Hatton here…
This past week, I saw Late Night With The Devil – which is a found footage movie that takes place on an old Carson-esque talk show. It does every part of it amazing.. the sets, the color scheme, the slight fuzz to the camera at certain angles. I can’t recommend it enough. But that got me to thinking of all of the other shows I’ve watched and loved that really go out of their way to position themselves as a faux program. Some do it with more intent than others, but they all really do try and emulate the original war of the worlds, and in two instances was on the same day!
WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL – This is one that is worth the watch, but only the once. A local news program that is doing a haunted house expose’. There is a lot to love in it, from the disgruntled newscaster to the authenticity of the commercials in between each news segment. But… it is not without its flaws and lack of feeling and direction. Good, yes. Great, sadly no.
WITHOUT WARNING – I saw this live when it was on tv in 1994 and I was riveted as it may have been my first exposure to this kind of idea. In this one, we are watching news reports and special reports and experts all about a meteor that may hit the earth. It’s a great watch, albeit and you can find it on Youtube.
..and now – the things you must watch…
GHOST WATCH – Out of all of the ones on this list, Ghost Watch is the best of them. In 1992, the BBC put on a talk show about a haunting on Halloween and we walk through a woman’s house, meet her kids, and there is enough not going wrong that it feels like it may just be real. Then, as it goes, it starts using every camera trick in the world to make you feel like you saw something that just couldn’t be there until the big ending. If any one of these inspired Late Night With the Devil – it is this one.
INSIDE NO. 9 – Lastly I’d like to give you one you may not know about. This is a BBC show that, from my limited exposure, feels like a Twilight Zone’esque anthology show. Well, they had one episode that I just happened to bump into online that is framed like a british gameshow… with no breaks or notes or explanations that it isn’t other than the people are a tad odd. Then it gets very uncomfortable, so much that you really have a hard time figuring out if it is real or not… and then it pops. Check it out. It is worth the experience.
Or, better yet, show these to a friend and DON’T tell them they aren’t real. Sound off with ones I may have missed in all the places.
