From FlyingBearFilmSchool: Not only large scale sci-fiers (FALLING SKIES, V, INDPENDENCE DAY), but the small “lost footage” thriller like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and CHRONICLE all owe their very existence to THE WAR OF THE WORLDS – specifically Orson Welles’ legendary radio broadcast more so than H.G. Welles’ Victorian era novel. A masterpiece of illusion, on Halloween eve 1938, Welles’ Mercury Theater radio version of the nightmare invasion (in the form of a breaking “on-the-scene” news event) was so convincingly done, thousands across the U.S. actually fled from their homes in panic, fearing it was real. Welles’ fan, writer / director James Cameron (THE TERMINATOR, TITANIC, AVATAR), hosts a fascinating (and damned enjoyable) look at the creation, execution and aftermath of the single broadcast which changed the face of world media forever:
