Difference between revisions of "Ghostwatch (1992 film)"
(→Reviews: Added three reviews) |
(→Reviews) |
||
| Line 37: | Line 37: | ||
<!--A list of reviews for the work, along with the review's rating (for example, "4/5 Stars") * Author_andor_Location, ([URL link]) - RATING --> | <!--A list of reviews for the work, along with the review's rating (for example, "4/5 Stars") * Author_andor_Location, ([URL link]) - RATING --> | ||
Review Links: | Review Links: | ||
| − | * David Dent at Dark Eyes of London ([http://darkeyesoflondon.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/ghostwatch-uk-1992-tv-movie-dir-lesley.html link]) - " Writer Stephen Volk, who had also penned 1986's Gothic, had obviously been studying the Nigel Kneale plot handbook, to great effect. ... ''Ghostwatch''... ...as well as being a fantastic piece of TV which bears repeat viewings, is incredibly important for several reasons. Firstly, it was produced by Auntie Beeb, the watchdog's watchdog, whom we expect to be more responsible than this." | + | * David Dent at Dark Eyes of London ([http://darkeyesoflondon.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/ghostwatch-uk-1992-tv-movie-dir-lesley.html link]) - " Writer Stephen Volk, who had also penned 1986's ''Gothic'', had obviously been studying the Nigel Kneale plot handbook, to great effect. ... ''Ghostwatch''... ...as well as being a fantastic piece of TV which bears repeat viewings, is incredibly important for several reasons. Firstly, it was produced by Auntie Beeb, the watchdog's watchdog, whom we expect to be more responsible than this." |
* Pearce Duncan at Pearce's Horror Movie Reviews ([http://pearceshorrormoviereviews.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/ghostwatch-1992.html link]) - "This is bravura stuff. The script by Stephen Volk... ...strikes just the right balance between the skepticism and the gullibility of different characters." | * Pearce Duncan at Pearce's Horror Movie Reviews ([http://pearceshorrormoviereviews.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/ghostwatch-1992.html link]) - "This is bravura stuff. The script by Stephen Volk... ...strikes just the right balance between the skepticism and the gullibility of different characters." | ||
* James Simpson at Uk Horror Scene (6/10) ([http://www.ukhorrorscene.com/ghostwatch-1992-dvd-review/ link]) - "''Ghostwatch'' is interesting for its odd and controversial history that acts as a reminder that TV can sometimes be a very powerful medium." | * James Simpson at Uk Horror Scene (6/10) ([http://www.ukhorrorscene.com/ghostwatch-1992-dvd-review/ link]) - "''Ghostwatch'' is interesting for its odd and controversial history that acts as a reminder that TV can sometimes be a very powerful medium." | ||
Latest revision as of 09:44, 6 April 2017
Summary
"We don't want to give anybody sleepless nights." A reality–horror/mockumentary television film in which a BBC film crew visits a family besieged by a poltergeist.
Details
- Release Date: 1992
- Country/Language: UK, English
- Genres/Technical: Horror (found footage, "mockumentary"), made-for-TV
- Runtime: 1 hr 31 min
- Starring: Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene, Mike Smith
- Director: Lesley Manning
- Writer: Stephen Volk
- Producer/Production Co: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- IMDb: (link)
- Wikipedia: (link)
- View Film: (link)
Ratings
MPAA Ratings
- Rated: (not rated) (perhaps equivalent to a PG for the unsettling "reality" of the "haunting")
Tentacle Ratings
A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
- S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)
I've never seen this, but I get the impression that there's not much 'Lovecraftian' in this film in any usual sense, aside from the Gothic horror premise combined with the faux-documentary style common to that subgenre of horror, and any Weird effect on audiences with suitably suspended disbelief, or audiences who believed it was real.
Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.
Reviews
Review Links:
- David Dent at Dark Eyes of London (link) - " Writer Stephen Volk, who had also penned 1986's Gothic, had obviously been studying the Nigel Kneale plot handbook, to great effect. ... Ghostwatch... ...as well as being a fantastic piece of TV which bears repeat viewings, is incredibly important for several reasons. Firstly, it was produced by Auntie Beeb, the watchdog's watchdog, whom we expect to be more responsible than this."
- Pearce Duncan at Pearce's Horror Movie Reviews (link) - "This is bravura stuff. The script by Stephen Volk... ...strikes just the right balance between the skepticism and the gullibility of different characters."
- James Simpson at Uk Horror Scene (6/10) (link) - "Ghostwatch is interesting for its odd and controversial history that acts as a reminder that TV can sometimes be a very powerful medium."
Synopsis
Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)
Ghostwatch is a British reality–horror/mockumentary television film, first broadcast on BBC1 on Halloween night, 1992, in which a BBC film crew visits a family besieged by a poltergeist.
Notes
Comments, Trivia, Dedication
- Film legend has it that, similar to the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast in the U.S., enough of the audience of Ghostwatch didn't realize they were watching a scripted ghost story for the BBC to be bombarded with calls from panicked viewers, while psychologists reported an epidemic of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among children who viewed the programme!
- Ghostwatch was never supposed to trick or deceive the viewers. It was billed as a drama and contained a "written by" title card at the start. The majority of people tuned in late to the programme after a film finished on ITV and therefore many thought what they were seeing was in fact going out live.
Associated Mythos Elements
- TO DO
- film: compare to the work of Nigel Kneale
