Review of Blair Witch (2016) by Daniel J — 18 Sep 2016

If I could describe this movie in one sentence, it would be a genuine nod to the original and a great found footage film that was very creepy and suspenseful, but felt like a less grounded, less realistic carnival fun house version of the first film which tries to go bigger but fails in a lot of ways.

The first half is a lot of setup and some character development. Without spoiling the overall plot, I'll just say that the characters are pretty cliche and by the middle of the movie you don't care for any of them. People start getting lost pretty early, and there is a LOT of time spent wandering around in the dark screaming people's names which I found incredibly annoying, it really took away from the experience for me. I just wanted to scream "shut up!" Half the time.

The original film seemed much more grounded in reality with characters that seemed genuinely afraid and who reacted in a realistic manner to their circumstances. This movie, not so much.

The first three quarters of the film is a lot of nauseating camera shaking and very loud noises in the woods, and lots of stick figures, and yelling people's names like I stated above, and is full of way too many cheaply orchestrated but effective jump scares. There is also a lot of weird reality bending stuff that really pulls the film out of the believable range where the original film kind of touched on that but didn't blow it out of proportion.

However, the final act of the movie is superbly done. If this kind of stuff would have replaced the cheap jump thrills of the rest of the movie, I would have reviewed it better. Genuinely some creepy imagery and glimpses of whatever is after them, and wonderful use of the camera and claustrophobic angles that make you shrink in your seat. Plus it features one of the scariest houses I've ever seen in a film.

The end leaves things open for interpretation which I like. You really don't find out what it is that is stalking them or what really happened or is happening in those woods or if it is even a witch at all. You'll definitely be discussing it afterwards. However again the movie really stretches reality more than the original which takes away from its genuinity.

The found footage aspect of this film is done rather well. Much better, than, say, Cloverfield. But not as well as the original. I mean, in a realistic survival situation, when shit gets real bad you're gonna drop the camera, it's just extra baggage. They introduce modern technology such as phones and earpiece cameras which is cool and works pretty well, making the film slightly more believable.

Overall I enjoyed the film despite its shortcomings. Haven't seen a found footage film quite this scary in a while, except for some of the V/H/S movies. It's just not as believable as the original. But definitely creepy. If you are a horror fan, definitely check this out. Otherwise it's worth watching but maybe wait to rent it.