“I think he’s come to hurt everybody. I think he wants to do nasty things.”
Ghostwatch was a War of the Worlds for the BBC. Despite having been recorded weeks in advance, the fake news report on paranormal activity covered by actual reporters playing themselves was presented as “live” television. The documentary style led many viewers to believe the events were real, causing great controversy after the show’s airing. People believed this was happening, and the film was even said to have caused PTSD in children. It’s not hard to see why. I knew it was fictional going in, and yet watching it unfold still makes for a scary film.
Similar to Paranormal Activity, the film uses cameras filming mundane images to lull the viewer. Unlike the Activity series, this isn’t “quiet quiet BANG!” but “quiet quiet …c-r-e-e-p-y”. There is one stupid jump scare, but the bulk of the 90 minutes plays like one intense build-up to a number of effective scares. The news report keeps everything moving along, while effectively building the mythology of this particular menace. Afterwards, I found some images and clips of spooky things I missed the first time through, which made me appreciate the overall effectiveness of the film even more.
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