GHOSTWATCH (1992)
Label: 101 Films
Region: Region-Free
Rating: Cert. 12
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: English PCM 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Lesley Manning
Cast: Michael Parkinson, Mike Smith, Gillian Bevan, Sarah Greene, Craig Charles, Bríd Brennan, Michelle Wesson, Cherise Wesson
Ghostwatch (1992) aired on the BBC in Britain on Halloween night, October 31st 1992, reported in adverts to be part of BBC Drama's Screen One series, the production convinced thousands of people that what they were witnessing was real, given credulity by the presence of real-life BBC personalities Michael Parkinson and Mike Smith who host the show from the BBC studios, alongside paranormal expert Dr Lin Pascoe (Gillian Bevan); while intrepid reporters (and real life BBC personalities) Sarah Greene and Craig Charles, report "live" from the reportedly haunted London home of the Early family; single-mom Pamela Early (Bríd Brennan, Excalibur) and her young children, Suzy (Michelle Wesson) and Kim (Cherise Wesson). The family have witnessed unusual supernatural activity in their home, by way of a ghost that the family has dubbed "Pipes", poltergeist activity and one of the daughters receives scratches from the suspected entity, and were treated to some tantalizing footage shot in the home previously.
The broadcast starts off slow with lots of cutbacks to the studio presenters and paranormal expert occasionally taking phone calls, debating the merits of reported supernatural happenings, then cutting back to the home, which has been wired with remote cameras and microphones, to the crew outside and interviewing people in the area. It starts off pretty slow and playfully, gradually building tension with clever editing and sound design, and then going right off the rails with the supernatural activity that ingeniously expands to the BBC studio - which I thought was a nice touch.
I don't think I'd even heard of the film till that last decade or so, it having been sort of swept under the rug by by the BBC for years following public outcry after it's initial airing by parents whose kids were traumatized and who were irate that the BBC would disguise a fictional ghost tale under the guise of a legitimate new-style program featuring real BBC presenters. I don't know if it would have fooled me in '92 when I was a teen, I would like to think it would have, but that idea of blurring the lines between fact and fiction is fucking genius. I could imagine that if Mike Wallace and 60 Minutes had done the same the outcry might have been similar here, pre-dating the fake-news epidemic of the post-2016 election by several decades, which adds a whole other layer of prescience to it.
I first heard mention of this after my own viewing of the WNUF Halloween Special (2013), which was obviously quite influenced by this film in hindsight but which I was not aware of at the time. People in the know were quite fond of educating people like myself who had never seen Ghostwatch that this film existed and did it first. Having finally seen it I can say that it lived up to hype for me, I loved it, it's a very well-made made-for-TV ghost tale masquerading as a live TV broadcast. I can't say it genuinely gave me the chills though, watching it in my forties I am pretty jaded about such things, but I did appreciate the craft that went into it, the clever premise and execution, , and I especially appreciated how far ahead of it's time it was; pre-dating the found-footage craze of the early 2000's, fake news, reality TV, and the myriad ghost-hunting shows out there.
Audio/Video: Ghostwatch (1992) arrives on region-B Blu-ray from 101 Films in 1080p HD fullscreen (1.33:1) looking pretty spiffy but still very much in the vein of a 1992 standard-definition TV broadcast, which maintains the vintage appeal of the seminal found-footage film. Audio comes by way of uncompressed English PCM 2.0 with optional English subtitles. It sounds quite good, it has source limitations that were inherent to the live broadcast nature of the film, but that sounds authentic to what I would expect.
Onto the disc extras, we start off with a pair of audio commentaries; first up is the Audio Commentary with film historians Shellie McMurdo and Stella Gaynor. This is more of a I'm-a-fan-of-the-film type commentaries, which is cool, but it doesn't offer a lot of insight into the film. The second is a much more insightful Audio Commentary with writer Stephen Volk, producer Ruth Baumgarten and director Lesley Manning, which dives deep into the making of the film and what went into pulling this off, which is fascinating.
We also get a brand new 48-min Do You Believe In Ghosts?, a 30th anniversary documentary on the Ghostwatch featuring writer Stephen Volk, producer Ruth Baumgarten, director Lesley Manning, and the directors of Host, Rob Savage and Jed Shepherd, who are huge fans of the film and say it was hugely influential on their film. It's a solid doc that explores the genesis of the film, shooting it, the stir it caused, how it was wept under the rug for years by the BBC, and it's long-lasting influence. There's also an archival extras by way of the 8-min Shooting Reality with director Manning who gives commentary over footage of the annotated script and production notes about the making of the film.
The single-disc limited edition release arrives in an oversized Scanavo keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork with newly commissioned artwork by Thomas Walker, housed inside a Rigid Slipbox that is pretty dang weighty when you're holding in in your hands. Also inside the slipbox are two booklets, we get a 48-Page Booklet with writing on the film; ‘Extra Sensory Perception Management’ by Sarah Appleton, ‘Ghostwatch – As it Happened’ by Tim Murray and short story ‘31/10’ by Ghostwatch writer Stephen
Volk. These examine the prescient nature of the film, as well as documenting the manufactured outrage over a dramatic horror tale disguised as mainstream television broadcast by tabloid meida, plus a tale from writer Stephen Volk (screenwriter of Gothic) that expands on the story of Ghostwatch. We also get a second booklet, the even more massive 124-Page Reproduced script, with annotations by director Lesley Manning, which is super-cool. Also tucked away are Set of Six Art Cards with more cool artwork by artist Thomas Walker.
Special Features:
- ‘Do You Believe In Ghosts?’ - a brand new 30th anniversary documentary on the Ghostwatch phenomenon (48 min)
- Audio Commentary with film historians Shellie McMurdo and Stella Gaynor
- Audio Commentary with writer Stephen Volk, producer Ruth Baumgarten and director Lesley Manning
- Shooting Reality by Lesley Manning (8 min)
- Limited Edition Booklet: Includes ‘Extra Sensory Perception Management’ by Sarah Appleton, ‘Ghostwatch – As it Happened’ by Tim Murray and short story ‘31/10’ by Ghostwatch writer Stephen Volk
- Reproduced script, annotated by director Lesley Manning
- Set of Six Art Cards
101 Films give Ghostwatch (1992) a fantastic 30th Anniversary Edition with this gorgeously packaged Limited Edition release. To this day the film is still somewhat obscure in these North American parts, and I hope that their release, which is also getting a standard release version here in the U.S. December 13th, shines a light on this top-notch found-footage flick.
