“Fortunately, there is much more to love about WNUF if you happen across a copy somewhere, perhaps lying in a bargain bin of VHS tapes somewhere. It’s like getting a full-sized Snickers in your bag among the other dime-store candies that may otherwise weigh it down. “

by Rob Rector

Personal story time: I recall back in the late 90s when a friend who just started to work for Miramax films shot me a videotape and said” “This film brought down the house at the midnight screening at Sundance. Don’t give anyone any setup on it. Just invite friends over and watch it!”

That cassette was The Blair Witch Project. I remember the screening in my cramped little dwelling, filled with about 10 close friends, all of whom sat transfixed as it began to play. At one point, someone stood up and said, “You need to stop and tell me right now if this is real or not, because if it is, I have to leave. My heart cannot take this!” I tried to be cagey, but realized the panic in her eyes and had to fess up.

After becoming the pop cultural phenomenon that it was, The Blair Witch was one of those “lightning-in-a-bottle” films that was overwhelmingly effective in being at the right place at the right time.

WNUF Halloween Special
Directed by
Chris LaMartina
Cast
Paul Fahrenkopf, Aaron Henkin, Nicolette le Faye
Release Date
18 October 2013
Rob’s Grade: A-

It has since spawned its own horror subgenre of found-footage, and aside from effective uses of it, no one has really creatively stretched its boundaries.

I stumbled across a curio called WNUF Halloween Special, featuring box art that looks straight out of the 80s. As a lover of classic 80s horror from my childhood, I opted to give it a spin, knowing nothing about it whatsoever.

After viewing it, all I can say is: If you are a child of the 80s, or even hold fond memories of the era, I implore you to stop reading this (or Googling it) and view it with as little knowledge as possible. For that is the best way to fully appreciate — and cherish — the depths and breadth to which WNUF Halloween Special is willing to go to entertain you.

I will assume that only those who have viewed the film will read from this paragraph down, so you have been duly warned!

Having seen the V/H/S films, I appreciated what they were attempting, but there was always something that felt “off,” whether it was the fact that anyone went to the trouble to convert modern footage back to VHS tapes, or that it had an overall clarity and quality far superior to its titular format, it just never gelled together for me as a viewer.


Not so for WNUF, which could have easily been found on a shelf by my TV back in the day. It opens with a grainy broadcast of a nightly news team filled with fake enthusiasm and cheesy puns that would dominate local public access news reports of the day. The program then cuts away to commercials, and that is when you truly realize all the time and effort that went into this film to truly replicate the era. They are so authentically cheesy and earnest that you’d swear they’d been recorded from back in the day.

We are then introduced to anchor Frank Stewart (played by Paul Fahrenkopf), a slick Geraldo-like newscaster who is going to head into a local “haunted house” with a pair of elderly clairvoyants who will hold a live seance within while he takes audience calls.

Things go south, as to be expected, and the narrative plays out in a rather straightforward manner. And while it may not pack the prerequisite scares of “The Blair Witch,” you will find yourself with a cheshire grin as you soak in the authentic nostalgia it creates.

After viewing, you can read for yourself how writer-director Chris LaMartina shot the film for less than two grand, learn just how he cobbled together those gloriously bad commercials and his innovative, unique marketing plan for the film. They can all be found in a “New York Times” interview with LaMartina.

I recall a similar “broadcast” airing on the BBC in 1992 called Ghostwatch which caused a bit of a War of the Worlds-like kerfuffle back when it aired. Perhaps WNUF had cribbed from the presentation, but the entire plot and set up is rather secondary to the overall mood it establishes and is the key to its appeal. WNUF nails so many aspects of the era (from the razor blades in candy news reports to the “Parents Against Partying” PSA warning of the dangers of drugs) that it’s nearly impossible to not appreciate it on its determination alone.

Fortunately, there is much more to love about WNUF if you happen across a copy somewhere, perhaps lying in a bargain bin of VHS tapes somewhere. It’s like getting a full-sized Snickers in your bag among the other dime-store candies that may otherwise weigh it down.