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Awix (3310 KP) rated Ghostwatch in TV

Jul 18, 2018

Ghostwatch

1992 | Horror

6.4

(10 Ratings)

TV Show Rating

Don't Have Nightmares

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time: do a properly frightening ghost story for the TV age, by framing it as a live broadcast from a haunted house. The really inspired thing about Ghostwatch is the decision to have well-known and trusted BBC personalities playing themselves throughout. Of course, that was probably where the trouble started - not only did it make people more likely to take the show at face value, but putting a children's TV presenter in the middle of the action ensured a rather-too-young audience was tuning in for what remains, by any objective standard, a genuinely terrifying horror story.

The trappings of live TV are painstakingly reconstructed (and maybe desconstructed); Michael Parkinson in particular gives an astonishingly good performance as a seasoned media pro slowly beginning to realise something has gone horribly wrong and the ghost has got into the TV network. Little touches, such as the ghost quietly hanging around unheralded in the back of crowd scenes, mean this is a very re-watchable show.

You could certainly argue that the makers' claim that they weren't trying to fool anybody ring a little false in view of all the evidence to the contrary, and that there is something very irresponsible about the whole enterprise - the fact that people were genuinely traumatised by a horror story they thought was true is not really something for anyone to be proud of. But that doesn't detract from the fact this is a brilliantly executed, really scary hoax.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2353 KP) rated Books Can Be Deceiving in Books

Dec 2, 2018

In Which I Finally Start This Series

Lindsey Norris is settling into her new life as the director of the public library in Briar Creek, Connecticut. One of her many joys is working alongside her best friend Beth Stanley, the children's librarian. Unfortunately, Lindsey has never warmed to Beth's boyfriend Rick Eckman, and spending more time with him doesn't change that at all. So, Lindsey isn't upset when the two break up. However, Beth gets some surprising news about Rick the next day just before she finds his body. It's obvious that Rick has been killed. With the police certain that Beth is guilty, Lindsey springs into action to clear her best friend. Can she do it?

I'm finally getting around to starting this series, but I've loved the other books from Jenn McKinlay I've read. I pretty much knew what to expect here, and I was right. We get a fantastic cast of characters that I already can't wait to spend more time with. The setting, both the library and the town, are charming as well. I'd move to this town is it weren't for the murder rate (and the fact that it's fictional). There is a bit of series set up that slows things down at the beginning, but the mystery is very strong once it gets started. I was surprised by some of the twists along the way. I also laughed several times along the way, and part of the climax made me want to cheer.

Kudos

Amy Curtis (49 KP) rated Gnome Alone (2018) in Movies

Dec 14, 2018 (Updated Dec 14, 2018)

Gnome Alone (2018)

2018 | Action, Animation, Comedy

5.4

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Funny (1 more)

Easy to watch

Good light-hearted film

Contains spoilers, click to show

I stumbled across this film on Netflix and after seeing Gnomeo and Juliet and being impressed with that I decided to give it a go. I was expecting it to be a remake of the Christmas film Home Alone. I believe that was the original intention. Instead, the protagonist Chloe has recently moved into a new home with her mum and after travelling around and moving schools finds it difficult to make friends and keep them. She discovers a necklace in a secret room in the house and removed it. Later she discovers that the gnomes left in her house are alive and they need the necklace back. With the help of her nerd friend Liam, they combat both high school popular girls and aliens and save the world. Whilst the film does have some comedy in parts, it wasn't as humourous as I was expecting. It is a children's film however and there is an underlying message of 'dont judge a book by it's chsracter', 'be friends with who you want to be friends with' and the ultimate one 'be kind'. I also liked the fact that Chloe was glued to her iPhone and then when push come to shove she had to part with it. I think it gave a good message to modern society today of how absorbed we become with technology (she says writing this review on her smart phone). Anyway, it was a very good film and I thoroughly enjoyed it but it wasn't what I expected in the slightest.