Rating: 
Summary: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Review: Director: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
Cast: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard.
Running Time: 82 minutes.
Rated R profanity and some tense situations.Perhaps using the most ingenius marketing scheme of all time, this hoax of a documentary film grossed over $130 million in the theatres and became one of the most talked-about horror films of the past decade. The cinematography is nothing more than a hand held camcorder, following around the likes of supposed "actors" who spend most of their time running around the woods paranoid out of their minds (which is obviously supposed to be scary). Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez claimed that the film was restored footage from a group of filmmakers studying an urban legend and then were never found. The premise is simple enough--"Blair Witch" is a documentary recording the events of three filmmakers who meet an uncertain fate while investigating the old legend of the Blair Witch deep in the midst of the Maryland woods. Despite the fact the entire film later was found to be a fake, it is a film that does have some tense moments, especially the finale; however, "The Blair Witch Project" is certainly not a modern day horror masterpiece by any stretch and will probably more likely succeed at making your feel sick to your stomach due to the jerky camera movements than anything relatively frightening on screen.
Rating: 
Summary: not scary, yet interesting
Review: this one is so realistic, its not even scary. 3 students go on a project to video tape the blair witch woods in burkittsville. they get lost and are mentally screwed with by some unknown psycho. they asume its the blair witch. really the only things that happen is they see signs by someone (piles of rocks, symbols in trees), have creepy unseen children claw at their tent, and at the end look for one of the lost crew member in an old house. its confusing at the end. you dont know what the hecks going on and whos camera is whos. you just assume the witch kills them all. realistic and by that reason creepy? yes. horror that will make it hard for you to sleep that night? no. at least rent this thing, its really good. and they have really interesting features, like curse of the blair witch. they go out of their way to make it seem like this stuff really happened. almost pathetic.
Rating:
Summary: No lasting power
Review: I caught this moving when it was first released in the theater and I honestly have to admit that it scared me senseless. I actually slept with all the lights on in the house that night and yet I still found myself having nightmares. The interesting thing about this movie for me is that it is a one-time viewing experience. The second time that I watched it; I found that it did absolutely nothing for me and I even started yawning through it. The third time, I was so bored that I ended up not even finishing it. I can't quite put my finger on the reason for it but this movie just does not have any lasting power about it. Quite unlike The Exorcist which I've seen well over twenty times and it still scares the crap out of me every single time. Obviously, I'm not the only one with this problem because recently I was shopping at a popular used bookstore and noticed that they had six used copies of Blair Witch DVD for sale, no other movie had as many multiple copies. As interesting as the original experience was, I just can't justify declaring this film a horror classic simply because it has no staying power. A good one timer but that's about it
Rating: 
Summary: One Of The Greatest Hoaxes Ever
Review: I recall the days leading up to the theatrical premiere of "The Blair Witch Project". The online promotion, the cable television specials that proclaimed this as "YES, IT'S THE REAL THING! THEY'VE DISAPPEARED!". You know what? Even after I found out that it was all fake, I wasn't upset -- unlike a lot of people out there. The story is simple enough and probably everyone and their mother has already seen the movie or heard the details. Three people get lost in the woods attempting to make a documentary on a legendary witch that haunts Maryland. They disappear. Their videos are found several years later and here is what they captured before their untimely demise. It is a horribly clever way to get the public interested. Everyone likes a good true unsolved mystery, especially when it's live and center stage on a gigantic theatre screen. The actors are decent enough... and some have even parlayed this excursion into a small acting career (you might have seen Heather Donahue in a certain Freddie Prinze Jr. movie, "Boys and Girls" and also in a Sci-Fi network miniseries in 2003). I felt that the true underrated star of the movie was, indeed, one Mary Brown. Though only onscreen for about 2 minutes, she is the most outrageous character in the film and if you see her recounting her experience with the Blair Witch, you may well wet your pants. Overall, the movie isn't necessarily Oscar-quality... but what is aside from anything Nicole Kidman releases? It isn't a horror movie, but rather one of the better suspense films released in the 1990's. It capitalizes on the fear of the unseen and what lurks in the dark of the forest at night. Is it really the ghost of the Blair Witch? Is it a local resident who followed them with the intent to kill? Is it their own imaginations? In fact, that question is never truly answered, which adds to the film's mystique. Come on... you know the woods are a tad scary after the sun goes down in general. By far, one of my favorite films of all time. The final scene is probably one of the scariest images I've seen in a long time (you just have to listen to the comments from the initial interviews that preceded their trip into the woods). It's unfortunate that so many people don't truly appreciate this movie for what it is... it isn't meant to be a professional Paramount or Universal or whatever movie. It's meant to capture the essence of amateur filmmaking gone awry. An A+.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Suspense Thrillers of All Time!
Review: This movie is one of the greatest movies of all time! Anyone that didn't enjoy it must have some kind of imagination deficiency. Good luck to them enjoying a good book. The movie is quite scary. The plot is simple but effective. The cast are brilliant. The last 30 seconds of the movie are probably the scariest 30 seconds of any movie i've ever seen. If you have a soft spot for suspense thrillers, or simply appreciate good original movies, then this is for you. If you don't like suspense, have no imagination, or don't appreciate originality in any way, then go and watch Friday The 13th Part 8.
Rating:
Summary: Uh....that's it?
Review: Excuse me, but can someone tell me what happened here? The movie starts off okay but then it starts rolling down the relentless hill of, "what the heck is this?" I'm not a fan of gorey horror movies, but come on! This has absolutely nothing scary in it! They hear some cracking branches, find some piles of rocks, and some stick figure things in the trees that look like ceiling fans. Ooooh. Scary. I bet you that's where they got the idea for the Blair Witch symbol...somebody looked up at a ceiling fan and said, "Hey. This could actually work. I mean, most people are stupid enough to buy into it." As Chris Rock stated during the MTV Movie Awards, I'd also like to know where the people are with the other 30,000 dollars that it so called "took to make this movie." Hardly. Any moron with a camera could tromp into some "scary" woods and start filming like blithering idiots. Do the world a favor and burn this movie if you own it and if not, never ever see it.
Rating:
Summary: An Unhelpful Review
Review: Shoppers appear to find only four- and five-star ratings "helpful," and this movie has been reviewed so many times that probably nobody will read my review, but here goes: Overhyped garbage. Gets two stars for interesting concept, slyly promoted, but if judged purely from the enjoyment derived from watching it, the rating goes into negative numbers. My wife and I saw it in original theatrical release and it gave us both sick headaches. An "Emperor's New Clothes" element is at work here in how people who bought into the hype will not admit what trash this is.
Rating:
Summary: Not For Everyone
Review: Main stream film makers have been dumbing down the public so long that people don't know what to make of 'The BWP'. If it must be classified; then its more of a mystery movie than a horror flick. Its a classic movie,but not for everyone. After seeing this movie,I was stirred,and thought about it for a few days. Therefore, I say "CHEERS!". If a movie makes you feel any emotion; good or bad,then it was worth watching.
Rating: 
Summary: eek. (lower case "e")
Review: I think how scared you are by this movie may be directly proportionate to how frightening you find the idea of being out in the middle of the woods... personally, I've always found it rather relaxing. All told, I was a bit disappointed in the film. The technical aspects didn't bother me at all, but I expected a bit more creativity. Frankly, it's rather surprising that large numbers of people went to see this movie. There just isn't much to it. The setup is too brief and cursory - we don't really even meet the characters or learn much about the legend or see much of the townspeople. And since we're told in advance that no one will be returning, all that's really left is a documentary on how humans deteriorate mentally and emotionally under stress. Not that it isn't convincing, but had they given us a bit more to think about early on, there might be more motivation to keep watching (e.g. "what did _X_ mean?", or "how will such-and-such turn out?"). And does anyone really believe they'd still be filming and carrying heavy gear once survival became an issue? But anyway, credit to the filmmakers for being original and giving us something different. Maybe next time out they could introduce some elements of plot, just to help the conceit along.
Rating:
Summary: Relentless Horror for Imaginative Minds
Review: Forget the entire backlash spawned by the hype, forget all the "it wasn't scary" nonsense spouted by unimaginative people who don't get it, The Blair Witch Project is a great, very effective horror movie. It should probably have been released with a disclaimer: imagination is required. If you don't have one, you will find it tedious, annoying and boring. If you do, be prepared for a roller coaster. In conventional horror movies, you're constantly being shown glimpses of the villain, or monster, or evil presence, and usually by the end the evil has been revealed. The Blair Witch Project doesn't work that way. Instead, it works off the idea that the mysterious noise off in the woods is scarier than what is actually making the noise. Each night, as the characters fall asleep, the noises get closer, eerier, more menacing. You sense an evil presence closing in on them, but it's never identified. Try as they might, the characters can't find their way out of the woods. Each night, the inevitable darkness descends, and they wait, like forlorn prey, knowing that they will be targets once again for whatever wickedness stalks them in the night. The idea to shoot the film entirely with handheld cameras carried by the actors themselves is what makes this movie work. You see and experience everything from their perspective. When they get lost, you feel their anxiety, when darkness approaches, you experience their hopelessness, when they get frightened, and your body physically reacts as if the horror is in the room with you. If this movie were shot any other way, it would not be anywhere near as effective. Many negative things have been said about Heather Donahue, but I thought she did an outstanding job. She played her character perfectly. She showed more depth and emotion in this role than the vast majority of actresses out there today. She played it real too, and she wasn't afraid to be vulnerable, to appear bitchy, to have snot running down her nose, to scream her ass off when frightened beyond belief. This Heather-bashing needs to be put to rest. In many ways, she is the film. Her companions were great, because they really reflect the audience's reactions to her and the situation. Mike was a trip. His expressions and little quips provide much-needed comic relief early in the film. You really have to admire what these people did on a budget of only $35-$40,000. I've said it before, it's easy to throw millions of dollars at a project, but it takes real talent, creativity and intelligence to come up with an economical way of making it work. The fact that these people made what is arguably one of the most original and scariest horror movies of the last 20 years on a fraction of a fraction of what Hollywood spends on most movies is just amazing. The Blair Witch Project is deserving of whatever praise it gets.
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