Channel 4/YouTubeChannel 4’s latest documentary, which follows the real-life accounts of people who have experienced the paranormal is apparently so scary the show’s executives needed it to include an audience disclaimer.
Before the audiences can get stuck into the first episode of True Horror, which airs tonight (April 19), they will be greeted with a viewer disclaimer informing them some of the things portrayed in the show ‘may disturb viewers’. So if you’re the type who can’t watch horror without sleeping with a nightlight on afterwards maybe you should give this a miss.
Based on the real-life accounts of people who experienced these ‘paranormal activities’, Channel 4 is hoping to scare the bejesus out of its viewers. As well as featuring interviews with the people who have been affected, it will include dramatised scenes of the events which left them so traumatised.
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The first episode focuses on Liz and Bill, a couple who moved their family to a quiet and secluded farmhouse in Wales. Everything starts out nicely as the animals on the farm are free to run around and Bill, who is an artist, has a quiet studio to work from.
However, what starts out as an idyllic peaceful life soon turns nasty as the family is allegedly haunted to a point where it ‘reaches a terrifying climax’, according to the episode synopsis, The Mirror reports.
The animals begin dying mysteriously, the farm starts to form peculiar apparitions and objects around the house start to move without any help. Bill’s art starts to change, it becomes much more dark and terrifying. But the family is unsure whether it’s due to the unnatural things happening around their home or if something much more foul is at play.
Channel 4/YouTubeWhile it does feature interviews with the individuals who endure the traumatic experiences, Channel 4’s dramatisations make it seem like an actual horror series which, if you happen to be a fan of the genre, will have you glued to the screen and hiding behind your pillow at the same time.
Horror is a genuinely unique genre, you won’t find another film category which comes with a forewarning for its audiences, just in case it scars them for life. This week the trailer for the psychological horror film Hereditary dropped.
According to early critic reviews at the Sundance Film Festival, it was so scary it made them cry.
Channel 4/YouTubeA.A. Down from AV Club wrote:
This isn’t a scary movie. It’s pure emotional terrorism, gripping you with real horror, the unspeakable kind, and then imbuing the supernatural stuff with those feelings.
It didn’t play me like a fiddle. It slammed on my insides like a grand piano…
The warped genius of the film’s tactic is how it steeps us in the pain of these characters, investing in the drama of their situation, and then uses the raw emotions—theirs and ours—to enhance the potency of its set pieces.
Which are masterful, by the way! Propelled by a dread-infused, disorienting score by avant-garde saxophonist Colin Stetson, the film does a number on the nerves, perfecting the James Wan approach of prolonged suggestion and peekaboo funhouse horror.
But even the jump scares feel psychologically loaded.
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True Horror airs tonight at 10pm on Channel 4 and if you miss it you can catch it on All4.
