WNUF Halloween Special

It saddens me I am the first person to write about this movie. I guess I'm not really too sure how I even found out about it. Unfortunately for me, this is not a movie you want to have even heard of before experiencing it. It's available on VHS or DVD, get it on VHS if you have a working VHS player, as getting this on DVD is kinda pointless.

I told my wife I found an old VHS tape someone had recorded in the 80's and made copies of, and we were gonna watch it for Halloween. This movie by far is the most believable 'found footage' movie I've ever seen. There were times I thought it was an actual recording from the 80's, and I knew about the movie. The VHS quality, the terrible commercials, the bad acting, and there are no credits to be found in the movie. The entire movie she kept asking me, is it real or is this one of those Blair Witch movies? I played dumb, and said I don't know, I found it online.

The movie itself isn't anything spectacular, I rate it so high mostly for the fact there is no other 'found footage' movie this believable. It will be a hard movie to ever become a 'cult' movie just for the fact that once you know its's a movie; it definitely ruins the experience somewhat. My plan is to hang on to this treasure till I have kids, and tell them my parents recorded this in the 80's from TV on a VCR tape (kids won't even know what VHS tapes are then). This movie will for sure be in my Halloween viewing collection every year, and I hope to get more people to see it, as it's virtually unknown. The movie was made dirt cheap as well, and is an inspiration for people interested in making movies; as it shows a clever gimmick can go a long way.

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

This is cool. The creators were completely dedicated to the bit. Is it campy? Yes, but it never shows its hand or winks to the audience to get an extra laugh, NEVER. That's impressive in a found footage movie.

This movie left me feeling like I had almost been hit by a truck. Something big had missed me but I was shaken and my heart was racing. I guess that's an ideal outcome for a found footage horror.

If you like weird found footage movies check out Last Broadcast. You might like it.

"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

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!