Review of The Blair Witch Project (1999) by Whit W — 14 Sep 2012

This is a very well known movie in the Horror genre that I think we have to thank for the shaky camera technique. I recall hearing of people getting sick from the camerawork, or lack of it. I wish I had seen this back when it was in its original run in theaters. It probably would have been more effective. Nothing really happens other than the characters get lost and one of them disappears. The surprising thing is that it actually has effective moments. When the characters are in the dark and their flashlights dimmed, the scares were there. But true to form, nothing happens. All of the scares are generated by a fear of the unknown. Unfortunately, "Blair Witch" carries it a little too far. I am not advocating the need for gore in this movie, there is none other than the main character finding some recently extracted teeth, presumably from the character that had disappeared. It just needed a little something. Someone moving in the woods, a brief glance at a shadowy figure. Something more than little piles of rocks and stickmen hanging in trees.

Much is left open for interpretation, especially the ending. It's frustrating. **SPOILER** I think the fact that Mike is standing in the corner of the basement in the old house is a callback to an earlier moment in the movie which tells of victims being made to stand in a corner while someone is murdered in the same room. That implies the main character, who sees Mike standing in the corner, is going to be killed...I think. **END SPOILER**.