Rating: 
Summary: What A Waste!
Review: If there were 0 stars, I would give that instead. Standing on its own, it might earn 1 star, but being a sequel to Blair Witch Project (BW1), Book of Shadows (BW2) is a waste. I own BW1 on DVD and have seen it 6+ times. I saw BW1 in the theatres and saw BW2 in the theatre last night. It was a Hollywood-trashed version. It did not surprise me to find out afterward that it was different writers and director (supposedly BW3 is going to have the originals back). The "Freakylinks" TV series, by the original writers, is much better. Another sequel destroyed by Hollywood in their empty-minded view of adding a loud soundtrack, some skin, some glitzy promotions, etc. I will NOT recommend this to anyone. Such a shame.
Rating: 
Summary: To Blair Or Not To Blair
Review: Oh My God This Is Incredible.What a brain can think such an intelligent idea.This film is wonderful it is so scary.I like it more than the first movie.I strictly recommend this movie cause it is the best second continued movie I have ever watched.I can not explain my feelings about this movie in words. All I can say YOU MUST OWN ONE.
Rating:
Summary: Book of Shadows
Review: I thought the first Blair Witch Project was an exception film. This movie here, it is not exceptional. In fact, I think the word 'disgraceful' is much more fitting. I'm not usually one to come down hard on movies, as I at least appreciate the effort... Usually! This film has No originality, an atrocious 'story-line', and is just all a round dumb. It's something conjured up to cash in on the success of the first Blair Witch. Yeah, I know sequels usually do suck and all, but I haven't been this disappointed by a film in a long while. I can't find anything redeemable at all about The Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2... Possibly the sound track? I don't know; I wouldn't buy it because it'd remind me too much of this film. Like the viewer from Toccoa, GA said: if Mystery Science Theatre 3000 were still around, this would definitely be on their screen :).
Rating: 
Summary: not everything is as is seems
Review: i liked this movie a lot. its completely different from the origional but totaly origional. A tour group stays at the site where the footage of the 1st movie was found and they record everything and when they wake up they cant remember 5 hours of what happened that night so they go to the tapes and realize that they killed another tour group and went insane for that night. Then they start blameing eachother... there is a cool twist at the end and its so hard to explain so i wont try. even tho this doesnt hold a candle to the origional its still a great movie! not the best acting but its still pretty cool and the story line is very creative. it really isnt that scary just really suspensful. this movie could have done very well on its own i.e. not a sequal.
Rating: 
Summary: Loses itself in confusion, acting, and lack of a good script
Review: Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, a slick, effects-ridden sequal to the innovative 1999 pseudo-horror film "The Blair Witch Project," takes more than a little suspension of disbelief and little-to-no knowledge of the first film. Blair Witch 2 seems like it's caught in a bit of a flux; it fluctuates from horror film to suspense film to horror spoof to commentary on media spectacle without seriously delving into any of those categories. Unfortunately, the lack of a point - and utter lack of believable characters - takes what could have been an interesting plot and drain it of all life (no pun inteded). The film opens as Jeff (Jeffrey Donovan), a twenetysomething Burkittsville, Maryland (the fictional setting of "The Blair Witch Project) entrepeneur, prepares to lead a group of stereotypes into the woods to see the sights portrayed in the first film. Among this collection are the skeptic (Stephen), his believer girlfriend (Tristine), a Wiccan with a serious persecution complex (Erica), and a supposedly psychic goth (Kim). Interspersed throughout the opening - and the rest of the film - are scenes alluding to some horrible crime about to occur, and echoes of Jeff's past in a lunatic asylum. The group arrives at Rustin Parr's cabin, the location of the terrifying final scene in "Blair Witch," which is now little more than a ruined foundation. They settle in for a night of booze, dope, and Marilyn Manson and awake the next morning to find that cameras brought along to record "unusual activity" and other belongings were destroyed during the night. Worse, there is a five-hour gap in everyone's memory and the local Sheriff suddenly seems very interested in asking the group about a series of brutal murders that occured the same night at Coffin Rock, another location famous in the first film. Blair Witch 2 continues in Jeff's house, a converted factory from the Civil War era. Needless to say, the group experiences all kinds of strange manifestations, including dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and all sorts of other stock paranormal activity. I'll say this about Blair Witch 2: it wasn't awful. I've seen a lot worse. Unfortunately, because of the stereotypical characters and poorly written dialogue (by the fifth time the Wiccan explained that witches are nature-lovers, not evil Satanists, I kind of wished Ash from the Evil Dead would have shown up and cut her in half with his chainsaw), the film lost a lot of the edge that made the first Blair Witch so entertaining. On top of that, it was a little over-Hollywood-ized; any of the plot motivators, or even a combination of two of them, would have made much more fully developed film. There is also a significant amount of plot holes, not the least of which is that anyone engaging in that much drinking and smoking in the middle of November in the woords is going to wake up missing a few hours of memory - it doesn't take a witch to cause that problem. What we were left with is an entertaining experience, and certainly one that fans of the first film will want to see, but I wouldn't recommend it to the casual moviegoer. A rent-it-before-you-buy-it scenario.
Rating: 
Summary: For non-fans of the original.
Review: "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" is a seriously confusing sequel to a movie that many have considered to set a new standard in horror filmmaking (notice I said many, and not myself). The images are grizzly and disturbing, the acting has mere moments of believability, and the body plot falls short of being climactic enough for its surprisingly satisfying ending. This movie is basic eye candy for those who could not stomach the documentary-style filming of the first film, and on that premise, it works quite well. I admired the first few minutes of the film, which plays on the predecessor's fame and how it gave people the initiative to explore the woods for themselves. We see newscasts, critics, and nighttime talk shows about the success of "The Blair Witch Project," which then segues into interviews of various Burketsville residents telling stories of how the town has become enamored with fans seeking out the site of the events of the film. The comedy in this is that "Blair Witch 2" portrays the events of the first film as being real, and believe it or not, the opening scenes are believable in this aspect. Which leads us into our plot, as a group of "Blair Witch" buffs journey into the woods to discover its secrets once again. The group is full of contrasting characters: there's Kim, the all-out Goth who seems to have insight into everything that happens, grad students Tristen and Stephen, who are on the hike to gather information for a book on the subject, Erica, the Wiccan witch who believes in all things nature-related, and Jeff, the tour guide who has capitalized immensely on the fame of the witch tale and the movie's fame. As they set up camp the first night, they become drunk and disoriented, until they are set upon by another tour group who opts to venture to Coffin Rock, the place where the first murders took place many years ago. Our group wakes up the next morning to shreds of paper falling from the sky, the destroyed work of the grad students, as well as finding that their cameras have been destroyed and the tapes hidden in exactly the same spot that the documentary was hidden. They all start pointing fingers until Tristen experiences a miscarriage, at which point she is rushed to the hospital. No one can remember the events of that night, nor do they know when they blacked out or why, which makes the shreds of paper and destroyed cameras quite mysterious. Retreating to Jeff's home, an abandoned broom factory where he creates his "Blair Witch" merchandise, they begin reviewing the tapes to try and figure out what happened, all the while experiencing grotesque images that leave them questioning what is reality and what is fantasy. There is a strong undercurrent of suspense that never really is resolved in this film, accompanied by one-second shocks and jumps that do provide a few thrills. But the plot never really lives up to that suspense, going from one mind-trip to another without allowing us to figure out the fine line between reality and delusion. Just when we think something major is about to happen, it is overpowered by hackneyed twists, ranging from the ramblings of the gone-mad Tristen to the arguing and pointing of fingers at the rest of the characters. What one sees, the others cannot, and while some of this is intense, the overall feel is one of confusion and incoherence. The film does have a bizarre array of gory images and suspenseful moments, though, which will please some horror buffs. Throughout the movie, the members of the group are haunted by images of bloody lust, death, ghostly apparitions and scenes of murder and mutilation. These scenes, while being extremely graphic, are not that hard to look at, and cinematography makes it easier on the eyes. These shots are done in nice, quick cuts to sharp turns on the soundtrack, taking on red hues and moving slower than normal. Some will argue that this is why the film loses its luster as a sequel to the first movie, because of the filming technique and the fact that they trade mystery for the gore and bloodletting. But instead of giving us a few noises in the night and three people running around in the woods screaming, this movie gives us everything in a stylish package. The fact that we never know why they are experiencing these visions and events is also quite nice, and does add some mystery to the picture. There are hints dropped in everyone's laps that lay blame on them, and then those hints are tossed out the window to give way to new hints, and so on. This may seem a bit redundant, but it does build nicely to the ending, which is mutely chilling and disturbing. It all makes you wonder about what has happened during this movie, which can be either satisfying or a let-down. I found that it did add a bit of mystery to the overall movie, while shocking us at certain, if few, moments. The acting leaves a little to be desired, though. The actors, Jeffrey Donovan, Erica Leerhsen, Tristen Skyler, Stephen Barker Turner, Kim Director, have their moments, but never make it in fully making the material come to life. Skyler's performance is lacking in scenes where she seems to be bordering on mass hysteria, where Leerhsen and Director try to make their characters appear frightened and fail. Turner does a good job playing out his role, while Donovan has nowhere to go but down. His character had been in an asylum prior to these events, which is probably why he has no emotional depth or feeling. On the basis of visuals that possess a certain intensity, "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" works. It gives us a non-stop parade of nightmarish dreamscapes and gruesome images that areas haunting as the subject matter. But the overall plot falls short, unable to live up to the ending or the ideas of the first film. In closing, this movie looks like it was made to satisfy non-fans of the original, and it does surprisingly well in achieving this.
Rating:
Summary: Confused on which way to go
Review: There's absolutely no story in this movie. I expected this movie to be a bit better than Blair Witch 1. Its not scary , just a bit too many things happening at once really. I have seen scarier films but this ends up nowhere in the picture as far as the scariness issue is concerned.
There's not much story and the movie lacks clearer perception as far as the direction goes. I wont go as far as saying I regret watching this film cause yeah it is worth a watch cause it aint boring. It keeps you entertained with the spooks.
Overall , I'd say a pretty decent , around average film.Watch if it came along free with Blair Witch One.
Rating:
Summary: May Not Be As Good As The Original, But Still Worth A Rental
Review: As I began to watch The Blair Witch 2:Book Of Shadows, I thought to myself that this will be a disappointing sequel. I thought this because; this isn't low-budget like the first one. Also because it says this one is completely fictional. As I progressed through this film, I found it non-scary and just pointless. However after I watched the ending to this film I was amazed. I thought to myself "How could the ending have so much creativity, but the rest of the film dosen't at all?" I enjoyed only one portion of this film and that was the ending. The ending was sheer brilliance! It was creative and suprising. A completely unpredictable ending. So I give this film two stars for the ending only.
Rating:
Summary: Chant with me everybody!! "Bogus! Bogus! Bogus!!"
Review: Wow...
I never thought a movie could be this bad. I sure know how to pick 'em. Don't EVER get this. Heed the warnings..
Rating:
Summary: Incongruous
Review: Book of Shadows does not make any sense. No, it's not that I'm so dumb I cannot understand it, it's actually that the film is so simple in it's conflictions that I am surprised everyone else hasn't seen right through it.
Showing slight promise in the early scenes where mockumentary seems to taken to a higher, more sophisticated level than the first, the film quickly collapses into stupidness after about 30 minutes of mildly effective mystery.
Basically, 5 idiots (one of them with a basketball sized goiter on his neck) try to figure out why the whole world went nuts over BWP back in 1999, rather than if the BW really exists or not. 2 of them are writing a book on mass hysteria, one is a tour guide with a dodgy (and totally unexplained) past, the other a witch, the other a Goth (?).
After spending the night in the ruins of Rustin Parr's house they awake to find their camera's destroyed and their paperwork shredded. Was it the Blair Witch? Hardly, she's not real. Right? Don't look at me for answers, the film doesn't contain any. In hoping that the audience would rather be confused than bored, any old crap is thrown at us to keep us in the dark.
The original film was excused for this. It was a low budget independent movie and NOT a Hollywood film. BW2 IS a Hollywood film and fails on every basic level. Even the tiny, tiny irony in being called Book of Shadows, I believe, is a fluke/coincidence. Any other attempt at irony is purely textbook. Ooohhh mass hysteria!
And if the Blair Witch ISN'T real (as this film repeatedly states) why are their physical impossibilities taking place? Why do they all go mad (mass hysteria my ass)? Why, if they are naked, do they conveniently have underwear on when it comes to frontal shots, but take them off for any other angle? What's the deal with tour guide dude's past?
It's all trash and all pointless. A cheap, quick cash-in and a total insult to the honesty and simplicity of the original.
I paid 36p for this!
The DVD is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby 5.1 with some rubbish extras.
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