The Blair Witch Project.

Review #1294: The Blair Witch Project.

Cast: 
Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams, Bob Griffin (Short Fisherman), Jim King (Interviewee), Sandra Sánchez (Waitress), Ed Swanson (Fisherman With Glasses), and Patricia DeCou (Mary Brown) Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez.

Review: 
Sometimes you need to check out something different with horror. Found footage horror is the presentation of film as being "discovered", for which it is generally seen in real-time through its characters, with the cinematography being "done" by the camera-holder, which may result in some shaky camera work or raw acting. This was not the first found footage of its kind (Cannibal Holocaust was released in 1980, with its content resulting in obscenity charges for its director), but this film certainly helped give popularity to the idea of making films like this, for which one could still see in the following decade with films such as Paranormal Activity or Cloverfield. Twenty hours of footage was shot over the course of eight days, for which the editing took eight months to make an 82 minute run-time. With a budget of $60,000 and a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 1999, the film became a surprise hit as one of the most successful independent films of all time with a gross of over $200 million, and two sequels followed in 2000 and 2016. It definitely is a successful tale of marketing through the Internet, with a (still-running) website that meant to portray the film events as real with stuff such as police reports, interviews, "missing" flyers and a mockumentary that premiered around the film's release that gave backstory details.

If one really does find themselves scared of the unexplained, of the paranormal phenomena that one cannot see right away that keeps you off balance, then you will likely get a kick out of this film. For me, I couldn't find myself really being that scared at nearly everything that this film presents, and it combines itself with bland characters that makes this a polite disappointment. I go into horror to see if there will be a fright or some entertainment, and this is essentially the equivalent of doing animals with your hands on a flashlight: it only works if you have the imagination and passion for it. You can make a film involving offbeat characters that aren't quite likable if it is done right, but this isn't one of those examples. Watching a bunch of folks stumble around a forest and bicker isn't what I call atmosphere, and having an actual seen horror not show up is not what I call scary. Technically speaking, there was meant to be a shot of the horror in the film, with a pan to the left that would show a woman in a white gown in the distance, but the cameraman forgot to do so and it was not re-shot. Maybe one is supposed to have Jaws in mind when it comes to a film that holds its monster in place for most of its run-time. This falls apart pretty quickly because I actually felt something for that film and its encompassing terror that lurked (and actually showed up), where with these three the strangest thing that happens to these theater folks is having the tent shaken by the director. Actually, I take that back, the stick figures are a bit spooky to look at. It doesn't seem too fair to pick at these main three took hard, since they are just making the best out of some improvisation with a little bit of intensity (and swearing) that maybe could get a rise out of someone that has more interest in what is actually going on. By the time the climax hits with a bit of a thud, I am more inspired to put the disc back in its compilation case and have it rest back on the shelf than actually look up the lore. If one is big on films with a bit of history for it and trappings of the unseen supernatural, you might fit this just fine. For me, not so much.

Next Review: Sleepy Hollow.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.