WNUF Halloween Special

"WNUF Halloween Special" is one of the many "found footage" movies that have cropped up in the last decade. "Supposedly" this special was aired in the late 80's on a local UHF station. Afterwards, all known copies were destroyed and the event was forgotten about, until now (Blah blah blah, you know the gist of these things) Basically a news reporter, a paranormal investigator husband and wife team (along with their cat) and a priest, seek to unravel the rumored haunting of a local house where a son killed his parents after being told to do so by ghosts that he communicated with via a Ouija board.

Surprisingly the film is very authentic, looking exactly like a 3rd or 4th generation VHS tape, complete with "modern for the time" commercials with varying degrees of cheese. And while not too terribly frightening (to me at least), it does build atmosphere, which a lot of "found footage" films are sorely lacking.

Definitely worth a viewing

The WNUF Halloween Special is the horror-holiday hidden gem you've been looking for! Presented as a VHS recording, faux commercials included, of a televised Halloween broadcast from the 80s, this flick is a fun and refreshing take on the worn-out "found footage" genre. And it could have fooled me, as a real recording of a local news station attempting a live call-in séance/exorcism at the haunted location of a double homicide. Either shot as an honorable homage to the legendary BBC horror-mockumentary Ghostwatch (1992) or an outright ripoff, the WNUF Halloween Special still hits all the right notes, and seamlessly blends awkward reality-style comedy with spooks. Add it to the list, catch it if you can, it's a fun lil gem not to be missed by aficionados of the halloween horror movie exploratorium. And I believe it's currently streaming on Shudder. 7/10

I suppose if this film were to be summed up in a single word, it would be dedicated. The plot of the film surrounds a television broadcast that's recently been unearthed, and it was executed in such a way with careful dedication to detail that it was quite nostalgic to watch. Those of us who grew up in the times of only having a handful of channels and having everything we watched being interlaced with obnoxious commercials will find particular appeal and charm in this film. Of course, it's not totally inaccurate (VCRs don't squeal when fast-forwarded; nor does the tape itself), but it pulls itself off pretty well.

This is by far the most creative execution I've seen used for a horror movie, in that it plays on the nostalgia of the viewers. It's not like Disney in the sense that the past is thrown in your face in a disingenuous way and you're just expected to come along for the ride automatically. Rather, this film is a careful reconstruction of the way a lot of us watched TV. That alone is worth the price of admission. In fact, I forgot I was even watching a horror movie and instead was interested in the "old commercials" and broadcasting styles.

Yet again, thanks to Shudder for making this wonderful little horror film available to me.

Complete with fake TV ads, The WNUF Halloween Special really, really nails the low budget, awkward nature that an actual live TV special of the late 1980's might have had.

Unfortunately, I found it a little TOO authentic. After a while, it genuinely feels like the whole point of this "movie" is to string you along to sit through the next commercial break, full of tongue-in-cheek advertisements for businesses that don't exist. They're good fake commercials, don't get me wrong, but just like real TV, there's only so many "we'll find out when we come back after this commercial" cliffhangers you can take before it starts to get frustrating.

Which feeds in to a larger problem: not a lot actually happens over the course of the movie. Characters are almost non-existent, there's barely a narrative to follow, there's very little setup and next to no payoff. Things happen, of course, but they aren't structured to happen.

This is all in service of WNUF's attempts at found footage authenticity. If this was actually recorded off of television as the film maintains, it wouldn't have anything resembling a traditional movie narrative. It's supposed to be a crummy local access broadcast on Halloween. It's as impersonal as a weather report, because that's kind of the point. It's not totally devoid of fun, of course. They play up the awkwardness of live TV, and how the host reacts to audience members or callers is worth some laughs, but those moments are too few and too far between, nor do they really build towards anything.

You also have to consider that if what happens in this "tape" was actually real, it would just be clips on Youtube of only the relevant parts, not the full 90 minute recording with all the commercials still left in (including half of the nightly news that aired prior to the special).

I admire what the WNUF Halloween Special is going for, but its slavish dedication to authentically replicating even the worst aspects of television ended up making it kind of a bore. It's more entertaining on a conceptual level than it is when you're actually watching it. I'm sure there's people out there who are probably way in to something like this, but I don't think I am.

WNUF Halloween Special is a truly unique work unlike anything else out there. It's not a "film" so much as an experience, an 82 minute portal back to 1987 and the days of VHS, arcades, and after-school specials.

Combining masterfully crafted commercials (many of which make for excellent satire) with the paranormal investigation of a local "murder house" alleged to be haunted, we follow a tv host and a psychic couple, clearly inspired by Ed and Lorraine Warren, inside on Halloween night. The film is all made to mirror a home video recording of the live broadcast.

For what this film sets out to do, it is beyond successful. As a film, less so, but I'm really in awe of how well this was crafted. The skill shows in every detail. At its core, this is a love letter to the Late 80's, VHS tapes, and Retro Local Television. It is beyond convicing, and if I didn't know better, I would have no doubt this wasn't a lost relic from the 80's, in the vein of Ghostwatch. Just rad!