MovieChat Forums > Ghostwatch (1992) Discussion > Not scary at all

Not scary at all

posted 13 years ago by mel2000
11 replies | jump to latest

I've seen Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity 1 and enjoyed them both for their skill at creating a sense of scary suspense.

Just saw Ghostwatch yesterday. Maybe it's because the horror documentary era is already in full swing, or maybe because I'm not as easily frightened anymore, but I didn't find Ghostwatch scary in the least. The execution was laughably obvious and the scare attempts were too familiar to be effective.

I've noticed that many of the posters who found it scary were pre-teens at the time they saw it. That, and the fact that the faux horror documentary was a relatively new genre at the time likely explains why it was convincing to them. I saw Ghostwatch alone in the dark and was completely untouched by it.

[–] BenjaminTheBlue 13 years ago

You answered urself. It's because it was the 1st one. Blair Witch was frightening, as I actually thought it was the real footage, but by PA 2 I was a little bored with it.

Thx BenjaminTheBlue

[–] jayne_67 13 years ago

Oh, come on! When this was broadcast, lts of peope thought it was REAL not a tv play, run this after an hour of ghost hunting with the woman who was a blue peter presenter and it's crap your pants time...

Ah, hell diddly-ding-dong crap!

[–] djroomba 13 years ago

It is considered so scary cos noone knew it was a faux documentary at the tme, unlike Blair Witch or PA. Also I think the way they show the ghost in the background in certain scenes is more effective and scarier than anything in those movies. In fact I think youre a bit of a nut for finding PA scary, I thought that was a boring piece of crap.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] deanlamb 12 years ago

I watched it when it first aired and it was billed and explained as being a fake drama so anyone believing it at the time was a bit naive! I do admit some of it was quite effective at the time.

[–] antiskum 12 years ago

Lollll paranormal activity.

There's no cheap jump scares here, just creepiness. It was really well done.

[–] twelveboar 11 years ago

Aye, I was scared when it first aired and rightfully so as it predated a lot of the fake-footage horror to come.

However, I finally revisited Ghostwatch last night with my girlfriend ( who had never heard of it ) and it's aged really badly. To be expected I guess and the glimpses of Pipes are still a little chilling. Still, a disappointment.

[–] Undutchable1939 11 years ago

As other people already stated, if you know it is fake and if it is not 1992 but 2013, you probably won't be much impressed.

However, I was young at the time, home alone, had not heard anything about it being fake and had no idea it was all a setup.
I thought it was real for a long time and it was probably the scariest thing I've seen on tv, ever.
Except of course what we see on the news every day.

Yes when I look back at it, it is funny, not scary at all.
But at some moments I remember how I felt the first time I saw it and can't help get goosebumps.

In the 1930s there was a radioplay called "War of the worlds", it was made to sound like an actual radio news broadcast about an Alien invasion.
Countless people missed the introduction and thought it was real.
It caused mass panic.

A show like this only works once and if you did not see it in 1992, you'll probably never experience what we did.

Complaining about mistakes is almost as bad as complaining about complaining about mistakes.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Royalcourtier 10 years ago

You must be an American, used to sound and fury. Not all ghost stories are over the top.

[–] jwelker 9 years ago

That's quite a blanket statement there.