTICALLY dry, like a documentary genuinely would be. Which makes it an incredibly well-made piece, but not necessarily a fantastic movie. Admittedly, the deadpan seriousness with which the subject is broached can be considered to make this program more unsettling than the over-the-top jumping and screaming you see in modern shows. So those of you with a more refined, old school sensibility may find the program exciting and terrifying. My taste errs closer to where the genre has evolved to, than where it came from. Sure, I can watch someone walk down a dark hallway on shakycam for 40 minutes and adore every freaking second of it. But a BBC documentary from the early 90s? Not my idea of an exciting watch. But it's definitely worth a view for any fan of found footage, ghost stories, or groundbreaking horror films. For those of us without access to a DVD version, it's readily available on Youtube.