Ten years already? Wow, seems like yesterday that the world was overcome with Blair Witch Mania. It's hard to believe that a movie like this has become a bookmark in the pages of pop culture history. I don't mean that in a negative way, it's just so strange that a low budget horror film could do what this film did. I saw this film in the theater during the hysteria and I remember no one in the theater moving a muscle through the whole film. Seeing it in the theater was such a memorable experience that I figured seeing it on video would cheapen it. I finally decided to watch it again.
The Blair Witch Project is the story of three college students, Heather (Heather Donahue), Josh (Joshua Leonard) and Mike (Michael Williams), who are filming a documentary about a local legend called the Blair Witch. They plan to spend the weekend in the woods of Maryland to try to find any clues on the validity of the legend. Before long, the trio get lost and they soon start seeing and hearing things out of the ordinary. They also run out of food and must do whatever they can to find their way out of the woods after they lose their map.
The Blair Witch Project is not a typical horror film. The film has no gore and uses atmosphere, POV camera work and supposed true events to scare the audience. And it all works perfectly. This film suffered greatly from being over hyped after its release, which is unfortunate but there is still a cult out there who will forever cherish this film and remember when it was released. If for some reason you've never seen this or haven't seen it in a long time, I suggest turning out all the lights and watching it with the sound cranked. I watched it on my portable dvd player with headphones on and the sound definitely enhanced the scariness of the film. The acting is very believable but it should be because the actors didn't know what to expect through a lot of the filming. Fuck all the naysayers, I love this film but it's not something I could watch all the time. Maybe in another ten years....
RATING: 5/5
Thank you for finally stepping in and recognizing the film for its successful take on the Cannibal Holocaust premise. Everyone bashes BWP because they felt shortchanged in the theaters, but it is a genius concept (even if it had been done before), and the truth of the matter is that it is scary as hell. Theres no way around it. I almost pissed myself in the theaters during the tent scenes. Appreciate the review man, I need to reproach the films shortly.
ReplyDeleteCarl - Thanks for the kind words. It's good to hear from fellow fans.
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