Ghostwatch (1992) (Black Label 028 101 Films)

[MifuneFan]

101 Films will be releasing the popular BBC production Ghostwatch (1992) on October 31st as a Limited Edition set.

https://101-films-store.com/collecti...dition-blu-ray

Brand new extras

• ‘Do You Believe in Ghosts?’, a brand new 30th anniversary documentary on the Ghostwatch phenomenon
• Commentary with film historians Shellie McMurdo and Stella Gaynor • Commentary with writer Stephen Volk, producer Ruth Baumgarten and director Lesley Manning
• Shooting Reality by Lesley Manning
• Limited Edition Booklet: Includes ‘Extra Sensory Perception Management’ by Sarah Appleton, ‘Ghostwatch – As it Happened’ by Tim Murray and short story ‘31/10’ by Ghostwatch writer Stephen Volk • Reproduced script, annotated by director Lesley Manning
• Set of six art cards

Title number 028 on our Black Label

101 Films presents Ghostwatch (1992), a BBC production that terrified Britain on 31st October 1992. Despite being part of BBC Drama's Screen One series, the presence of trusted presenters, along with the quality of the production, convinced thousands of people that the events depicted on screen were genuine, and taking place live. Title 028 on the 101 Films Black Label, this 30th anniversary edition includes a new documentary on the making of Ghostwatch, a new commentary, limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork, a booklet with new writing on the film and more.

Sarah Greene and Craig Charles report from a reputedly haunted London home for the outside broadcast, while Michael Parkinson and Mike Smith stay in the warmth and "safety" of a BBC studio. The Early family are allegedly being harassed by the ghost 'Pipes', so named as his banging and crashing were initially attributed to bad plumbing. After a deliberately slow start the tension gradually builds, culminating in a terrifying crescendo. Although entirely fictional, the masterly combination of great scripting, intuitive direction and perfect casting made the supernatural pastiche appear frighteningly real.

An inspiration to a generation of filmmakers, and years ahead of the profusion of found footage movies that would follow, Ghostwatch is regarded as a classic of the genre and remains as relevant, as terrifying, and as inspirational today.

[oddbox83]

Here's a written sequel by Volk (note to mods - legally made available by Volk's own website). https://web.archive.org/web/20101214....net/31-10.pdf

[jackranderson]

Incredible film, please don't **** it 101.

[cybersoga]

was this shot on film?

[Ben_R]

Originally Posted by cybersoga

was this shot on film?

It’s early 90’s, what do you think?

[cybersoga]

Originally Posted by Ben_R

It’s early 90’s, what do you think?

I think it probably didn't have the budget of The X-Files

[Ben_R]

Originally Posted by cybersoga

I think it probably didn't have the budget of The X-Files

You would be correct. Still scared the shit out of a lot of people watching it.

[McCrutchy]

I wonder if it will be 1080/50i in the UK to match the original TV transmission, or if 101 have converted it to 1080i30 or 1080p24 to use the same master for both the US and UK discs.

[Ben_R]

101 usually struggle to provide a decent encode so that is probably overthinking it. Expect the worst, hope for the best.

[indisposed]

I thought about buying the DVD recently, so I'm glad this has been announced (though I doubt hi-def will make much of a difference).

You can chalk me up as one of the people who were scared witless over this... I was nine years old. I take issue with them saying that "it was on after the watershed and we didn't market towards kids", because I'm pretty sure I remember Sarah Green talking about it on Going Live that Saturday morning...

It really did scare the s*** out of me, though, until the end

[Show spoiler]where a hurricane sweeps through the BBC studio and Parky becomes all possessed.

even for a a nine year old, that felt like a serious stretch of credibility.

[AnnThrope]

I didn't watch it cos I couldn't stand Sarah Greene and Mike Smith.
And still can't.

But I was 22 at the time of its broadcast.
People who were 9 years old I guess would be more forgiving of such utterly appallingly dreadful '80s types.

It's like I liked Noel Edmonds when I was a kid in the '70s and he presented Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.
But then, in the '90s, the Mr Blobby Years, it became very clear here was the very Anti-Christ himself, gallivanting on our cathode ray tubes.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by jackranderson

Incredible film, please don't **** it 101.

It is NOT a film it's a TV production.

[jackranderson]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

It is NOT a film it's a TV production.

I know.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Does anyone here know whether 101 use IOSS when shipping to the EU?

[Mr. Thomsen]

Re: Ghostwatch, it is such a classic and I highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in TV horror. It basically became the British equivalent of Orson Welles' infamous radio broadcast of War of the Worlds.

I can't really decide whether to pre-order it or wait for reviews. I still have the original DVD release from BFI with some extras, but I am interested in the new documentary. On the other hand, I wonder how 101 will handle the video side of it.

[ste71]

This was originally broadcast on my 21st birthday ( I was ill at the time), I watched 'Creepshow' on BBC 2 instead so I missed out on this. Looking forward to seeing it at last.

[indisposed]

Originally Posted by AnnThrope

I didn't watch it cos I couldn't stand Sarah Greene and Mike Smith.
And still can't.

But I was 22 at the time of its broadcast.
People who were 9 years old I guess would be more forgiving of such utterly appallingly dreadful '80s types.

I didn't really like them either, but at that age, you kinda have to take what you're given, sometimes. I was never much of an early riser, so there's a lot of Saturday morning t.v programming I never saw (I don't think I saw a single episode of Transformers), but I can remember this being bigged up and sold to kids. I was getting more into horror at that point and was a big Freddy Krueger fan, but Pipes was too much, because Ghostwatch was advertised as a live documentary and as a nine year old, I fell for that ruse.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

On the other hand, I wonder how 101 will handle the video side of it.

They've been asked on FB, and while they won't confirm any tech specs yet, they have said this>

Fair to say we were conscious of retaining the live TV look as much as possible throughout the process.

So I'm hoping that means they've kept it an interlaced upscale. I'm guessing converted to 1080i60 since it's a dual territory release.

[Killer Meteor]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

It is NOT a film it's a TV production.

It's sort of a TV film.

[RossyG]

In the parlance of vintage British telly, a feature-length piece of fiction, even if shot entirely on film, was a play, while a one-off documentary, regardless of length, was a film.

So Scum, Penda’s Fen, Our Day Out etc = play

David Bailey’s documentary on Andy Warhol = film.

Makes no sense, but those were the rules as set by Did You See?,South Bank Show, Late Review etc…