Ghostwatch — Ghostwatch(Blu Ray)
From the early 1990s, Ghostwatch is one of the key and early examples of found footage genre. The UK/ BBC production presented itself as a factual TV investigation, with well-known British presenters, members of the public interviewed, and phone-ins. But in reality, it was a TV drama/ mockumentary, which slowly but surely turns decidedly creepy 'n' chilling. Here from 101 Films is the 30th-anniversary edition of the film- featuring a brand-new documentary, two commentary tracks and more.
Ghostwatch was shown on Halloween night 1992 on BBC1- with the channel receiving over 1,000,000- either complaining or praising the show, and as a result, it never played again on British television. The TV movie was the brainchild of Pontypridd, Wales-born Stephen Volk- whose other writing credits include Ken Russell’s horror film Gothic (1986), William Friedkin's maternal terror picture The Guardian (1990), and possessed aupair thriller Superstition (2001). It was directed by Lesley Manning- who mostly seems to have helmed a few UK TV show episodes for the likes of South Of The Border and The Story of Tracy Beaker.
Ghostwatch was presented as a live broadcast- with talk show host Michael Parkinson in the studio, and TV presenters Sarah Greene( Blue Peter, Saturday Superstore) and Craig Charles(Robot Wars, Red Dwarf) on location. The show was all based around the investigation of the suburban house of the Early family- which took in mum Pamela(Bríd Brennan), and her two daughters- early teen Suzanne(Michelle Wesson), and the around ten years old Kim(Cherise Wesson). The family claim they are been haunted by a Poltergeist- who they call ‘Pipes’ due to the noises he makes in the house’s plumbing. But he also has seemingly broken cluttery, bent spoons, levitating the girls, spoken through Suzanne and cut her face.
The film runs just over the hour and a half mark- and from the off it presents itself as a factual live TV show, with Parkinson telling the story of the family, interviewing experts, and taking calls from the public around the UK. On location, the presenters and their camera crew interact with the family, as well as neighbours and experts. At first, the tone is decidedly playful and mockingly spooky- but as things move on we go from subtly chilling revelations, suggestions of fakery, more unsettling and downright creepy reveals, and an effectively-if-slightly OTT finale.
Both Parkinson and Greene sell the premise of it being a real live TV show well, and as it unfolds, they go from jovial, jumpy, to rather creeped & freaked out. A few of the other actors and presenters are a little more mixed in their performance, but if you buy into the whole thing, you can largely ignore them. Volk’s script is clearly influenced by the Enfield poltergeist case, where a mother and her three daughters were harassed by a ghost- but he adds in elements of unsettling baby farming and a cross-dressing psycho to the mix.
The whole thing very nicely builds in both its believability, and atmosphere with the last quarter or so having some generally chilling and unsettling moments. And it is easy to see how it fooled people when it was first aired. On the whole, Ghostwatch is an effective and largely convincing mockumentary, which certainly deserves its notoriety and respect- and as it was only ever screened that once, it still retains its impact thirty years after it was released.
Moving onto this Ltd edition Blu-ray release, and on the disc itself, we get a few new things. First off there’s Do You Believe in Ghosts? (48.14) this doc features interviews with writer/ creator Stephen Volk, the film's director Lesley Manning, Sarah Green, and actress Gillian Bevan who played the studio Dr/ expert. We also get input from Rob Savage who directed the excellent zoom found footage film Host, and one of that film’s producers. The doc is very good- going from the origins of the Ghostwatch project, and we find out it was first planned as a six-part series. Moving onto how the cast was brought together and its filming- the on-location stuff was done in July and the studio stuff in August 1992. Lastly, they of course discuss its impact at the time, and how it’s influenced horror since.
Next, we get a new commentary track from film historians Shellie McMurdo and Stella Gaynor- this is a decidedly chatty/ fairly laid-back affair. They start off by discussing how the film mix of reality and fiction was unlike anything else at the time. They talk about their memories of watching it as children- one was eight and the other was eleven when it screened. They comment on the look of the house, which was very normal and relatable. They discuss how it’s never been reshown on the BBC, and why this might be. They talk about the negative press it got the day after- how the director, writer, and Green had to go on TV after it to prove it was a fake. They chat about its legacy and its long-term impact on them. All in all, an entertaining track, though I’m not sure if I leant much. We get Shooting Reality (7.36) which looks at & discusses the script. Last on the archive side of things we get a second commentary track with Stephen Volk, producer Ruth Baumgarten and director Lesley Manning.
The finished release comes in a slipcase. Featuring a limited-edition booklet- taking in the following ‘Extra Sensory Perception Management’ by Sarah Appleton, ‘Ghostwatch – As it Happened’ by Tim Murray and the short story ‘31/10’ by Ghostwatch writer Stephen Volk . A Reproduced script, annotated by director Lesley Manning, and a set of six art cards.
It truly is splendid to see this classy 30th-anniversary edition of Ghostwatch appearing from 101 Films. As it is a highly important film in the development of the modern found footage genre, as well the wider horror genre of the last three decades. To purchase directly from 101 Films drop by here