Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: During a news broadcast in 1987, a reporter and crew discover more than they bargained for while investigating an allegedly haunted house.
Review: I have been exhausting every Halloween-themed movie for years now, and have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for quite a while. I mean, just look at some of the no-name garbage I've reviewed during previous Octobers! Thankfully, this movie was a breath of fresh air. Of course, this is a form of found-footage, however, it's considerably different than the standard bullshit you might come to expect. Essentially, this plays out like an actual local news broadcast from the '80s--commercials and all. The thing is...everything is created by the filmmakers including those commercials! It's quite the sight to behold due to overwhelming levels of ingenuity and creativity. These filmmakers understand the '80s probably better than anyone I've even heard of; it's extraordinary really. Something like "House of the Devil" could easily trick an unsuspecting viewer into believing it was made in the past, but the attention to detail in "WNUF Halloween Special" is off the fucking charts! It's about as authentic of a recreation as you could ever create. I honestly cannot imagine a better presentation unless someone used a DeLorean.
So the structure of the film can be somewhat difficult to explain. You have the main reporters talking about the typical, nightly fluff pieces you'd expect mixed with conventional news stories. Everything feels believable and real with a certain level of exaggeration for humor to the audience. You get jumping, static, fast-forwarding, etc. as if this is an actual VHS tape. By the way, you will feel as if you are watching a shitty VHS tape that's for sure. The manner in which the filmmakers accomplished this feat was through multiple copies taped over and over by VHS, degrading the picture quality with each subsequent copy of a copy. You know, it occurred to me--fuck(!)--why didn't "The Ring" franchise every utilize this as a plot point?! Well, "The Ring 4," there you go.
Anyway, the broadcast is building up to one of the reporters going to a haunted house and bringing paranormal investigators with he and his crew. Along the way, we get more fluff pieces and a constant barrage of commercials. The commercials blow me away with their accurate tone and style befitting of the era. I have no doubt the filmmakers used true '80s B-roll yet it's spliced seamlessly with film-created material. It's just awesome. Sooo...once the story picks up, things do get more serious as you know something big is coming with the haunted house. There is a payoff at the end with everyone dying, but I was a bit disappointed with the direction they took the material. In a way, it does fit '80s motifs of cults, satanists, psychos, etc., but I would have preferred a supernatural reveal. Still, this isn't any kind of Blair Bitch bullshit where you are left wondering what happened; the film gives a clear explanation of what happened to the crew.
This brings me to some of my gripes with the movie as a whole. While I certainly love the commercials, and the effort that went into creating them, they needed to lighten up during the climax. At the same time, you could easily argue too much of the running time is dedicated to them and could be interpreted as filler. As mentioned, the ending is not what I would have wanted. The budget was pittance, sure, but a ghost popping up would have interested me more even if it looked a bit shoddy. There are times when the comedy was a bit corny or over the top; this didn't bother me, but I can see it bothering some viewers. Finally, there is a lot of reused material strewn about, and, coupled with a short run time, this is a tad too short. The scary moments could have been longer to add more tension and to make this be feature-length.
All things considered, "WNUF Halloween Special" is something worthwhile and a worthy "Halloween" alternative without a doubt. I heard about this from a youtube reviewer, Dr. Wolfula, and it would appear this movie is indie as hell so the DVD cost me a bit to obtain. I don't know if there are ways to rent this or if any store would carry it, but if you're a big '80s fan this is a must-have. Every single detail is carefully crafted and the movie felt so damn realistic. If it weren't for the overly comedic moments, you'd have a lot of trouble distinguishing this from reality under the right context. And, despite the niche market, I can see plenty of mass appeal for something like this given that is does offer up that humor while still possessing that cool horror buildup throughout. There are flaws, yet, those can be readily overlooked. Definitely seek this one out if you've run through the same Halloween movies over and over.
Notable Moment: The one commercial that really struck me as both creative and accurate was the spin the bottle game of drugs. The cornball setup, the drug options, and the bottle landing on a headstone was perfect! It felt pretty damn close to the kind of shit they aired when I was a kid.
Final Rating: 6.5/10
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