by Mark Murton

Directed by: Lesley Manning

Cat Out Of The Bag Alert! This review contains major spoilers for this film.

Synopsis: This notorious 1992 reality-horror pseudo-documentary was presented on BBC television as a live broadcast investigation into the supernatural events centered around “the most haunted house in Britain,” where a mother and her two young girls are being tormented by a poltergeist dubbed ‘Mr. Pipes’ purported to dwell in the home’s basement.

Kitty Cameo: Presenter Sarah Greene follows a trail of children’s drawings across the kitchen floor to the patio doors and is startled by a cat’s cry as a ginger and white tabby suddenly appears outside the sliding glass in a classic Spring Loaded Cat moment.

The cat isn’t seen again but as Pipes’s story is gradually revealed we learn he was a convicted paedophile who believed he was possessed by the spirit a Victorian baby-farmer who murdered children, which lead him to hang himself in the basement of the house where his body had partially been eaten by his cats by the time it was discovered. Cats also feature on the soundtrack several times when phenomena are taking place, most notably during the final moments when howling wind and a cacophony of howling cats (a collection of standard Poor Cat Screeches) are the final sounds heard before the screen goes black.

Final Mewsings: No show is scary enough that it couldn’t also benefit from a Spring Loaded Cat.

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