First “Killer Clowns,” now “Psycho Witches”: new Italian video hijinks

Remember the Italians who made the videos about the psychotic killer clowns? They feature killer clowns chasing people in public places that are mostly empty late at night (train stations and parks,mostly). As if clowns were not having a hard enough time, after American Horror Story: Freakshow decided to feature an evil, psychotic killer clown, played by John Carroll Lynch. Clowns across America protested and encouraged boycotting of the show.

Now they’ve made a new group of videos that feature a “psycho witch” who engages in apparent acts of torture, murder and mayhem.

The “witch” is a bulky guy in a black sweatshirt and skirt and a really bad long Hallowe’en wig. He engages in a variety of threatening acts, including apparently killing someone using a “voodoo doll” (a baby doll with plastic straws), burning a hanging effigy, and chasing after someone with a flaming torch. The effects are fairly crude.

I mean, if you’re going to do a prank involving a witch, why not go for some REALLY good effects, like these Italians did with the “Witch with Super Powers” video in the coffee shop? Obviously inspired by Stephen King’s character Carrie about a teenage girl with telekinetic powers (not a witch, really). This one is so amazing I am surprised none of the customers had a heart attack.

Or this one, obviously inspired by The Blair Witch Project (and possibly The Wizard of Oz).

Some people like labeling these kinds of pranks “social experiments” (like this one in which the reactions of a wide variety of people to an apparent murder in progress are very telling–some run away, some try to get help, some try to intervene). But I think the ones with the over-the-top costumes are trying also to see if people actually believe what they’re seeing (come on, what are we supposed to think about that “witch” in the bad costume? That it’s a “real witch” or that it’s some psychopath who likes to dress up and laugh maniacally while they kill people?), and it’s the reactions that make for good video, I suppose.

In this age of user-generated content and the use of social media to push products and make money, it’s little wonder that video pranksters do what ever it takes to go over-the-top, continue to be more outrageous than their previous efforts, and generate millions of hits so they can go viral and hopefully, make money. But are these pranks a good idea? What if the “victims” gain the upper hand? (I know it is possible and even likely that some or possibly all of these “victims” are themselves in on the joke, but most of the time the reactions look genuine). I can’t see such pranks gaining a foothold in the US, because we have too many actual psychopaths and people carrying weapons in public places; there would inevitably be a catastrophe. But American consumers certainly enjoy the Italian videos, if the comments sections on Youtube are any indication.

But I find myself wondering where this “psycho witch” idea originates. I mean, Italians are familiar with their own folk witchcraft tradition, so this black-clad version with bad hair seems to be Hollywood-inspired. But it’s so cheap and crude. Where’s the glamour and mystery?