An 83 minute, Baltimore-lensed 2013 video project made to play like a VHS recording of a fictitious 1987 Halloween TV special. It owes something to the BBC’s GHOSTWATCH, although the WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL lacks the focus and ingenuity of that program, being jokey and highly uneven, with a few too many layers of unreality—fake show, fake commercials, fake VCR recording—that have to be sifted.
Following the sounds of a VHS being inserted into a VCR, it begins with a newscast, whose hosts are Deborah Merrit (Leanna Chamish), costumed as a witch, and Gavin Gordon (Richard Cutting), costumed as a vampire. They report on several regional news stories, most notably a Baptist Church group who believe Halloween is satanic, and engage in some “witty” banter (Donald: “What are you going to do this Halloween?” Deborah: “I’ll probably stay in and play with my cats” Donald: “I hope they’re not scaredy cats!”).
After about twenty minutes the major plot point kicks in: an investigation of the Webber house, where twenty years earlier one Donald Webber, under the influence of a demonic board game, killed his parents. Reporter Frank Stewart (Paul Fahrenkopf) and his cohort Veronica Stanze (Nicolette le Faye), following interviews with local residents (whose knowledge of the supernatural seems limited to GHOSTBUSTERS and CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST), introduce us to Louis and Claire Berger (Brian St. August and Helenmary Ball), a paranormal investigation team patterned after Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Upon entering the abode the Bergers head upstairs and Stewart introduces a new character, Father Joseph Matheson (Robert Long II), who’s skeptical that demonic entities are afoot. The Bergers then introduce something called EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon), i.e. recorded ghost voices they claim offer proof that ghosts are present. This is followed by what is billed as the first-ever call-in TV séance (a number, 747-WNUF, is flashed onscreen); the calls, alas, include such morsels as “Iron Maiden rules, White Lion sucks!” and “I was wondering if you could contact my dead grandmother and call her a bitch.”
Things take a turn when the Bergers’ cat, who they insist upon keeping with them wherever they go, is found mutilated. The Bergers take off, leaving Stewart and Father Matheson to (ineptly) anchor the proceedings by themselves. Unfortunately Stewart’s major dramatic inspiration, that Matheson exorcise the evil infecting the house, doesn’t come off, as the latter is too much of a wuss to go through with it, and things literally go to Hell.
It must be said that director Chris LaMartina (who like the rest of the cast and crew goes uncredited) impeccably captures of the look and feel of a 1980s TV channel, down to the satanic panic themed news reports (warning us that devil worship is “on the rise”) and animated bumpers that precede the commercial breaks (containing screams and blood covering the image), and also the commercials, put together by a variety of directors with eighties-era stock footage, that periodically interrupt the program. Included are political attack ads informing us that a local politician has taken money from polluters (complete the obligatory shot of a child drinking tainted water from a faucet), as well as spots for “Phil’s Carpet Warehouse,” the “Demons of Demolition Derby” (“We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’re only gonna need the edge!”), a late-night movie called SARCOPHAGUS, a suicide hotline whose number is “1-800-We-Hear-U,” and the “Cloverland Shooting Range” (“Come feel the warm embrace of the second amendment!”).
Enhancing the VHS feel is a periodic fast forward effect that occurs at unexpected points in then program. One wonders why more of the commercials aren’t fast-forwarded through, as most of them are quite dull (being a bit too realistic for their own good). What neither the commercials of the main portion of the broadcast are is scary, being intended, it would seem, as parody. As such the project is amusing, but not amusing enough, and a missed opportunity overall.
Vital Statistics
WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
Midnight Crew Studios/Camp Motion Pictures/Shudder
Directors: Chris LaMartina, James Branscome, Shawn Jones, Scott Maccubbin, Lonnie Martin, Matthew Menter, Andy Schoeb
Producers: Jimmy George, Chris LaMartina
Screenplay: Chris LaMartina, Jimmy George, Pat Storck, Michael Joseph Moran, Carley Cooper, Shawn Jones, Lonnie Martin, Scott Maccubbin, James Branscome, Matthew Menter, Andy Schoeb
Cinematography: Chris LaMartina
Editing: Chris LaMartina
Cast: Paul Fahrenkopf, Aaron Henkin, Nicolette le Faye, Leanna Chamish, Richard Cutting, Brian St. August, Helenmary Ball, Robert Long II, Sabrina Taylor-Smith, Thomas Lee Johnson, Kendra North, Frederick Cowie, Bob Creager, Ron LaMartina, George Stover, Paul Sieber, Joe Ripple, Cary Anderson, Patricia Mizen