February of last year I reviewed that film. Last night, I discovered it is now finally available on such streaming sites as Amazon and YouTube for rental or purchase. My new review of the movie-after seeing it again last night-is below.
I am basically doing this review again because I randomly discovered last night that this movie is finally available on “the streaming sites” for rental or purchase... at least YouTube, Amazon and Google Play, that is. Before that it was far more difficult to track the movie down. I understand those who did not care for this because it focused more on the 80's aesthetic, using incredible stock footage from the time and creating commercials just like the ones we saw back in the decade of coke and Miami Vice rather than the scares... I enjoy this for what it is; I find it to be highly entertaining and simply a lot of fun.
I am a child of the 80's, 1981 to be exact. That has to be a big reason I enjoy all the 80's nostalgia from recent times, but I think I've always been entertained by what was in hindsight a pretty weird decade, from the music and the fashion to everything else. Thus, since I heard about this microbudgeted movie, I was real eager to check it out.
If you aren't familiar with this film that until recently could only legally be found at one website (at Alternative Cinema), it was made recently but it looks like an old VHS recording taken directly from a low wattage television station's news broadcast then special broadcast of Halloween night 1987, where we see two anchors utter amazingly bad jokes then the special broadcast is several people (and a few cameras) entering an abandoned house where a mass murder took place and the killer claimed “a spirit board” told him to do it. These several people are:
* A smug arrogant reporter who is funny in his “above this all” attitude as he has to do this crap
* Two paranormal investigators and their cat; it is no secret they were supposed to be Ed & Lorraine Warren
* A chubby priest
Once they enter, various hauntings begin to happen and as it's all live... despite what you may think and how it's advertised, it's more a comedy than a horror film. That is OK with me as this is a blast to watch. The opening 20 minutes or so is the newscast and it sets things up with the backstory and introducing the characters. Right there you'll know if the movie is for you or not.
A good amount of time is watching those fake ads. They show the trends of the time, such as heavy metal cassettes, goofy no-budget TV shows, arcades, horror hotlines, anti-drug ads, and all the rest. The newscast shows various things popular during the decade, such as concerns over the environment, parents worrying about where their children trick or treat, and especially the “Satanic Panic” that gripped the country for awhile there but was largely overblown.
In addition, there are various horror references sprinkled throughout; they are typically on the obscure side but if you are a hardcore fan of the genre, you'll probably recognize them.
I say that this film is worth a shot: even if you don't like it I hope you appreciate how for apparently not a lot of cash they were able to capture the style of the 1980's so well.
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