Director: Chris LaMartina
Cast: Paul Fahrenkopf, Aaron Henkin, Nicolette le Faye
Screenplay: Chris LaMartina, Jimmy George, Pat Storck, Michael Joseph Moran
83 mins. Not Rated.

Back in 1987, the television station WNUF had their yearly Live Halloween Special. What aired that night was so shocking that the footage never played on TV again, and all mention of the special disappeared completely from the airwaves, until now. The footage has been discovered, commercials and all, and has finally been presented for the first time in decades.

Okay, so yeah, we have a unique experience for you today. The WNUF Halloween Special is a 2013 film modeled to look like VHS taped footage from a terrifying broadcast event in 1987. For some people, mileage on this will vary widely. I personally am quite nostalgic for the time period where I had dozens of horror movies and Halloween specials recorded on our family’s VHS collection, and my prized possession of VHS tapes were from the Friday the 13th series. Once in a while, TNN would air the first eight films in a row, and one day, I worked out how to get two films on a tape and make sure that the recording was done perfectly. I didn’t cut the ads, but being spooky season, that added to the flavor of each watch. For a very specific time period, something like the WNUF Halloween Special hit me in a very personal way.

If you’re here for the horror, I don’t think something like the WNUF Halloween Special will satisfy that need. The horror elements were actually the weakest of the film, where reporter Frank Stewart (Paul Fahrenkopf, Flags of Our Fathers) takes us on a tour of the infamous Webber House, a haven of murder and spectral occurrences. Fahrenkopf is very convincing, but the filmmakers don’t give him much to work with from a story perspective. The ending hits nicely, though the buildup isn’t really there. Honestly, if director Chris LaMartina (Call Girl of Cthulhu) had captured the scares the way he does the television nostalgia vibes, this would be a perfect experience.

For me, I was completely drawn in by the news reports, faux commercials, and special presentations of the movie, and they made up for some of the pedestrian buildup in Frank Stewart’s ghost tour. While these parts of the film don’t serve to add much, I found this experience to match Trick ‘r Treat for pure Halloween vibes alone. While it would be easy to lampoon and mock these segments, LaMartina directs everything with a reverence and respect that comes off genuine.

WNUF Halloween Special absolutely won’t be for everyone, but I know this will become a yearly ritual of my October spooky season for late night viewing in much the same way that Trick ‘r Treat is destined to be. Both films are drastically different celebrations of the season, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve appreciated the nostalgia of my childhood Halloween festivities. For 80s and 90s that grew up with classic Halloween specials, I can’t recommend the WNUF experience enough.

4/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

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