Found Footage Fandom: Ghost Watch (1992)

 Written by: Danny Albers 

Synopsis (SPOILER ALERT) 

When people think of the movie that started it all in the found footage film genre, the movie that comes to everyone's mind is The Blair Witch Project. But what if I told you there was a movie that came out 7 years before, and upon its release in its native England, it caused people all over the UK to call in fearing something terrible was happening. Unknown that this investigation is completely scripted, they starred an actually well known journalist from the BBC. So people thought they were watching a legitimate BBC investigation. Shot on standard equipment, it really felt like a live shoot from outside the home. For fans of the Conjuring Universe, they drew inspiration from the Enfield haunting. The older daughter initially fakes the evidence to give the camera crew the evidence they want. It legitimized this as it seemed like they were disproving the haunting. However, things begin to get strange. As the crew find out more about the history of the house, and the spirit of the boy who lives there, they find out that the spirit might be a deranged man that dressed as a woman, and molested children. The scratches on the children were because he killed himself in the house, and the stray cats got to his body before the police. And so as a spirit, he’s haunting the two young girls living in the home. The spirit shows to be quite powerful, manipulating the camera crews, and coming through the production to attack the BBC members at the studio. They mock callers that are saying kids from homes watching the broadcast are being affected. In 2024, it’s easy to watch this and laugh that they did this to the people of England. But in 1992, this was probably terrifying to watch. 

Thoughts 

Ghost Watch has to be on the Mount Rushmore of Found Footage movies. It’s written extremely well. It caused a stir similar to the War of the Worlds back in 1953. But this was in 1992. Today, the movie is still being replicated in movies like Late Night with the Devil. Cannibal Holocaust was technically the first of the genre in 1980, and it is a cult favorite. But Ghost Watch has developed its popularity as a TV movie. The only other TV movie to rival its popularity is Stepehn King’s It, released around the same time. The movie has some creepy moments that hold up to modern day, and the older production level enhances it. And for a 1992 TV movie, the film provides some very good acting. It really does feel like a real ghost hunting show. Remember, this was made prior to popular ghost hunting TV shows. 

Grade: 6.3/10