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Live British Ghost Hunting Show ‘Ghostwatch’ Caused Mass Hysteria in ‘92: And Now You Can Watch It

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Warning: the following article contains spoilers about the film Ghostwatch. Read no further if you don’t want to know about major plot details. You can watch on Shudder then come back. 

The year was 1992, the month October; Halloween night actually, and United States horror fans were watching Candyman at the theater while Britain sat in front of their television sets to witness one of the most terrifying live broadcasts in BBC history.

The show was called Ghostwatch, and if you wanted to compare it to anything from today, I would say it looks like a cross between Ghost Adventures and 60 minutes, only much scarier.

The program was a live broadcast from the most haunted house in England located in Northolt, and featured a remote reporter, camera crew and other hosts as they interviewed the family who lived in the house and tried to capture all the alleged paranormal activity terrorizing the single mother and her two young daughters.

Imagine Zak Bagans, his vans and crew in a quiet  U.K. neighborhood.

Meanwhile back in the studio, host Michael Parkinson and parapsychologist Dr. Lin Pascoe talk about what they were seeing while another reporter mans the telephone lines answering any questions viewers may have about the house, the people in it or whatever was being captured as it happens.

It turns out this broadcast would capture the most compelling poltergeist evidence in history, proving that supernatural forces and possessions do exist.

Based on those images and the actions of the crew, people from all over the country panicked, called BBC in mass hysteria, jamming the network’s phone lines in utter fear.

Only Ghostwatch was all a hoax. Sort of. Accidentally.

Ghostwatch was a mockumentary, it wasn’t filmed live even though it appeared to be. The segments between studio host and the haunted house crew were filmed separately, the studio performers reacting to taped footage not a live feed. The whole thing was then edited seamlessly.

People who tuned in late to Ghostwatch missed the Screen One intro; a popular anthology drama series that ran each week back then, vewers fell for what they were seeing on “live” TV, hook, line and sinker. The BBC never ran a disclaimer after the program saying it was all fake. That’s some Orson Wells stuff.

Besides being so convincing as a live broadcast, Ghostwatch also happens to be one of the most terrifying films under the “found footage” moniker of today. The Blair Witch Project wouldn’t trick U.S. audiences the same way for another seven years.

What made Ghostwatch so scary was the actual ghost “Pipes,” a name the children give to him because of the noises he makes.

As cameramen in the house pan back and forth, glimpses of the ghost can be seen subliminally.

If you blink you will miss them, but if you see him it can be quite a shock. Do yourself a favor don’t rewind anything until the movie is over: it’s fun too see how many times you can spot Pipes on the first go.

It has become legendary to try and figure out how many times Pipes appears, the most popular guess is 13.

He is an androgynous ghost, the spirit of a man possessed by a woman who used to drown children on the property years ago. He’s bald and wears a dress just to give you clue on what to look out for.

You may find similarities between Ghostwatch and The Conjuring 2, that’s because the story was based on the notorious Enfield ghost, the same one depicted in that sequel.

The movie ends with a special effects twist that seems ridiculous on the surface, but think about it a little bit and the whole thing will chill you to the bone.

Ghostwatch was so effective in its perceived legitimacy it caused viewers some physiological problems too.

Deaths were reported after its broadcast, some so convinced that the show proved the existence of the afterlife that they took their own lives in order to be with loved ones. One couple even went to court claiming their son had been “hypnotised and obsessed” during the broadcast before taking his own life.

The Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) agreed with the grieving family saying the BBC should have taken extra steps to notify viewers what they were watching wasn’t real and that it was excessively distressing and graphic.

Kids were allegedly affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, namely those between the ages of 10 and 14. But the British Medical Journal dismissed those claims as “brief anxiety” after the children quickly recovered.

The Ghostwatch phenomenon generated a real documentary, a retrospective of the film and its affects called Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains. 

The movie hasn’t been readily available since its first broadcast in 1992, but if you have the streaming service Shudder, you can watch it there.

Creating a movie that terrorized an entire country is not an easy task, so I suggest you view it for yourself to understand exactly how it did. It’s creepy, has a huge rewindability factor and an ending so epic you may have wondered why it’s eluded you for so long.

 

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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