This is a truly unique experiment in filmmaking.
Chris LaMartina has put together a film that makes the viewer feel like they're watching an old video tape recorded off the air on Halloween Night, 1987. The broadcast being from Channel 28, WNUF in Kirk County, somewhere.
The first part of the tape (complete with glitches and occasional fast-forwarding) is a local newscast that drops hints of the evening's programming as well as elements of its background, and even a little foreshadowing. Thrown into the mix are commercials that do a wonderful job of reminding me of late night UHF business spots done on the cheap when I was in junior high. It's all well done, and achieves what it's trying to accomplish.
Except in one area. There are multiple commercials for TV shows that no UHF channel would have the budget or tools to create. UHF channels do broadcast movies and shows, but they're not originals from the channel. They're leased re-runs. So the cheap-looking nature of these program ads took me out of it a little bit, but thankfully, they're few and far between.
The newscast winds down to a live program that the channel is airing with a local correspondent and a couple of paranormal researchers (clear Ed and Lorraine Warren rip-offs) as they venture into a local residence that was the location of multiple murders and is apparently haunted. Now, this is heavily influenced by the infamous 1992 British found footage TV program Ghostwatch, which was far more effective, but drew negative controversy that resulted in it being buried. I review that here.
Most of this is pretty fun for its experimental nature, and has a pretty nice group of twists at the end. The acting leaves much to be desired, with the exception of our wisecracking correspondent who pretty much carries this thing.
It's not particularly scary, but it is Halloween related, so we gave it a spin. If you can track it down whilst in a mood for something spontaneous and different, I say go for it.
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