Review of The Blair Witch Project (1999) by Thequietgamer — 26 May 2017

It's the kind of movie you go into expecting one thing and ending up with another. This is really the story of three people being lost in the woods. You really feel the frustration of the characters as they get more and more confused about where they're going and as they start to turn on each other. The supernatural elements of the witch are just there to sort of give the survival situation a little more bite. Some really weird stuff starts happening once the sun goes down. One thing that's really admirable is the movie's faithfulness to the amateur documentary style of presentation. It really makes you realize how much traditional horror movies rely on things like music to build up tension, and how effective those techniques actually are. In the case of The Blair Witch Project all you get are the strange sounds coming from the very dark woods. It's an original way of presenting things. The movie relies a lot on the imagination of the viewer to freak themselves out. Now, I complain about jump scares a lot in horror movies these days, but part of me wonders if this movie could have used some. There are so many moments where the characters will hear something and go investigate, and nothing happens. The movie does a good job of building itself up to a scare, but ultimately never delivers one. Like all foreplay and no release.

But again, the real horror comes from how much it sucks to be lost in unfamiliar territory. The things going bump in the night are only there to amplify how undesirable the character's situation is. Admittedly, it's their own fault. Cocky college students doing the stupid and suffering the consequences. That's something else the movie kind of suffers from. The characters spend too much time doing stupid things like arguing when they should be moving. When they are constantly getting in their own way you almost don't want to feel sorry for them. Yet, you do. They're tired, frustrated, and of course scared. It's only natural for a person to loose their cool and make bad decisions in that sort of scenario. It's believable if no less exasperating at times to watch. The performances of the cast also help you want to see these people make it out alive. They're anger, fear, sadness, and hysterics feel real and make you sympathize.

Don't go into this movie expecting a traditional horror film. The stuff with the witch isn't the scary part. The movie's strength comes from it's ability to pull the audience into the circumstances the characters have found themselves in. Along the way they'll find some weird stuff, but the movies unique approach where subtle horror is key is sadly unsatisfying. It's strengths just lie elsewhere. It's offerings as a horror movie aren't what you would expect given it's title and what the genre usually brings into focus. It falls short as a result, but the film is not without value.