Ghostwatch

It was the day after Halloween, I was ten years old. I arrived back from my Nana's with my mother - my father and sister had indeed watched something very disturbing that night. Well, maybe not my dad, naïve and sceptical of all things unseen. The item that was the buzz of the media for the next few days was a show which was presented as true, which was in fact a staged drama of a paranormal investigation into the self-proclaimed `Most haunted house in Britain'. Even better, since bed-time was 9pm in those early days - it was on tape, for my enjoyment!

The documentary started and progressed much-like Children In Need, oozing of Crimewatch-esque scenes - subtle, crowds gathering outside the spectacle, minor celebrity Craig Charles (now of Robot Wars fame) chatting to the neighbourhood in the dead of the night. And, in the studio, Michael Parkinson radiates professionalism, giving the show an undeniable sense of seriousness. In the BBC, Parkinson and Sarah Green had never acted a staged drama before.

A young-looking Craig Charles used humour and traditional `Halloween's just a bit of fun' tactics to lighten the atmosphere early on, which sucked the youthful audience in until they wouldn't ever want to escape. Then, at the point of no turning back, a masterstroke in film was pulled off and the audience was taken in by a whirlwind of strange activity which cut the proverbial throat of all fun and games and drove the drama into new heights of dread and evil.

As Parkinson fails to digest any of the happenings and focusses on his presentation from the studio, Sarah Green, presenting from the house, with family of the victims of a ghost they named `Mr Pipes', are locked in an atmosphere you could cut with a knife. Here, the film programs your mind to become paranoid – creating a scene which will weld you to the screen, eyes fixated. The film uses all the tricks of a real documentary to create a familiar tone, the phone-ins, promotion of books, viewers actually phoning up - combined with the presence of the paranormal, it is a lethal concoction.

Very early into the film we see supposedly supernatural footage on tape, of a bedside lamp exploding. A curtain reveals a vague outline of what the children and the mother believe to be the offender, `Mr Pipes'. The overall conclusion is that this is just a trick of the light. Into the `live' filming, we are teased with dimly lit areas and lighting which could suggest Pipes is present on screen at all times, unknown to Green and to the audience. Scenes in contrast from the loud social of the street to the silent, dimly-lit homeliness of the house work perfectly, the feeling of dread and of a presence, and an evil one of that, are never absent throughout the last thirty minutes.

After being shocked to our skins with suggestive occurrences, and – god forbid – the force actually concealed within the confines of the screen, in

darkness and in light, the show reaches a climax and all hell breaks loose. Total darkness engulfs the house like a black mist with the motivation of juggernauts, Green trying to find a solution, Charles with a noticeable absence, joking attitude dead and buried, as Parkinson can only look on from the comfort of the studio. The final scene comes, is over-the-top, but would at least wake the audience up from their sleep that this was not a real BBC investigation. As silly as it was, there could be no alternate ending for a sixty minute TV documentary which was paced with perfect accuracy. Parkinson breaking a sweat, the evils of this world embrace the studio and nowhere is safe. The credits roll as you wake up from a horrible nightmare.

Without a doubt, this was a masterpiece of film. The next day EVERYONE was talking about it. It was a cult hit within a matter of days, and beyond, people were traumatised. The media linked this to the suicide of a man - I was not surprised, Ghost Watch gave me nightmares for months afterwards. The curtains in my room became a homage for all kinds of faces, outlines, and mysteries which I could not comprehend. The film an inspiration, I vowed for the days where I could watch movies like Poltergeist and Amityville. Neither of those sequence of movies, or any other, for that matter – cast a shadow on what was televised at half nine on BBC1. Sadly deleted and banned from screening ever again, the tape that Ghostwatch graced was accidentally wiped by my father, and has not been seen since 1993. At the time of youth, I didn't accept the work as fiction, until my Aunty tried to get hold of a copy of the book seen in the film. The book shop had been swamped with requests, familiarity overcame her face, the solemn answer was; `It was staged, the book doesn't exist'.

Hopefully I will get my hands on a copy of Ghost Watch again to watch after almost a decade. Today, Tony Parkinson still hosts his late-night interviewing show, Sarah Green is an old face in the crowd, Mike Smith is still around, and Craig Charles is the main face of Robot Wars, bereft of credibility after his media speculation.

I recently watched "WNUF Halloween Special", a horror film that is obviously inspired by this film, because it is VERY similar, except for a few little details here and there. I must say that Ghostwatch does it much better. I only wish I could have been sitting in front of a TV in 1993 watching this and not knowing it was fake. It seems like it would have been very convincing back then.

Ghostwatch is a film that is made in what is similar to the "found footage" style of films. It is essentially made to look like a TV special where they investigate a haunted house, and things get very crazy. It's full of many creepy and subtle spooky scenes, and it really creates that scary vibe that a lot of films are missing. What is most unique about this film is its idea of television and how it is incorporated into the haunting. It adds another layer of creepy, and perhaps even is saying something about television and how it is incorporated into peoples everyday lives and can even be a big part of them.

In the end, I would say this is a must see for horror fans. It's spooky and should be seen alone for the fact that it has a place in history as a TV movie that seemed so real that it tricked thousands of people into believing it's content.

Quite simply, the most frightening television programme ever broadcast, 'Ghost Watch' pushed the edges of 'acceptability' so far that we'll probably never get the chance to see it again.

The one and only time this has been shown, anywhere in the world, I believe, was on Halloween 1992. The UK listings magazine 'Radio Times' printed it's cast, crew and writer- yet it was promoted as a 'documentary'. And the British public, suitably suckered, fell for the joke in their millions.

In much the same way that Orson Welles' 'War of the Worlds' and latterly 'The Blair Witch Project' caused audiences to question their sense of reality, so 'Ghost Watch', for one wonderful October night, made screaming believers of us all. The conceit is simple- TV heavyweight Michael Parkinson hosts an evening of programmes purporting to investigate the supernatural. There are mediums in the studio, debate, and most importantly, a 'live' investigation into one of Britain's "most haunted" houses.

The casting is intelligent and spot-on; Parkinson adds gravitas, and the 'light-entertainment' faces of Sarah Greene, Craig Charles and Mike Smith just-about convince you that whatever happens, it's going to be treated in a nice, family-orientated, jokey manner. Just what you'd expect from Auntie Beeb.

And then it begins.

Writer Stephen Volk uses every gruelling modern horror cliche in the book- possessions, telekenesis, speaking-in-tongues, self-flagellation, child-abuse, things *almost* seen, satanic animals, suicide, - but, robbed of their comfortable 'Poltergeist'/'Amityville Horror' contexts, and placed into what was until a few minutes ago an edgy, but amusing 'documentary', they take on whole new levels of terror. And 'Ghost Watch' is very, very scary.

I really don't want to ruin this for anyone who hasn't seen it- but suffice to say Expect The Unexpected. Moments of extreme horror are slipped in, almost subliminally, and the cumulative effect is of a long, terrifying journey to a place you really don't want to go.

Of course the ending is silly- it has to be, to relieve the tension, and allow viewers to relax. It was, after all, a drama, a play, a "hoax" if you like. A horror film. And the best one of the 'nineties, if I were forced to make my choice.

Due to the sheer number of complaints, and the suicide of a viewer, the BBC effectively banned it from further screenings, and refused to release it on video. Further, as far as I know, they have not offered it for sale abroad.

The only way any of us are going to see it's like again, is to rely on those who recorded it at the time of broadcast, seven years ago- or hope that some enterprising foreign station buys the rights, and remakes it.

It's a terrible, terrible shame that something as powerful and clever as this should go unseen.

Steev

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.

Back in 1992, the BBC decided to make a TV movie for Halloween. However, instead of having it look like a movie, "Ghostwatch" was presented like it was a live TV show. And, despite the beginning of the show betraying it's a movie, many believed it was all real and some viewers were genuinely freaked out by the film.

Michael Parkenson, a TV presenter and journalist, heads the show...playing himself. Along with him are a group of TV hosts and paranormal investigators who are investigating a seemingly haunted house. At first, the film is pretty mundane but over the course of the movie, spirits begin to manifest themselves and cause all sorts of scary stuff.

The best thing about the movie is that they made it look like a TV show...and if you come into it a bit late, I could see someone believing what they see. Overall, a very clever idea and a seriously freaky film towards the end. Well worth seeing.