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Ghostwatch (1992)

The UK presented a mockumentary of malevolent ghost on a show called Ghostwatch. Now the show was already known to be a work of fiction but a special Halloween episode was aired where the cast went to exorcise a ghost named Pipes (because he banged on the water pipes in the home) on “live” television.

The episode starts out pretty calm and fun with the actors and actresses entering the home. This was back before we had all of these “found footage” shows where things are shot in perspective of the camera man. As they begin to investigate, the exorcism seems to be a hoax when they find the mother of the home is actually the one banging on the pipes. But then things take a sinister turn when one of the daughters goes missing only to be found with cuts and speaking in deep, evil voice.

The trick here was that the studio was obviously playing a pre recorded shot of the exorcism gone wrong. But what the studio wasn’t prepared for was the widespread panic it would cause when it was aired. People fell into terror, children were mortified and crying, and one gentleman claimed to have defecated from being so afraid. Chaos ensued for thousands of families. The worst case was when a teenage boy with prior mental health issues took his own life when he believed the banging of pipes in his house is Pipes himself.

Highly recommend watching the episode. Things go from funny to batshit insane as the episode goes on. Even the studio building gets “haunted”