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Sarah Greene and Craig Charles report from a reputedly haunted London home for the outside broadcast, while Michael Parkinson and Mike Smith stay in the warmth and "safety" of a BBC studio. The Early family are allegedly being harassed by the ghost 'Pipes', so named as his banging and crashing were initially attributed to bad plumbing. After a deliberately slow start the tension gradually builds, culminating in a terrifying crescendo. Although entirely fictional, the masterly combination of great scripting, intuitive direction and perfect casting made the supernatural pastiche appear frighteningly real. (101 Films)
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For me, the most surprising horror discovery of the year. Here it is almost unknown, but when the BBC aired it for the first time in Britain it caused a lot of fuss; and no wonder. The plot of Ghostwatch would fit perfectly in today’s trend of found-footage and mockumentary, it plays at being a serious TV documentary and was aired as such – in 1992, several years before The Blair Witch Project! It is really beyond my comprehension how this forerunner of all current fake horror documentaries could push the format so far. When you see it, you’ll be surprised, too. By the way, Oren Peli must have taken some inspiration here for his Paranormal Activity, en particular for the third part with the girls and Toby. What’s not so good are the very weak actors (actual BBC reporters), but the idea and the atmosphere (the second half is truly scary) pull it forward and I recommend it to all horror fans. Nowadays, we are used to this format, so part of the effect may be missing, but if I had seen it live back in 1992 I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.
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This is truly a unique and bold creation by the BBC. Broadcast on Halloween in 1992, it caused a massive uproar. Even today, it's revered as a pioneering piece and the forerunner of modern horror mockumentaries and found footage films. Without Ghostwatch, it's hard to say if The Blair Witch Project would exist; its creators admitted they saw Ghostwatch before even conceiving their film. Its reputation isn’t just built on controversy but also on its genuinely eerie execution that can still send chills down your spine. I have to admit, there were moments that genuinely scared me, which I wouldn't have expected from a British TV mockumentary from 1992. At the time, it must have been like a bolt from the blue, and it's no wonder it fooled so many viewers into believing it was real. If I had been a teenager then and tuned into Ghostwatch without any warning, I think I would have been seriously spooked, possibly left with nightmares for a long time. Well played, BBC... well played!
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Even though I generally don't like mockumentaries because they're often handled by amateurs, I am very satisfied with Ghostwatch. This is a film that entertained me, one that is maximally refined in its style to truly represent something that could be perceived as real. Additionally, good actors were chosen, and fans of Red Dwarf might be pleased by the presence of Craig Charles.
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