WNUF Halloween Special

WNUF Halloween Special is a truly unique work unlike anything else out there. It's not a "film" so much as an experience, an 82 minute portal back to 1987 and the days of VHS, arcades, and after-school specials.

Combining masterfully crafted commercials (many of which make for excellent satire) with the paranormal investigation of a local "murder house" alleged to be haunted, we follow a tv host and a psychic couple, clearly inspired by Ed and Lorraine Warren, inside on Halloween night. The film is all made to mirror a home video recording of the live broadcast.

For what this film sets out to do, it is beyond successful. As a film, less so, but I'm really in awe of how well this was crafted. The skill shows in every detail. At its core, this is a love letter to the Late 80's, VHS tapes, and Retro Local Television. It is beyond convicing, and if I didn't know better, I would have no doubt this wasn't a lost relic from the 80's, in the vein of Ghostwatch. Just rad!

"WNUF Halloween Special" is one of the many "found footage" movies that have cropped up in the last decade. "Supposedly" this special was aired in the late 80's on a local UHF station. Afterwards, all known copies were destroyed and the event was forgotten about, until now (Blah blah blah, you know the gist of these things) Basically a news reporter, a paranormal investigator husband and wife team (along with their cat) and a priest, seek to unravel the rumored haunting of a local house where a son killed his parents after being told to do so by ghosts that he communicated with via a Ouija board.

Surprisingly the film is very authentic, looking exactly like a 3rd or 4th generation VHS tape, complete with "modern for the time" commercials with varying degrees of cheese. And while not too terribly frightening (to me at least), it does build atmosphere, which a lot of "found footage" films are sorely lacking.

Definitely worth a viewing

This is cool. The creators were completely dedicated to the bit. Is it campy? Yes, but it never shows its hand or winks to the audience to get an extra laugh, NEVER. That's impressive in a found footage movie.

This movie left me feeling like I had almost been hit by a truck. Something big had missed me but I was shaken and my heart was racing. I guess that's an ideal outcome for a found footage horror.

If you like weird found footage movies check out Last Broadcast. You might like it.

I suppose if this film were to be summed up in a single word, it would be dedicated. The plot of the film surrounds a television broadcast that's recently been unearthed, and it was executed in such a way with careful dedication to detail that it was quite nostalgic to watch. Those of us who grew up in the times of only having a handful of channels and having everything we watched being interlaced with obnoxious commercials will find particular appeal and charm in this film. Of course, it's not totally inaccurate (VCRs don't squeal when fast-forwarded; nor does the tape itself), but it pulls itself off pretty well.

This is by far the most creative execution I've seen used for a horror movie, in that it plays on the nostalgia of the viewers. It's not like Disney in the sense that the past is thrown in your face in a disingenuous way and you're just expected to come along for the ride automatically. Rather, this film is a careful reconstruction of the way a lot of us watched TV. That alone is worth the price of admission. In fact, I forgot I was even watching a horror movie and instead was interested in the "old commercials" and broadcasting styles.

Yet again, thanks to Shudder for making this wonderful little horror film available to me.

The WNUF Halloween Special is the horror-holiday hidden gem you've been looking for! Presented as a VHS recording, faux commercials included, of a televised Halloween broadcast from the 80s, this flick is a fun and refreshing take on the worn-out "found footage" genre. And it could have fooled me, as a real recording of a local news station attempting a live call-in séance/exorcism at the haunted location of a double homicide. Either shot as an honorable homage to the legendary BBC horror-mockumentary Ghostwatch (1992) or an outright ripoff, the WNUF Halloween Special still hits all the right notes, and seamlessly blends awkward reality-style comedy with spooks. Add it to the list, catch it if you can, it's a fun lil gem not to be missed by aficionados of the halloween horror movie exploratorium. And I believe it's currently streaming on Shudder. 7/10