Ghostwatch

Considering some of the myths and stories that have been generated by the legendary Halloween 1992 showing of Ghostwatch some disappointment may be felt when actually viewing it long after it was to have its greatest impact. However that is not to detract from what is an original and innovative drama, and one that has retained its ability to scare.

A BBC team are invited to Britain's most haunted house to investigate a malevolent presence terrorising the family that live there, in particular the eldest near-pubescent daughter. As events unfold live from the house an initially sceptical Michael Parkinson and an ever increasingly concerned parapsychologist begin to realise that the BBC is about to score a scoop far greater, and more dangerous, than they had bargained for.

I recall seeing Ghostwatch on its first and only transmission. I had missed the opening Screen One card and titles so what I sat down to I initially believed to be a real investigation into a haunted house. The first university research footage of a poltergeist attack on the two girls made my blood run cold. I remember phoning a friend to see if he was watching. I was shaken. Then I started to realise certain things. The mother and eldest daughter were not convincing. The parapsychologist was clearly an actress. The slightly improvisational interaction between the presenters was clearly a scripted attempt at improvisation. I was disappointed, indeed sufficiently so to change the channel and only occasionally dip back into the programme. I remember the press reports over the following days. I couldn't believe they were referring to the programme I had glimpsed. Then Ghostwatch was buried and forgotten.

Then it came back, released on dvd by the BFI. People started to write about it again, reporting that it still had the power to chill. I had to see it again. I watched it twice this week. The strange thing I realised was that despite the poor acting and the occasionally clichéd script, those people who said it retained its power to scare were absolutely right.

Ghostwatch won't make you jump. It won't turn your stomach and it won't make you scream. Ghostwatch will simply unnerve you. It will make you check things that you see from the corner of your eye again. It will make you wonder what that shape in the corner of your room really is, as you struggle to sleep after viewing the show. It will make you ask whether that really is the sound of the central heating pipes expanding, or contracting, or is it something else.

It's true enough that some of the acting is poor, undermining the verisilimitude of the film. One wishes that the script allowed for more spontaneity from the cast. As it is the actors are quite obviously adhering to a script and their attempts at looking genuinely astonished, scared, unnerved by the events are frequently wooden. Probably the most convincing member of the cast is Craig Charles. His performance is light and therefore he appears the most natural. Sarah Greene does very well for the most part, although once strange events begin to occur it is clear that she is acting scared rather than actually being scared. Michael Parkinson is poor, but his part doesn't help. One simply can't believe that an institution such as he could be so openly cold and dismissive to the plight of the family, as he frequently is (he is particularly unsympathetic at the moment the older girl is found covered in scratches).

So what does work? The staggered revelations about the house and family's history are intriguing and eerie, as is the idea that the accumulation of evil over time in the house and the area has led to a manifestation of hateful malevolence. Sound and video effects are put to excellent use. The occupants of the house are subjected to sudden bumps, crashes and, as more secrets of the house are revealed, the awful wailing of cats. The ghostly voices are creepy in the extreme, particularly the inhuman voice played back on the studio tape recorder. What you hear can be far scarier than what you see and the makers of Ghostwatch play on this with great skill.

The link between house and studio begins to deteriorate late in the show. Picture and sound slow down. The link is lost and regained. The sense that something evil has penetrated the broadcast equipment and begun to transmit itself to homes across the UK is brilliantly done. In the studio more and more callers report strange events at their own homes, events that mirror what is happening in the house. Glass breaks, clocks stop, and dogs start barking at the screen. The parapsychologist realises that the BBC transmission has effectively provided the environment for a national séance. Every home tuned into the programme is now primed for supernatural attack. It's a wonderfully apocalyptic idea and one can imagine how disturbing this must have been for those original viewers who bought the idea that the show was live. As it stood the programme was blamed for several women going into premature labour, for 2 boys requiring treatment for post-traumatic stress, and for the tragic suicide of one young man. One can now understand why the BBC blocked the writer's attempts to have a high-frequency noise, calculated to upset viewers' pets, played on the soundtrack during the show's climax. It could have been the first television show in British history to create civic disorder.

I can't recall the last time a British television programme made such a bold attempt to scare. It's surprising considering the wealth of ghost lore we have to draw on in this country (the UK reportedly has more ghosts per square mile than any other place on earth). It's a testament to Ghostwatch that it has since become a fondly regarded piece of that tradition.

Ostensibly a night in a "real" haunted house filmed live on Halloween night that tricked many people who were unaware it was fiction while they were watching it (even though it had writing and acting credits).

There's a lot of fun to be had here. It feels real enough, though if you know to look for it it can feel a bit staged. Some of the best bits involve the studio which has a real "paranormal expert" on hand to explain the goings-ons. The scares are very Paranormal Activity lite, but considering the time and the fact that it was a TV movie one can see how it would have an impact.

As a piece of history this spooky flick is indelible and worth celebrating, as a piece of art it's merely good enough.

I was 12 when Ghostwatch was shown on Holloween on BBC1! I remember sitting on the sofa with my Brother and Mam, my Dad went out before the show had began. We were pulled into the story and got scared to death by Pipes and the story of the Early family, this was years before Most Haunted hit the screens! You could spot Pipes, you could hear the stories and watch as the team falls apart! I totally believed Sarah Greene was taken by Pipes and that Parky was taken over by Pipes too, GREAT TV! Little did we know that it was due to be banned and never shown again, until the ban ran out and it was released on DVD/Video, which I had for Xmas 3 years ago! Even now I cant watch it alone or with the lights off.....the power of being 12 back then and Pipes coming to get me still shakes me up! For me Ghostwatch is pure great British TV! Sure it might be dated and some people might call it boring...but to this 26 years old...sleepiness nights happen after I watch this show 14 years later!

An excellent piece of television, very well written and structured. The format follows a supposed live TV paranormal investigation into an ordinary house somewhere in England which has been experiencing some apparently terrifying goings on. All I can say is that the script for this is brilliant in getting in all the tiny little details which make it look like a real and sometimes less than perfect production. Several people in the film who are not actors all do a superb job. The way in which the scares are done in this and the actual story that unfolds are all very skilfully done. This remains for me one the smartest and most brilliant pieces of TV drama/horror that's been done.

I was also one of the fortunate immature teens who saw Ghostwatch sitting alone on the sofa watching in 1992. Computer games awaited but better than average Saturday night quiz shows light entertainment cajoled me to stay rooted to the spot. I was looking forward to Hammer's/Terrence Fisher's Curse of the Werewolf that followed this 'Ghostwatch' program I was about to witness. This documentary/drama/horror/supernatural closed the curtains for the evening but I didn't turn off the light that night. I think it has something to do with the story development. It is revealed that this should be taken seriously and cleverly absorbs and you willingly go along. When the scares eventually occur you are totally disorientated and afraid. Images in Ghostwatch stay in your mind for hours afterward, the haunting Pipe's (true evil) revelation is typical Nigel Kneal, combined with the destruction of the family unit is absolutely terrifying. I got the DVD after all those years and now I'm convinced that the scare has something to do with periodic emotions. Those who saw it at a vulnerable age and wanted to be socialising more successfully than their older brothers or had dreams of being on where the best Halloween party of 1992 was being held got scared. Those socialites who were at those parties and heard the hype and saw Ghostwatch subsequently were less impressed. Why? Because they missed out on something that will never happen again. I say this because, depending on my emotional balance, sometimes I laugh hard at all the ham acting/sketchy dialogue and Parkenson, but sometimes when Pipes speaks, suddenly materialises and disappears I still find the experience unnerving. Only five films have made me feel like this: Demons (age 8), Ghostwatch (age 11), The Exorcist (age 13), Blair Witch Project (age 19) and Ringu (age 22).