Bezenby Just watched this again for the first time on DVD (It's available on Virgin On Demand) with my wife, who missed it first time around. Granted, when you know (now) that it was all a fake, then some of the power of the film is diminished, but it still managed to creep me out quite a bit.The first time I watched it I was fifteen and had missed the initial credits, and was well suckered in. Not quite daft enough to believe it was real, but there was still a pure sense of dread as cheesy TV presenters like Mike Smith and Sarah Greene seemingly got involved in a live Halloween broadcast that got out of hand. I did sit there thinking 'is this real or not?' - can't imagine what I would have though had I been younger, though. Tons of subtleties abound, as the tension builds and things move from the cheery British documentary to full-blown paranormal chaos. I won't go into the details here because it's worth watching fresh. My wife didn't think it was that scary (although she enjoyed it) but she said that was down to knowing it was a hoax. Still a classic though. A definite must-watch for any horror fan.

Moriaty Moriaty In todays cinematography, live shows and shows like Ghost adventure and Ghost hunters this show would rate in my score book between 2/10 and maybe 3/10.Orson W. with his famous radio drama was the pioneer in this kind of live "shocking" of public, so 50 years after that comes Ghost watch. So in my opinion ghost watch didn't do anything new, and for that reason I think that it doesn't deserve 8/10 and reviews like scary as hell.No scary parts in whole 90 minutes just cheap sound tricks, BOOM this, BOOM that, "O is that something moving?" And "man in mirror?" - c'mon.Watch it but prepare to have something to watch after that because experience for me is flat curve, nothing dramatic.

Spikeopath Halloween 1992 and the BBC aired Ghostwatch as part of its Screen 1 Drama series. It was all told a horror mockumentary based around the Enfield Poltergeist investigation of 1977/8. Famed for family friendly fodder programming, the reaction to Ghostwatch shook the BBC to its core and the TV institution banned it for 10 years and has never shown it again on one of its channels. Problems arose because many viewers were unaware that the show was actually fake, this in spite of the many clues given both in written credits and the hiring of actors in critical roles!Watching it now some 20 years after the fact, it's hard to believe so many were taken in by the unfolding events of the show. Certainly it's understandable that youngsters watching would be scared by the second half of the show, that is if they wasn't bored stiff by the first half which plods along at an almost lethargic pace? But grown adults besieging the switchboards with worries about the realism of the show? And a weight of complaints not seen since The Sex Pistols swore on TV in 76? Apparently so it seems.Ghostwatch's legacy is tainted by over reaction on one hand, and sadness in the other. The show was cited as the cause for an 18 year old man hanging himself. Martin Denham had learning difficulties and after becoming obsessed with the show, committed suicide five days after the show was broadcast. There were other cases where children as young as 10 were said to have suffered post-traumatic stress because of the show. Sad for sure are these events, but they lend the film an aura of terror that it doesn't deserve. But on an influential front it deserves the utmost praise. It can be seen as a prototype of the reality TV shows that have dominated TV in the last decade, while you have to think that the makers of The Blair Witch Project saw it and took notes.Ghostwatch does have genuine moments of creepiness, the number of sneaky visual placements of Pipes the ghost are very effective. As is his back story. The sound work is suitably chilling, where over emphasised knocking and the sound of wailing cats really hit the desired mark. The cast, too, are stoic and performing well with the material to hand. Michael Parkinson is the head link man hosting the show, a splendid bit of casting because we all trust Parky. Mike Smith plays it suitably tongue close to cheek, his wife, the beautiful Sarah Greene, is the most believable as she spends the night in the house with the Early family, while Craig Charles outside the house larks about and never once plays it seriously. But the others, including the two child actors, struggle to convince. But was they meant to anyway? Because ultimately it's a pastiche production. 6/10

manchester_england2004 GHOSTWATCH is a fake documentary made by and shown on the BBC on Halloween 1992.Its disturbing nature and content created much controversy and scared the BBC from making anything like it again. I might also add that nothing like it has been produced before or since in the UK.It was buried away in a vault for a full 10 years and the BBC were adamant that they would never allow it to re-surface.But it pleases me to confirm that this masterpiece is now available on DVD and has attracted fans from across the world.Some skeptical readers of reviews about this documentary will probably immediately assume that positive thoughts and feelings are down to pure nostalgia on the part of young adults having seen and being terrified by it as a kid.Well the review you are reading now is coming from someone who did NOT see the documentary on its original showing and was already aware it was fake when he placed the DVD into the player.The plot sees the BBC send a crew to a house in North London to investigate paranormal activity. Already this house as been dubbed the "most haunted house in Britain". Living at the house are a single mother and her two children - both girls. Ghostly sightings, strange noises and inexplicable psychic and physical phenomena have been occurring at the house. The local authorities and press have not only looked upon the affair with extreme skepticism but have also painted the residents as highly disturbed people in need of psychiatric help.The events portrayed in the investigation are ingeniously co-ordinated to create a real-time effect. In addition, the choice of a studio setting similar to the TV series, CRIMEWATCH, complete with crew manning telephones, adds to the realism.Michael Parkinson has the time of his life presenting the supposedly real documentary. This really was the finest moment of his career. In the studio with him is an increasingly concerned parapsychologist determined to find a scientific explanation for what is occurring at the house.Action switches from the TV studio to the house and the exterior of the house frequently, adding to the excitement and maintaining interest.The presence of Craig Charles, a well-known presenter of children's TV shows, adds to the misleading innocence and light-hearted nature that is so important at the beginning. Due to this factor, many parents were off-guard and allowed their children to watch the show, believing it was just a light-hearted affair.The events at the house become increasingly erratic as the show progresses. And then we see people engaging in arguments, distrusting one another, making accusations and tempers rising progressively. The tension rises higher and higher and it soon becomes apparent that this masterpiece is much more than the light-hearted affair viewers were misled to believe up to this point.The show even has two other elements to make it appear real - a fake hoax reveal and a fake "time's up" point. These "double bluffs" work like a charm.But the entertainment goes on and on. The link between the studio and the house becomes lost again and again. A mysterious caller reveals some history of the house that suggests a malevolent intention on the part of the "ghosts". Eventually all this tension and suspense reaches a crescendo point that truly has to be seen in order to be believed.The direction is superb throughout. There are no buckets of blood and gore here. Inexplicable imagery, inhuman voices, bumps, crashes, breaking glass, eerie surroundings, the seemingly innocent behaving strangely and a sense of malevolence are the driving forces. The horror comes from a steadily rising feeling of unease, the effectiveness of the "double bluffs", and the perception that the producers have lost control of a situation and may be in real danger of harm.At the end of this show, you are almost certainly guaranteed to feel unnerved and on your guard for the days and weeks after. The mixture of fact and fiction shown here really is that powerful.I must disagree with many of my fellow fans of GHOSTWATCH as I thought the acting was mostly stellar and not wooden as many have stated.The legacy of GHOSTWATCH is evident, having spawned movies like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, THE LAST BROADCAST and REC. Opinion over the success of these subsequent works is far more divided however.Overall, GHOSTWATCH is an absolutely ingenious horrific masterpiece that is a must-see for every horror fan.