The Blair Witch Project

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant picture, ingenius production concept.
Review: I am privileged to own this movie, but I wouldn't consider it "scary". It is very entertaining and almost anyone can relate to the isolation, frustration, and internal struggle of its characters as they each find out more about themselves than their "Blair Witch project". It is an excellent opportunity to evaluate your own misconceptions about image and your emotional capacities, as you feel the last dying grip of each character as they search for any available security through each stage of their breakdown and self-discovery.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely brilliant and genuinely frightening
Review: The Blair Witch Project is the most brilliantly creepy movie I have ever seen. I can no longer say just how many times I've watched this film, but I become more and more impressed with its production with each viewing. I can't really imagine how so many people can claim that this film didn't scare them in the least. I am a long-time horror fan, inured long ago to almost everything the movie studios throw out there on the big screens with a "frightening" label. The Blair Witch Project, I am delighted to say, creeped me out quite impressively. It may well be that this is a different movie experience depending on the venue of its audience. Those watching the film for the first time at home can turn off all their lights and watch the movie in the dark, but there is really no way to recreate or equal the powerful mood and atmosphere that came rushing in icy waves on to a theatre audience. When I go to see horror movies, there is almost always some laughter to be heard from time to time, and usually I am the one doing the laughing. Once Heather, Michael, and Josh got into the Maryland woods and the spooky meter began to rise, an eerie, almost unprecedented silence took over those of us sitting in the theatre. There was no laughter; I heard no one sucking on a straw or chomping on popcorn; no adolescents whispered back and forth. There was no longer an audience around me; I and the film were locked together in a mortal embrace, and as the suspense built up at the end I felt as if some force were pushing me farther and farther back into my seat. When the movie ended, I don't remember anyone really talking about what they had just seen; I think we all just wanted to get the heck out of that darkened theatre. That kind of experience, I must say, is what my horror dreams are made of. Viewing the film at home just cannot recreate the movie experience.

To me, The Blair Witch Project is simply brilliant in many, many ways. First, of course, Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick used the Internet to build up a hype of unprecedented proportions for this film many months before its general release, creating a thriving fan base drawn deeply into the legend of the Blair Witch and the mysteriously doomed student film project, mucking up the waters of truth and fiction into a bloody froth that attracted horror sharks such as myself from far and wide. Then there was the SciFi Channel documentary Curse of the Blair Witch that was released just prior to the film's release. In this remarkably professional and believable documentary, the fictional story of the movie was given sturdy legs with which to scurry around the truth. The actors used in the documentary were amazingly good, and the use of family photos, old historical documents and letters, newspaper articles, television news features, interviews with law enforcement, family and friends, etc., did a great job of masquerading fiction as reality. Even those of us who knew going into the theatre that this was a work of pure fiction could allow ourselves to wonder if the story could still actually be true, and that suspension of disbelief did much to increase the power of what I saw on the big screen.

Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams were simply brilliant. Their displays of fright, rage, and hopelessness were stunningly believable; of course, some credit for the actors' performances must also go to the geniuses behind the film. I would imagine that the dark woods would become quite unnerving after a few nights, even when you know that whoever or whatever is out there is just someone associated with the film production, and the fact that the characters were forced to endure sleep-deprived nights and grueling daytime hikes over the course of a full week had to do wear down the defenses of the actors and bring to the surface emotions and expressions that lie too deeply to be accessed simply on command. I am still fascinated to read about the way in which things were managed in the filming. The actors ad libbed almost everything they said and did, which is actually quite amazing. At times, though, they had to redo things in order to please the filmmakers; the best example of this comes in the movie's final scene. As I understand it, the scene in the movie is actually a second night's shoot of those events, as things did not go quite the way the filmmakers wanted on the first night. To see that kind of emotion and fear portrayed by an exhausted Michael and Heather on a second night's take is just outstanding.

This horror fan welcomed such a refreshingly new type of movie to the fold. I like blood and gore as much as anyone, but true fright is best achieved by unspectacular yet highly personal events taking place in what looks very much like the real world as we know it. Millions of dollars have never made an expensive, special effects-laden horror movie as creepy as this extremely low-budget masterpiece of mood, atmosphere, and unseen things that go bump in the night.

Rating:
Summary: Not what it was cracked up to be
Review: First off...I find it amusing that so many people(mostly under the age of 25) actually believe that this movie was somehow based upon a true story. I hate to be the one to burst the bubble (not really), but not one shred of this movie has any real life parallels. Yep, it was all cooked up by the cast/crew. Just visit any number of urban legend sites on the web to verify this. Its not even based upon a local folklore legend (it was also fabricated)a facet that, if existed I believe would have made the movie a lot better.
Now to the review. First off this movie, when I saw it in the theatre, made me dizzy. So much that I almost wanted to throw up. The DVD version is less traumatic. The main problem I have here is with the plot. You basically have two plot lines running simulatneously in this movie. Which one you adhere to depends upon your ability to suspend reality and to what degree. The first I will call the logical plot and it basically boils down to three stupid ... going out on a weekend hiking trip to shoot a documentary on a local ghost legend - sans any remote skills in map/compass reading or wilderness survival. The three run afoul of a rather sizable satanic cult and are picked off one by one in ritualistic fashion.
The second one is the metaphysical plot line and has the basic elements of the afforementioned plot but the antagonist is the "Blair Witch" a flat, inconcievable "spirit being" that sadistically toys with the three goofballs killing them one by one until its macabre pleasures are satisfied(when their all dead).
This movie had tremendous potential, but failed on numerous fronts. First off I had no sympathy for any of the victims. I keep trying to imagine myself in the movie as a cast member when I watch this. Let me tell you that I, for one, would have helped the cult/witch out a bit when I discovered that the one screwball cast member threw away the map. At that point I would have kicked him in the nuts, bashed his head in with a rock, and left him for fodder. Also, the film would have been cut short and probably never been "produced" because at the point when the taller guy was pleading with the stupid girl to please stop recording their traumatic emotional dramas, hey - no negotiations. I would have wrestled the camcorder away from her and slammed it against the nearest tree.
And whats with not being able to read a simple topo map with a compass? Its not that hard.
1. First establish your position on the map(something they had numerous opportunity to do earlier on in the film).
2. Find north with the compass, place the map on the ground with the North arrow oriented in the same direction as the compass's N arrow then "draw" a line from the center of the compass to where you want to go.
3. Hold that bearing until you get there.
Hey, I know that this was the Clinton presidency and all but I'd bet that any of the characters would have openly welcomed a "bigot-homophobe" Boy Scout - any of whom I know could have gotten them out of this situation in a matter of hours.
I was raised in the outdoors and I know that I would have an obvious advantage over these three if placed in a similar situation, but come on, at some point in the film I was almost cheering for them to get killed because I was so disgusted with their lack of any kind of logical assessment or decisionmaking.
The movie is unconvincing in that it does not provide a "bridge" between the two plot lines - you either follow one or the other, but are not drawn into both as it should be. An example of this would be some unexplainable "freak' of reality such as when the cast inadvertently ends up back at the stream where they were previously ( I wont get in to how streams don't travel in circles and if you follow them(downslope)they travel towards and merge with larger streams - most of which people eventually build something by)and they are say - on the WRONG side of the stream! A friend of mine argued that this WAS the case in the film but after I watched it again - nope theyre on the side their supposed to be on - wishful thinking on his part I guess.In summation, the fact is that there is nothing in this film that is not in some way explainable and the "Blair Witch" seems to be a metaphor created by the characters to describe events happening to them that are being perpetrated by unremarkable "real world" beings (demented people). That in itself is scary but the allusion to the supernatural is simultaneously unbelievable and distracting.

Rating:
Summary: Like watching a stinky piece of cheese.
Review: Having heard so much about how scary The Blair Witch Project was, I thought it'd be a great film to watch on a Friday night. Unfortunately, it ended up being a waste of five dollars. I don't see what's so scary about it; all you really see is three kids running around in the woods and getting lost, which is frightening, but only if you're one of them! Stick figures popping practically out of nowhere is mysterious from the audience's point of view, but doesn't exactly send chills down one's spine, unless, again, you're one of those kids. There really is nothing scary about the film, with the exception of the fact that it was based on a true story and if there is one area the film succeeded in, it was making you apprehensive about venturing out into the woods of Burkittsville, MD.

Rating:
Summary: SCARY...CREEPY...ORIGINAL AND IMAGINATIVE...
Review: This is a film that one either loves or hates. Well, I am in the former category. My daughter and I saw this film when it was first released and, given its hype at the time, were inclined to think that it was no biggie. Well, we were wrong. My daughter was frightened out of her wits, and I must confess that I, too, was creeped out by this inventive and imaginative low budget film.

Shot with hand held cameras, it is an ostensible would be documentary filmed by three young adults on a backwoods Maryland legend called the Blair witch. Shortly after filming some of the local yokels in Burkettsville (once known as the town of Blair), Maryland, our three intrepid filmmakers enter the woods where the witch did her dastardly deeds.

Venturing ever deeper into the woods, what initially starts as a romp into local history slowly turns into a terror filled foray where unknown entities nightly make spooky noises outside their campsite, leave behind cairns ostensibly built for each of them, and gelatinous deposits of an unknown origin are left on personal belongings. They also stumble upon an eerie site where a multitude of strange stick figures are found hanging oddly from trees. Lost in the woods, they stumble about these genuinely creepy woods, their fear ever escalating, as does that of the viewer.

As these young filmmakers are never seen nor heard from again, what happened to them can only be gleaned from their unedited film footage that was found sometime after their disappearance. This is what the viewer is actually watching, a sort of cinema verite. It is actually a film within a film. The shaky camera work adds an air of authenticity to the film, though it is a bit of a dizzying prospect.

Of course, there is no real Blair Witch Project, the film is a mock documentary, and the people in the films are just actors, but the directors, actors, and everyone involved in this film certainly understand the concept that less is more, turning in one of the spookiest, most original and inventive horror films ever to grace the silver screen.

Rating:
Summary: Still gives me the chills, even after four years
Review: With four years to reflect on my Blair Witch Project experience, I offer that BWP is a success on 3 levels:

1. Directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick prove that so much can be achieved with so little, working on a budget of a mere $50,000 (infinitesimal by hollywood standards).

2. BWP proves that the unseen/unknown is much more frightening than what the eyes can see.

3. The script, or lack thereof, being largely improvisational, adds a genuineness of spontaneity that could not have been achieved if the actors had simply memorized lines.

BWP does everything right, right from the get-go. I will never forget how quiet the theater became when the opening text appeared on the screen. You could have heard a mouse fart. The lack of a musical score set the tone for the entire film. The genius of BWP is that the "horror" is insidious, invisible, subtle, and evil. As the directors may or may not have intended, you don't even realize you're scared until it's too late, and honestly, a musical soundtrack would have detracted from such a creepy atmosphere.

Heather's video apology letter sends a chill down your spine from its naked poignancy. You feel as though you are the one holding the camera, your fate as uncertain as hers.

The ending leaves you with mixed emotions. On the one hand, it leaves you disappointed and angry that you don't actually get to see what happens to Mike and Heather. On the other hand, you are glad that you don't get to see it, that you are spared the terror and implied violence that surely befalls the two students. The fact that the ending is open to your interpretation truly is one of the major elements that makes the film so effective. Another is the fact that it takes you a long time to shake some of the movie's images from your head. Who can forget the bloody stumps left outside the tent, Heather's tear-filled apology letter, or Mike standing in the corner of the abondoned house as Heather screams at him. Why is he standing there? Why is he facing the wall? What happens next?

...which goes back to the idea that what you can't see, and what you don't know is scarier than what you can see, and what you do know. I've owned the video cassette of this movie since the fall of 1999, and have yet to gather the nerve to watch it alone. Now, _that's_ a scary movie.

Rating:
Summary: The Movie Experience Is Better Than The DVD
Review: One thing that I must say about this documentary style horror film is that when I first saw this shoestring budget movie in the theater, the reaction of the audience at the end of the film was very interesting. At the end of the film, when the end credits came on the screen, everyone at the same time got up from the theater and left, without saying a word. There was complete silence, as though the theater audience had just woken up from a bad nightmare, and were afraid to move about like they normally would or say anything for fear that something bad might happen.

The DVD has standard DVD material, with a director's commentary track, where the makers of the film point out the work of fiction disclaimer at the end credits of the movie. There is also a fictitious documentary of the regular appearance of the Blair Witch and who the victims were when the Blair Witch reappeared. The Blair Witch Project is not really a memorable film, however, it would be an interesting movie to put in the DVD player and start watching about twenty minutes from sunset on a late fall afternoon.

Because this film is a work of fiction, and once the viewer becomes aware of this, the movie loses its shock value. There are plenty of true crime documentaries and movies shown on cable television that are just as scary, but true, that would have a more intense effect upon the viewer.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not THAT good!
Review: Not generally a fan of horror films -- especially not "supernatural" horror films -- I finally rented both "Blair Witch Project" and "St. Francisville Experiment" at the same time. The hype over this one is way, WAY over the top, but I was interested in seeing how these films handled their offbeat "documentary" approach, and I was satisifed. It takes an awful lot of talent to make even a BAD movie, so I have to give these filmmakers their due -- but not one iota more than they deserve. And to paraphrase Lewis Black: If you saw either one of these movies and, for even one moment, thought that they were "based on a true story," etc. then I want you to wear tinfoil so the rest of us know who you are....

Rating:
Summary: Unwatchable garbage
Review: What's with all the hype? I saw this movie about 3 years ago, and it still remains as one of the worst films I'd ever seen. Local radio stations were blowing this movie out of proportion, saying it was a great thriller. I kept waiting for this movie to get scary, but it never happened.

Rating:
Summary: Split Decision On This PROJECT
Review: Not since NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in 1968 or HALLOWEEN in 1978 had a low budget horror film grabbed the entire nation in the way that THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT did when it was unleashed in the summer of 1999. Made for only forty thousand dollars by a group of friends in Maryland, BLAIR WITCH, by way of media and Internet hype, grossed over one hundred million.

As everyone has heard, the film is about this group of teens who venture into the Maryland woods to learn of a legendary witch, only to find themselves confronted with the possibility that the Blair Witch is not merely a legend but is in fact a reality. One has to give credit to directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez and their friends, including the ever-pushy Heather Donahue, for giving the audience something more than just the standard teen-scare flick. The witch is (wisely) never seen, except for a few markings and demonic-looking stick figures. There's hardly any gore either (praise be!), and even the Shaky-Cam movements are bearable because you know they could never afford even part of a Steadicam on their highly limited budget.

That said, however, I am only giving this film three stars, because this film falls lamentably short on two very important points. The filmmakers put up a great premise that has traces of John Boorman's 1972 classic DELIVERANCE scattered throughout, but the dialogue is so profanity-ridden that it becomes tiresome after a while, diminishing the film's suspense-laden story. Secondly, the acting, even by student-film standards, leaves something to be desired. Even Donahue's "I'm so scared" scene (done with a flashlight) doesn't seem terribly realistic.

Does THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT still live up to the hype? In terms of its premise, I'd say it MORE than does. But if its makers had been willing to spend more time on the dialogue to reinforce the premise and the energy that went into making it, we'd really be talking about a masterpiece. As it is, BLAIR WITCH is a letdown of sorts, but only partially so; it's not the masterpiece some claim it to be, but it's not exactly a disaster either.