Rating: Summary: Not All That Great. Review: When The Blair Witch Project came out, everyone said that it was the scariest movie that had come out in a long time. Since I love horror, I saw it. I was disappointed. Maybe it's just not possible to live up to all the hype that was produced. Maybe it just wasn't that good to start off with. To be fair, it wasn't a horrible movie, some parts of it were pretty good. The problem was that the setup to the legend of the blair witch seemed incomplete so when the action of the movie started, I really couldn't figure out what the hell they were so afraid of. It seemed like the biggest problem the characters faced was being lost and all the bickering that was going on. Since that was constant, it was easy to be sidetracked from what I imagine the movie was supposed to be out. The best scene of the movie was by far the last and not because it meant the movie was over. Also worthy of attention were the night scenes. Overall, a decent movie, but very dependent on the atmosphere when it's being watched. If you're out to be scared, I suggest you pick something else.
Rating: Summary: Slightly scarier than Howard the Duck Review: This overrated, overhyped movie was a complete waste of perfectly good film (or camcorder tape).I could not wait for this movie to end. It is nothing more than people with a camcorder complaining about losing a map and cursing all over the movie. How people can call this imaginative, witty or original is beyond me....
Rating: Summary: The Little Movie That Could Review: A few years ago, two young guys, who had recently graduated from a little film school in Florida, decided to make a little movie. With help from friends and families, they came up with around $30,000 to make the movie. Luckily, they got this picture entered in a great big film festival, where a little company called Artisan Entertainment cut a good deal with the boys and got the rights to distribute the movie. The people at Artisan devised one of the best publicity campaigns in Hollywood history. And so it was that The Blair Witch Project went on to gross over $125,000,000 in North American theaters. The young guys, David Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez became legend. Better yet in some people's eyes, they and everybody at Artisan got rich. Only in America, as we like to say. I tell this story party because it's interesting, but mostly because the phenomenon that is The Blair Witch Project has thrown most logical attempt to discuss its merits as a movie into disarray. The problem is that, not since Easy Rider in the 1960s, have so many people seen a movie done on a shoestring. Many of these folks have said how original it is when compared to standard Hollywood fare. It is, but I wonder if that would have been true if the two young guys' budget had been a hundred times bigger. I fear the movie is a fluke, and while it may entice studios to support independent producers, it will not herald a new era in what pictures we see. The system does not change that fast. In other words, don't expect to see a surge in original movies. I personally was enthralled by The Blair Witch Project, but I warn you that a tiny budget can buy only so much. There are no sets, no special effects, no actors you ever saw before, and virtually no music. It is as lean as a movie can get. Artisan did spend quite a bit of money to clean up the film negative and to create stereo sound, but 16 mm film stock will always be cheap and grainy when compared to standard 35 mm film. In addition, the majority of the movie was shot with handheld cameras. Many scenes lurch and careen around and are apt to make some viewers get motion sickness. The idea of the movie is quite clever. Three students disappear in the Maryland woods while making a documentary about a local legend called the Blair witch. A year later, the film they shot is found. This is pieced together into a sort of documentary that acts as a photographic record of what happened. The directors even gave the characters the real names of the actors who played them. The result is a pseudo-documentary which is perhaps made all the more frightening by what it does not show. It is the first hit movie in ages that leaves so much to a viewer's imagination. You are left with more questions than answers. Some people will be totally frustrated by this, while others will be exhilarated. The three students are played by Heather Donahue, Michael Williams and Joshua Leonard. This is the first movie any of them have appeared in, and we are lucky that all of them prove to be talented actors. Donahue is especially effective as the group's leader. The way she seems to age, as she goes from happy young girl to terrified woman, is remarkable. Her transition from authority figure to someone on the brink of madness is terrifying. Because it doesn't have the razzle-dazzle you are so used to in your movies, you are apt to decide that The Blair Witch Project isn't scary at all. Maybe you'll even decide it's dumb. Maybe you'll laugh at its amatuerish appearance. And maybe you'll find yourself constantly glancing over your shoulder the next time you take a walk in the woods, because, just maybe, those woods are never going to end and you'll be lost in them forever. How can you be sure?
Rating: Summary: one of the better horror movies for a looooooooong time Review: "the blair witch project", minus all the hype and nonsense, really is a cult classic. although i sympathize with those who generally dismiss popular, mainstream american movies offhand and assume that whatever people are raving about is forgettable, fluffy, sentimental [stuff] with big budget special effects (that assumption is usually right on the mark),"blair witch" is a pleasant exception. convincingly acted, brilliantly conceived, and moody as all hell, it digs into the unconscious fear of the unknown and is intelligent enough to let it remain unknown, only giving nuances and signs of what's going on in the most ominous and fear inspiring ways. it has it's flaws, including the main characters, three beavis and butthead twenty-somethings who probably couldn't read a map even if they weren't being toyed with by a supernatural entity. most people will dislike this because when they see a horror movie they want the usual pointless and objectionable [stuff], ie blood, gore, busty non entities getting slaughtered, and others will dislike it because they were feeling nauseous on the day they saw it and were aggravated by the camerawork. but the unbiased horror movie fanatic with a solid stomach and an IQ exceeding their shoe size will find "blair witch" an unanticipated and remarkable joy, and a new cult classic to be put on the shelf with other psyche-wrenching films.
Rating: Summary: An entertaining Thriller filmed in Documentary Style. Review: When a Pair of Young Filmmakers (Heather Donahue, Micheal Williams, Joshua Leonard) are making a Documentary on the Legendary Blair Witch, which is a Local Urban Legend but Once, they get in the Forst-Where the Legend is Based on. They travel to Maryland to be in the Real Setting but For a Strange Reason, they get lost in the Way of the Making of the Documentary and There Deepest Fears comes to live is Palpable. Directed by Daniel Myrick and Edaurdo Sanchez, Which-they wrote and also thier first film. This film has a small imaginative Budget, which it`s turns into one of the Highest Box Office Hit in the Summer of 1999. The Filmmakers win an Independent Spirit Award for Best Feautre made Under $500,000. It also win for the Award of the Youth for the Cannes Film Festival. This is a Clever Thriller with Some Moments of Horror Elements. DVD`s has an sharp Pan & Scan (1.33:1) transfer and an strong Dolby Surround 2.0 Pro Logic Sound. This DVD has an entertaining Audio Commentary by the Filmmakers and an Surprisngly Well Made Documentary, Based on the Film on the legend of the Blair Witch. This is a Well Made Independent film, that become an Instant Cult Classic. Well Done. Followed by a Sequel. Grade:B+.
Rating: Summary: You might also enjoy a test pattern Review: Drivel about three supremely inarticulate nobodies, plucked from obscurity and handed some cheapjack film equipment, and the murky monkey-cam movie they create. I said inarticulate. To what degree? Every third or fourth word out of the mouths of these grungy twerps is the F-word or some other choice expletive. Oh, excuse me, they were told to ad lib! And, great "actors" that they are, they could think of nothing to say but lame, artless, stupid, obscenity-laced references to pop culture, bowel habits and their own absurd plight. I am so sorry, this is not a movie. "Project" is more apt, perfect in fact, for something anyone - ANYONE - with the slightest artistic bent and a credit card could have done, probably better. Professor says: CASTING: F. SCRIPT (yes, I know, there wasn't one; there should have been): F. CINEMATOGRAPHY (don't make me laugh): F. DIRECTION (even Allen Smitthee wouldn't claim this one): F. OVERALL PROJECT SCORE: F------------ I forgot to mention: The film is devoid of chills, scares and even the remotest possibility of gooseflesh, unless you are now or have ever been a little baby girl. One final thing. Those three actors? Having had their 15 minutes of fame (and then some), THEY ARE STILL UNKNOWN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Rating: Summary: the scariest parts were shown on tv for free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Review: this was so ridiculos and lame,it wound up being a comedy.the audience were laughing their heads off.until they realized they paid for this crap!!!!!then the water works began.i had a feeling this was a product of some very clever marketing.and to be honest,i really did want to enjoy this.it was original for the most part,it didnt have any rappers(A HUGE PLUS!!!!!!)and it was supposed to be the most frightening film out.i was very much willing to dish out $... for this.but like i said up top,i saw the best parts on tv.i knew the movie was gonna get bashed,the producers knew this was gonna get bashed.i could see all of the spoofs before they happened.and what do all involved go and do?MAKE AN EVEN LAMER SEQUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!THIS FRANCHISE DIED A QUICK AND VERY ENJOYABLE DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: Summary: I can see why some would hate this. Review: I remember when The Blair Witch Project was first came out. It got mostly very good reviews from flim critics accross the nation and the movie went on to become one of the most popular mony makers of the summer. When I first saw it in the movie theater I was blown away and I thought it was great and scary. But after I saw the movie I talked to a alot of friends and family who thought it was stupid, overrated and worthless. I gess the mane resons for that would the facted the flim makers messed around with the camara alot to give it a more relalistic effected on the big screen. Wheatever? You Choose for your self what you think about it, but at all cost skip the follow up to the Blair Wicth Project called Book of Shawdos. Unless your a teen who chooses the normal teen horror movie over somthing that has vision like the Blair Wiich Project did.
Rating: Summary: BWP: Proof that special effects don't make the movie Review: Imagine, if you will, ponying up the dough to buy a new car. But instead of buying a car, you say 'I'm going to make a movie'. When you inform the public of your plans, they laugh at you, saying 'Man, you aint got no budget! How in the heck are you going to make a movie?!' You ignore their taunts, and round up three amateur actors and start to work. Here is your story: 'Three film students go into the woods to shoot a documentary about a local legend, and mysteriously vanish. A year later, their footage was found.' The movie takes three days to film, over half of it using a b&w 45mm camcorder. Because the film is supposed to be composed of 'found' footage, you do not need to spend the money to improve its quality. Then at last, you reveal you finnished product to the public. The response is overwelming. Grown men, after seeing the film, swear that they will never go camping or even set foot into the woods again. The movies grosses over 2 million. In the end, it has become the most successful independent film of all time. This is the story of the Blair Witch Project, one of my favorite horror films ever. The fear factor is not based on what you can see, but what you can't; which in my opinion is much more effect than all the gory mutilation in most contemporary horror films. If you haven't seen it, do. You will not be sorry. I sure wasn't.
Rating: Summary: BWP: An extremely underrated horror film. Review: Ok, a lot of you think I'm nuts for still loving this film. But admit it, you did too when you first saw it. The movie is just so unlike anything ever captured on film before. What's that you say? Oh, "They tried to dupe us to think that it was real, and thats why I hate it!" True, but not true. If you notice at the very end of the movie and 'behind the scenes documentary' you see this: 'written and directed by daniel myrick and edward sanchez'. DUH!! The reason you fell for it, is because you failed to read that. And the print wasn't teeny-tiny, it was regular size. What else did you hate about it? Oh, the camera shaking. Well, I thought that it did shake a bit much sometimes too, but not enough to completely hate the movie. And finnally, 'Heather screaming got on my nerves'. You are acting like she did it through the whole movie. She did when they were hopelessly lost, but not before. I think the problem was most people crave gore, which this movie has no gore, but the fear factor relies on the fear of the unknown. That is what made jaws good too, was that you couldn't see it sometimes. When they did show the shark, it looked totally fake, and with such a low budget, The Blair Witch would probably look bogus too. In conclusion, this is a good film. The only thing I thought it would have been better without is the excessive swearing. Still, good flick. 3 1\2 stars.
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