Monday, August 31, 2015

BritTV: Ghostwatch (1992)


I've been on a British TV ghost story binge lately. This one, "Ghostwatch" was a real winner. Like Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds", it was aired on Halloween night and it pretended to be a live broadcast. When the BBC originally aired it, the phone lines lit up with people terrified, because they thought it was real. In the show, there is a call in segment and scripted callers claim to see things in the footage that the anchors didn't see, so it must have been pretty frightening for folks with a tendency towards being media gullible.

It's said to be one of the primary influences on "Blair Witch" and "Paranormal Activity" and I can totally see it. "Ghostwatch" has never been aired on TV again after its first broadcast, but it is available on DVD from Amazon.co.uk It's only in PAL format only, so you need a region free DVD player. The DVD comes paired with another ghost story called "The Stone Tape". It's more gothic than scary, but it's still fun.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haunted-Double-Feature-Ghostwatch-Stone/dp/B00EF1I8IQ/


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