The WNUF Halloween Special!
Happy Halloween!
It's finally here, that most wonderful day of days, that most spooky night of nights, a time of tricks and treats, of frights and delights in equal measure, that magical, glorious holiday we all know and love. I'm making assumptions, I suppose, but I don't really want anything to do with folks who don't hold Halloween near and dear in their benighted hearts. You can keep your Christmas, your Valentine's Day, your Arbor Day. Who needs 'em? Not me! I've got Halloween, and that's good enough for me, friends! We here at TRAPPO. are pretty big fans of this delightful holiday, if you can't already tell, because we've been commemorating Halloween ever since we started making crude podcasts way back in 2010. In fact, our first episode of our first podcast was made to celebrate Halloween. Here at the Chap House, the decorations are out, the Jack-O'-Lanterns are glowing eerily on the front porch, there's a big bowl filled with candy by the door, just waiting for the trick-or-treaters to come a-knocking, and we're sitting on the sofa, watching spooky movies on the big TV in our cheap, store-bought costumes (Ky's a vampire and I'm also a vampire, because I forgot he called dibs on being a vampire a few weeks ago and I didn't want to be a pirate). What are we watching on our fancy color television, you might ask?
Why, 2013's WNUF Halloween Special, of course! Surely you've heard of this found footage love letter to the single greatest holiday of all time? If not, then this is your spoiler warning, because the following episode of TRAPPO. pores over the entire movie in detail, including the divisive third act, so if you're interested in watching the WNUF Halloween Special but haven't gotten around to it yet and don't want any surprises ruined, then come on back after you've basked in the glory of this delightful nostalgia trip. For the rest of you, grab a bottle of your favorite adult beverage, kick off your shoes, take a seat in your most comfortable chair and take a little time this Halloween to listen to the latest episode of TRAPPO. You can find it below, or on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Stitcher, so choose your own adventure and celebrate the season with your friends at TRAPPO.
And while you're here, why don't you join the conversation and tell us all about your favorite Halloween memories in the comments below! How do you celebrate? What movies do you watch to get into the spirit of the season? You can also send us a spooky email, or you can find us on Twitter and Instagram. Tell us how we're doing. How can we improve? What topics would you like to see us cover in future episodes? Don't be shy, boils and ghouls! We're just dying to hear from you!
STAY SPOOKY!
WNUF is a modern classic for me, but I don't think it would work for anybody born after like 1995. If you don't have any familiarity with VHS and the whole analogue era, or if you're my age and don't have even a passing fondness for this stuff, and those people are out there since my older brother is one of them, then I think the show would seem more tedious than anything. I showed this to my nephews last year, and they're 10 and 12, and they hated the whole thing. They thought it was boring and they wanted me to fast forward through all of the commercials.
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing that worries me. The ads are an essential part of the whole show, but for younger audiences, they're just commercials and they don't like them. It was a real downer for me, since I'm such a big fan of WNUF and wanted to share it with my nephews, but it just wasn't for them. I can't blame them for disliking the show, because some things just aren't going to translate for more general audiences. Some stuff is just made for smaller, more specific groups, and that's okay.
I would like to see you guys watch this movie called Antrum. It came out a few years ago and I watched it on Amazon. It's not exactly found footage, but it's about a supposed cursed film that was made in the 1970's about two kids who dig a hole to Hell to save their dead dog's soul. The actual cursed film is there, but it's surrounded by kind of a documentary about the cursed film, if that' makes sense. I don't want to give anything away if you haven't seen it, but I think it's pretty cool and that's my suggestion.
WNUF is such a great experience. I'm not sure how to really articulate how much I connected with this ridiculous show, but I just have a blast every time I watch it. My mother used to take my brothers and I to rent a a few videotapes and get some pizza every Friday after school, and we'd spend the whole night just watching movies and making jokes and having a good time.
ReplyDeleteAnd Halloween was the best. We'd go to our grandmother's house because she lived in a more upscale neighborhood and go trick-or-treating for hours, then when we got back, grandma would let us sit on the floor in her big living room and divide our candy while we watched a spooky movie on her VCR, usually one of the old Universal monster movies because those were deemed safe for kids. Depending on whether or not we had school the next day, we'd probably stay over for the night, having eaten so much candy I can't believe we never puked it all up. And there was always so much left over, we'd wonder if we'd still have some stray pieces of candy hanging around when next Halloween rolled by, but of course it never lasted that long.
There's just something about a VHS tape that evokes a strong nostalgic reaction from me. I don't miss the bad video quality, the hissing audio, or having to rewind tapes before we return them to the video store, but there was always something cool about going to that video store every Friday afternoon, browsing those shelves that seemed to go on forever, looking for the perfect movie for the evening ahead.
WNUF would have been the perfect video for me to rent for Halloween when I was growing up, and when I watch it now I still get that feeling, like I'm a kid again, watching a spooky movie in my grandma's living room, surrounded by my brothers and a mountain of candy. This movie feels like Halloween to its core, and that's like trying to capture lightning in a bottle. What a treasure. Thanks for helping me conjure up a bit of that Halloween spirit in the middle of February.