The story behind this movie is fascinating. Real newscasters, real phone number, and a story that takes it slow, like you would expect from a real news broadcast. This movie tried to come off as realistic. And in some aspects, it did. It is extremely realistic in the way it is shot. Nothing is perfect. Nothing feels beyond that of a news broadcast, and I mean that as a compliment. Thousands of people were fooled when this movie aired. Most of them tuned in part way through, missed the title card saying who wrote it, saw familiar newscasters, and settled down for what they thought was a real news broadcast. Hilarious, I know. But unfortunately, I felt like the story behind the movie is more fascinating than the movie itself. I'll start by saying it's not as believable as others say. If I were alive to see this aired in 1992, I don't think I would have been fooled. Sometimes, the acting is really good. I especially liked that of Michael Parkinson. His acting was solid from his very first line to his very last. But sometimes, the acting is really noticeable, especially with the kids and the main reporter. The things they say and the way they say them just threw me off sometimes. Their reactions to certain happenings and noises were a bit over-the-top. But there was one thing above all that really took me out of the movie, and that was those god-awful fake noises. I mean, I'm pretty sure most of the banging is just the same pre-recorded noise played over and over, and all those cat noises were so out of place and obviously fake. Though, if I'm being honest, I could forgive the cat noises, this being a low-budget 1992 made-for-tv movie. But they couldn't have at least had a real person banging on the walls? Come on, man. You don't need more than 10 bucks to get someone to punch something a few times.
Overall, I thought this movie was a little overrated. I still rather enjoyed it though, and I appreciate the amount of effort put into fooling so many people.
Review of Ghostwatch
