The concept is a very good one, the pseudo-reality-TV aspect placing the viewer at the scene of supposedly supernatural events in a fairly convincing manner. This one-off show of course pre-dates The Blair Witch Project by seven years and is a very adventurous piece of television making indeed - I've read that viewers in their millions were suckered into believing it was true and that someone even committed suicide as a result of the program (though I would ask - how does one substantiate such a claim?).
While killing one's self to avoid seeing any more of a film like Rushmore is understandable, I can't really see what this would do to warrant that sort of reaction even in an unstable mind.
(warning: Spoilers ahead)
NOW if you don't want to be spoiled stop reading here!
(warning: Spoilers ahead)
The film's build is well done, although some segments struck me as a little contrived and insincere - it was a pretty good attempt at such a buildup with some good cut-over work and even questioning its own premise - a few of the performances were a let down and just didn't have the right focus - the indignation of the parapsychologist for instance was very good at first then dropped off a bit too much.
The studio interaction at the very end ruined the whole thing for me as it seemed even more contrived and it diluted the remarkably believable performance put in by Michael Parkinson who's weight of credibility was largely well used throughout the whole show. Indeed had they not allowed these blemishes through and hadn't gone overboard at the end of the show then the whole thing would have been much more believable indeed.
The Blair Witch Project was an example of restraint of information (I believe even the IMDB listed the cast as missing or dead for 6 months!), selective release, careful hype and the ability of someone to use it as a good old fashioned scary ghost story to really frighten people (as some reviewers delighted in doing by showing the film to friends before it was known to say `hey, look what I got to show you' and not showing them the opening or ending credits making them think it was genuine).
Ghostwatch could have had very much the same effect and indeed was most certainly going that way, it's just that they ran away with themselves and went too far with the contrived angles and aspects. The ultimate irony in this comparison is that the Americans got it right (on a tiny budget) and the BBC didn't (I have no idea how much this would have cost so.) when some who've seen other films of this genre from both countries would have expected it to be the other way around..
So overall I'll give it a 7/10 for a truly great idea that was largely well executed but with some serious flaws and a runaway aspect that just dented it for me; it doesn't seem to have polarised views like The Blair Witch Project (from what I've seen people usually love it or hate it) but then again I doubt that many people have actually SEEN Ghostwatch given the BBC's banning of its re-broadcast.
While killing one's self to avoid seeing any more of a film like Rushmore is understandable, I can't really see what this would do to warrant that sort of reaction even in an unstable mind.
(warning: Spoilers ahead)
NOW if you don't want to be spoiled stop reading here!
(warning: Spoilers ahead)
The film's build is well done, although some segments struck me as a little contrived and insincere - it was a pretty good attempt at such a buildup with some good cut-over work and even questioning its own premise - a few of the performances were a let down and just didn't have the right focus - the indignation of the parapsychologist for instance was very good at first then dropped off a bit too much.
The studio interaction at the very end ruined the whole thing for me as it seemed even more contrived and it diluted the remarkably believable performance put in by Michael Parkinson who's weight of credibility was largely well used throughout the whole show. Indeed had they not allowed these blemishes through and hadn't gone overboard at the end of the show then the whole thing would have been much more believable indeed.
The Blair Witch Project was an example of restraint of information (I believe even the IMDB listed the cast as missing or dead for 6 months!), selective release, careful hype and the ability of someone to use it as a good old fashioned scary ghost story to really frighten people (as some reviewers delighted in doing by showing the film to friends before it was known to say `hey, look what I got to show you' and not showing them the opening or ending credits making them think it was genuine).
Ghostwatch could have had very much the same effect and indeed was most certainly going that way, it's just that they ran away with themselves and went too far with the contrived angles and aspects. The ultimate irony in this comparison is that the Americans got it right (on a tiny budget) and the BBC didn't (I have no idea how much this would have cost so.) when some who've seen other films of this genre from both countries would have expected it to be the other way around..
So overall I'll give it a 7/10 for a truly great idea that was largely well executed but with some serious flaws and a runaway aspect that just dented it for me; it doesn't seem to have polarised views like The Blair Witch Project (from what I've seen people usually love it or hate it) but then again I doubt that many people have actually SEEN Ghostwatch given the BBC's banning of its re-broadcast.