Review of The Blair Witch Project (1999) by Matt C — 19 Feb 2014

Okay, so the horror genre had gone through a lot of different phases over the years. We've had the classic monster movies, films about horrors of fire, horrors of water, movies about demonic possession, dime-a-dozen slasher films, psychological thrillers and the occasional horror-comedy. We always know there's a fantasy element to most of these movies; it's escapism, and we know it's not real. But now we touch upon a film that wants you to believe that it is real.

One of the most hyped and ingeniously marketed films of all-time, "The Blair Witch Project" presents a new "found footage" genre, where three film students set out into the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland, to produce a documentary about the fabled Blair Witch. What drew so many people in was that the filmmakers advertised the movie like it was a real event, like real people had actually gone off into the woods, and this is what happened to them. The movie's official website listed these people as "Missing." Even to this day, I think some people still believe this was a real thing that happened. How does that work?

Well, we have Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard begin their filming by interviewing locals about the supposed legend of the Blair Witch. One mentions a hermit who kidnapped seven children in the 1940s and brought them to his house in the woods, where he tortured and murdered them; he pled insanity, saying that the spirit of an 18th century witch forced him to do it. Naturally, this is all film gold to them, as they wander out into the woods, stopping near Coffin Rock, where five men in the 19th century were found ritualistically murdered; they set up camp, but the deeper they go into the woods, the more tense the atmosphere around them becomes, and the more on-edge they become.

I have to admit, when I first saw this movie, I didn't think it was anything special. Sure, it's a cool concept and there's plenty of mystery, but I didn't think the characters were likeable and it got just a little tiresome and confusing after a while. But after giving it a second watch, "The Blair Witch Project" has a lot going for it. What I like is the gradual transition of these characters; they start out light-hearted, excited, slightly arrogant but mostly fun people. I've made student films before, so I enjoyed seeing them get so into the filmmaking aspect of this. But as time goes on and they get more and more lost, their nerves and emotions start taking hold of them, and it's all they can do to keep from screaming at each other all the time. And you know what? It works. We start out enjoying what's happening because that's what they're doing, and as they become more stressed and scared, so do we. And for all the faults these people have, we can still identify with and understand what they're doing. There's always someone that wants to be a leader, someone who will lose patience quicker than the others and someone who will do a lot of complaining. This doesn't make them bad people; they're just caught up in a horrible situation. The only thing that seemed really off is when we find out what Mike does with the map; it didn't seem believable to me even within the film's logic.

Of course, I should also talk about the scares. During the night, we hear strange, soft noises from outside the tent. The fear lies in the mystery. Throughout most of the movie, we're peering out into the dark, wondering what could be out there. It's quite effective at times; most of the time, we're afraid of a strange noise itself rather than what could have made it. For me, I think the creepiest moment is when Heather discovers bloody remains of one of her friends after one of them goes missing, because we're teased with the possibility of something, but we don't know what actually happened or how.

The movie isn't always engaging, though. While I mentioned like the transition of the characters, I don't feel the same way about the horror aspect. What I mean is, I feel like it should slowly build each scary scene on top of the next until it unleashes a hellish climax. It seems to start that way, but I thought one or two of the really scary moments were played too soon. And the ending? I'm still really uncertain about it. I get what they were going for, and how it relates to the "legend," but I'm confused to how it was set up. Is Heather supposed to be holding the camera at this moment? Because her screams sound really far away, and it just doesn't feel as frantic as it should. I'm left more confused when the credits roll than anything.

But I admire this movie for its authenticity and attention to detail. The filmmakers put the actors through hell just like the characters; when they end up in a certain part of the woods, the reactions are real; they didn't know where they were going to end up. They even believed that the Blair Witch was a real legend, and were given less food each day of shooting to make them more edgy. During the scene where they're in the tent and the tent starts shaking violently, that was the director shaking it, which actually scared them.

"The Blair Witch Project" was a milestone for independent filmmaking; it was made on a shoestring budget and grossed almost $250 million, which still outstrips all other found footage films. Is it a masterpiece? Well, it is for the most part, but I still feel like it could have been slightly better. But it's certainly effective; it puts you into that mood of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, your nerves constantly on the look-out. I've never gone camping before, and seeing this movie didn't change that. I personally prefer another found footage film for reasons that I'll explain in a few days, but this movie is still a fascinating journey. It features one of the most chilling scenes in any horror movie (Heather's apology to the camera near the end), it scared a lot of people and it was a groundbreaking piece of cinema.