20 years ago, SyFy (which was still known as the SciFi Channel) premiered a hidden camera prank show called Scare Tactics. The premise behind the series was placing real people into terrifying, often paranormal or bizarre situations, and then watching them react. I loved the show when I was younger. And I’m so happy that this Halloween season, Scare Tactics is back with a seemingly bigger budget and under the guidance of horror master Jordan Peele.
This new season of Scare Tactics makes some changes to the format. This time around, the show is hosted by Flip and not a random celebrity, like Shanon Doherty or Tracy Morgan. Flip is described as a “spectral pre-teen obsessed with horror movies and fascinated by human fear.” I’m not sure Flip, with his giant TV head and off-brand Crypt Keeper vibes, really works, but it also doesn’t matter. Scare Tactics has seen multiple host changes and various visual rebrandings over the last two decades and it never diminished the true joy of the show: Watching random people get thrown into terrifying and spooky situations and seeing what happens. And thankfully, this new version of Scare Tactics doesn’t mess with that aspect of the formula at all.
The first episode of Scare Tactics, which is available now (along with the second episode) on YouTube, is a perfect return for the new series as it demonstrates that this version of the show can nail the wild paranormal pranks as well as the more tense, slower paced ones, too.
In the first prank, a man ends up as a witness to a wedding featuring a very pregnant woman and her husband. But slowly, it becomes clear that these people are probably part of some devil-worshipping cult and her baby ain’t human. The other prank in the first episode of Scare Tactics features a man who has been invited to a fancy dinner featuring exotic foods. Eventually, the meal takes a turn and he’s served what he thinks is human flesh. The tension of whether he will, like the actors tricking him, eat it or not is wonderful.
Here’s the second episode of the show, featuring some WWE superstars and a creepy doll that leads someone to a deadly clown.
Of course, every prank ends with someone revealing the truth to the victim and letting them relax and laugh off what just happened. It’s always enjoyable to watch people change instantly the moment their brains realize that they aren’t in danger but are actually just on a prank show. The mix of anger, relief, and joy always makes me giggle.
Scare Tactics is a perfect show to watch during Halloween (the old pranks are up on YouTube, too) because it’s like a collection of horror anthology films from multiple genres, but starring real people who have authentic and varied reactions to the terrible events around them.
Scare Tactics is a perfect show to watch with friends as a palette cleanser between films in a horror movie marathon. It’ll make you laugh and argue about who in your group would be the most terrified by a certain prank. It’s like Candid Camera, but with more devil babies and blood. And I’m so happy it’s back just in time for Halloween.
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