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[FlutterPuffs]

Back in 1992 my whole family lived in UK for a year and on Halloween; due to my family being conservative muslims my parents decided not to let us go out and have fun on Halloween with my friends.

It was a bit of a disappointment but my parents decided to let us stay up a bit later than usual to watch TV together. It wouldn't hurt right?

Oh fuck how wrong they were.

All of us watched Ghostwatch together. The 90-minute TV movie was a horror story shot in a documentary style and appeared as part of BBC Drama's Screen One series. It started out fairly silly at first, but soon becomes so creepy as shit. It scared me so much as a child that I couldn't look at curtains at night for a while. Hell, I'm pretty sure that it's pretty much the stuff of my nightmares. This is pretty much predates Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Probably the first of its genre.

I couldn't find out the name of the film until today, someone referenced it in a PT thread. Now I'm planning to watch it again and see if it is as scary as it was back when I was 8. The whole movie is available on YouTube (even the creator recommended to watch it there) and I suggest if you like horror, do the same.

And for the people my age who were scared to half to death by this, care to join me for another watch for old time's sake?

 

[The Elite]

Is this the one with Pipes?

It's brilliant. I watched it a couple of years ago for Halloween with my girlfriend and she really got into it.

 

[Chabbles]

I argue that "The Haunted 1991" was the scariest TV movie ever made.

 

[Toddimus Prime]

Genuinely took me a year or so to get back to regular sleep after watching this, I was 9. Even if it has aged poorly, I reckon I'd struggle to sit down and watch it completely now with the bad memories it left.

Let's not talk about Pipes. It's still real to me dammit!

 

[The Elite]

I present the McPherson Tape which I believe I first saw in the 90s with some documentary segments built around it. This is found footage but before found footage movies were popular.

What is great about Ghostwatch is that the broadcast was done like it was really happening. It was a television attempt at doing something like the War of the Worlds broadcast.

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Genuinely took me a year or so to get back to regular sleep after watching this, I was 9. Even if it has aged poorly, I reckon I'd struggle to sit down and watch it completely now with the bad memories it left.

Let's not talk about Pipes. It's still real to me dammit!

God Pipes was the scariest shit.

.... I just peeked behind me to look at the curtains. Shit.

I present the McPherson Tape which I believe I first saw in the 90s with some documentary segments built around it. This is found footage but before found footage movies were popular.

What is great about Ghostwatch is that the broadcast was done like it was really happening. It was a television attempt at doing something like the War of the Worlds broadcast.

Oh god should I even try Mcperson Tape? How scary is it compared to Ghostwatch?

 

[SteveWD40]

Genuinely took me a year or so to get back to regular sleep after watching this, I was 9. Even if it has aged poorly, I reckon I'd struggle to sit down and watch it completely now with the bad memories it left.

Let's not talk about Pipes. It's still real to me dammit!

I was 11 and feel the same, I didn't know it was fake until the end, even then it wigged me out big time.

Half the method was how they presented Pipes, that voice, the malevolence...

Edit: also, why it seemed so bad was that it was horror but from a POV I recognised: suburban England, not some abstract of a big American house, this could have been next door.

 

[The Elite]

Got Pipes was the scariest shit.

.... I just peeked behind me to look at the curtains. Shit.



Oh god should I even try Mcperson Tape? How scary is it compared to Ghostwatch?

It's aliens instead of ghosts but this really got me when I was younger. I prefer Ghostwatch overall though.

That final shot in the McPherson tape sticks with me. Edit: This one seems to be the original. The edited one ended with a different shot from what I recall.

 

[dose]

Hmm... when I first starting watching this when it was first shown I thought it was real too, but as the programme went on you could tell they were acting (poorly), and ended up not being scary whatsoever.

 

[NekoFever]

It's amazing. The BBC still hasn't reaired it because there were a couple of suicides and some traumatised children as a result.

I love the subtle appearances of the ghost. I still don't think I've seen them all.

 

[The Elite]

It's amazing. The BBC still hasn't reaired it because there were a couple of suicides and some traumatised children as a result.

I love the subtle appearances of the ghost. I still don't think I've seen them all.

I think I saw a youtube video that catalogues all the appearances.

 

[dose]

It's amazing. The BBC still hasn't reaired it because there were a couple of suicides and some traumatised children as a result.

Except that ain't true...
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/220/ghostwatch.html

Newspaper reports on 8–9 November of the tragic suicide of Martin Denham, who had seen the programme, gave ammunition to those who accused Ghostwatch of being irresponsible programme-making. For those who didn’t hear the end of the story, it is worth pointing out that the coroner at the inquest did not even mention the drama.

 

[Noaloha]

I was 11 at the time, in the house babysitting my younger siblings, 9 and 5 (my parents were of questionable quality). We choose to watch the scary ghost show on TV because it's Hallowe'en.

Spoilering the rest,

Spoiler

We all know these celebrities. We watch them every single weekend on Saturday morning, or on Red Dwarf. We trust them. And it's filmed exactly like any live broadcast would be, right down to (I seem to recall) using the 'famou' phone number that the BBC always used, something like 0181 811 8181, it had it's own saturday morning jingle and everything. Anyway, point being, this was shot like a live documentary and we bought into that, hook, line and sinker. What was happening on TV was really happening, never crossed our minds that it wasn't. (I believe the show did start with a well-established. known introduction used for BBC one-off dramas and the like; grown-ups more savvy and less hyper on sweets and the thrill of post-watershed TV would probably have picked up that this was a piece of fiction. Suffice to say, we did not.)

Memory's hazy, but I believe early on there's a section in the studio where the hosts are chatting with experts and they're giving advice to the viewers back home. "Some people are more susceptible to seeing paranormal events than others." "If one viewer sees something odd, that doesn't mean everyone will." "Please do call our hotline if you see anything on screen in that house that looks unnatural." Etc.

And throughout the show people are calling in, the hosts are taking calls, discussing blurry things and noises and stuff that I didn't see. Shit's getting weirder in the house. And then there's a scene where the cameraman is looking --- fuckj, haha, i'm gettng goosebumps typing this --- looking in a bedroom for someone, Craig Charles perhaps, not sure. Any way, he peeps the camera into a bedroom and does a scan of the room and I see a figure behind a curtain. The cameraman sweeps back and looks at the curtain, nothing there. I shit myself, obvs.

I am fucking terrified at this point. My brother and sister are too, not in small part because of my reaction and general face area expression thing going on, I have to presume.

So at this point, all I want is to hear the phonecalls come in from other people who saw it too. I'm not sure why it was so important to me at the time (okay, maybe I do) but believe me, it was very, very, very important to me.

And those fucking writers had the genius to completely let it go unmentioned in all subsequent phonecalls. Suddenly, this ghost was in my fucking house. I, and the cameraman maybe, were the only people who saw it.

Never been so scared. Fuck that shit. Good horror. Fuck.

Wasn't there a bunch of outcry after it aired, like the BBC had to make an impromptu broadcast telling people that it was a work of fiction?

 

[Currygan]

I was 13 at the time and it scared me shitless, more than the Exorcist. Definitely the scariest tv movie ever!

 

[NekoFever]

Except that ain't true...
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/220/ghostwatch.html

I don't know whether or not it actually happened, but complaints were upheld by Ofcom (or its 1992 equivalent) and that's the main reason why it hasn't been shown on TV in over 20 years.

 

[jufonuk]

scared the shit out of me too when I saw it

 

[FryHole]

Scared the crap out of me at 14, I know that much. Apparently there was a message at the start that it was a work of fiction, but we managed to miss that somehow and went from taking the piss out of a wild goose chase that'd result in bugger all happening on live TV to properly bobbing ourselves once things got crazy. And then it went too far and we were reassured once more.

Also, rip Mike Smith

EDIT: nice retrospective in the Radio Times.

Interview with the writer.

 

[Schattenjäger]

Haha The Haunted

Clearly it has not aged very well

http://youtu.be/BRuz8ZkxznM

 

[Slair]

Thought it was real, saw it when I would've been 8. Still thought it was one of those "reality tv" programs until you made this thread. All i remember about it until this day is pipes and wouldn't have knew it was the same thing if it wasn't the first post.

 

[Aiustis]

Where can I find this?

 

[Fancy Clown]

Where can I find this?

Yeah I wanna watch this shit

 

[Chabbles]

Its on youtube.

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Where can I find this?

Yeah I wanna watch this shit

Just search on YouTube! Someone posted the full movie there.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Just search on YouTube! Someone posted the full movie there.

Nice, thanks. I hope it's not 2spooky for me.

 

[Noaloha]

I wonder how the show'll hold up for a viewer now, without that ingrained, everyday familiarity with the TV style, the specific BBC studio even, the celebrities, this type of show, etc. It was all very, very authentic back then, filmed exactly like a real live broadcast special event type thing. These were kids' TV presenters (Sarah Green and Thingy Whatshisname anyway, with Aspel and Charles being friendly, well-known, happy celebs in their own right). As a viewer at this time, you just sorta felt safe around these people, they represented a certain normality, always there entertaining you every week. I dunno, it's a weird thing to recall. I guess I don't expect it to pack the punch now, without that sense of familiarity in the viewer for this, dunno how to word it, 'cookie-cutter entertainment show normality' that the show revels in slowly tearing to shreds.

 

[FryHole]

I wonder how the show'll hold up for a viewer now, without that ingrained, everyday familiarity with the TV style, the specific BBC studio even, the celebrities, this type of show, etc. It was all very, very authentic back then, filmed exactly like a real live broadcast special event type thing. These were kids' TV presenters (Sarah Green and Thingy Whatshisname anyway, with Aspel and Charles being friendly, well-known, happy celebs in their own right). As a viewer at this time, you just sorta felt safe around these people, they represented a certain normality, always there entertaining you every week. I dunno, it's a weird thing to recall. I guess I don't expect it to pack the punch now, without that sense of familiarity in the viewer for this, dunno how to word it, 'cookie-cutter entertainment show normality' that the show revels in slowly tearing to shreds.

I watched it again fairly recently and yeah, the impact is hugely lessened a) by what you say about the wider context it was shown in and b) me no longer being an idiot teenager. It's also rather more obvious looking back that the family are all actors. Some of the Pipes moments, however, are still brilliantly effective, along with some spooky, restrained dialogue.

 

[Toddimus Prime]

I was 11 and feel the same, I didn't know it was fake until the end, even then it wigged me out big time.

Half the method was how they presented Pipes, that voice, the malevolence...

I'd say you've put it perfectly Steve! From my memory (of watching it once, 22 years ago) Pipes was a horrible bastard and they really ramped up this side of him. So it wasn't a ghost sighting story more of an exorcism of an evil spirit. Add that to the premise of it being a 'real' documentary and the 'Where's Wally?' aspect of looking out for supernatural sightings while the cameras were in the house, made for a perfect storm.

I don't think it could be done in the same format today, given the awareness of the internet (I'd say the same of the first Blair Witch.) So I'm glad I saw it when I was an impressionable young lad. Its my War of The Worlds.

Edit: also, why it seemed so bad was that it was horror but from a POV I recognised: suburban England, not some abstract of a big American house, this could have been next door.

I remember visiting some relatives in Leeds, a few months after Ghostwatch. I swear the house was exactly the same layout, cupboard under the stairs and everything. The whole episode added a few more years on to my sleepless nights. Damn it Pipes!

 

[Aβydoς]

Never heard of this, it has my exact age. May give it a chance, you got my curiosity.