The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project

1999

Director- Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez

Cast- Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard

      A trio of intrepid filmmakers is attempting to shoot a documentary about the local legend, The Blair Witch.  This takes them to a small Maryland town and then eventually into the woods outside of town. They get lost and encounter strange phenomenon like noises at night, rock formations, and wicker figures hanging from trees. They each begin to lose their cool and then eventually 

their minds. Finally, they meet their end at the hands of some unseen fiend.

            To be honest, I never liked this film. I saw it on VHS when it came out and then re-watched it 20 years later but my opinion didn’t change. The characters losing their cool and constantly arguing always annoyed me more than scared me.

            The reason that I reviewed the film here is that, regardless of my opinion, the film had a huge impact. It cost 60k to make but made a quarter of a billion dollars .That in itself is a convincing argument for any independent filmmaker to imitate its format. And imitate it they did. This was certainly not the first “found footage” film, not even the first found footage horror film but it popularized the technique and many other horror films have used it since, some more effectively, but none as successfully.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2

2000

Director- Joe Berlinger

Cast- Jeffrey Donovan, Erica Leerhsen, Stephen Barker Turner, Kim Director, Tristine Skyler, Lanny Flaherty

            This film proceeds from the premise that The Blair Witch Project was a hugely successful film but there is confusion as to whether or not it was a real documentary or a work of fiction. A new set of filmmakers sets out to investigate the phenomenon. The crew includes a much more colorful cast of characters including a former mental patient (Jeffery Donovan from the Sicario films), a Wiccan (Erica Leerhsen who went on to a successful career as a scream queen) and a psychic goth (the beautiful, buxom Kim Director).

            Rather than “found footage”, this is told in the traditional narrative style. Though successful, the film has largely been forgotten and panned by critics. Though the Blair Witch name contributed to its success, the film probably would have been better received if it had stood on its own.

Blair Witch

2016

Director- Adam Wingard

Cast- James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Valorie Curry, Corbin Reid, Brandon Scott, Wes Robinson

           

This film returns to the familiar themes of the original, being presented as found footage, and pretty much ignores the events of the second film. I imagine fans of the original were split into two camps; those that were glad to see the franchise return to its roots and those who didn’t see the point of trying to revisit old territory.

            In this installment, a brother of one of the original documentarians from the first film sets out years later to find evidence of his missing sister. Joining him is an eclectic group of young people (genre fans may recognize Valorie Curry and the looks-glamorous-even-in-the-woods Callie Hernandez) involved in shooting a new documentary (will these kids never learn?). The video camcorder and map of the first film have been replaced with a drone and GPS but the kids are still just as fool hardy.

            The film revisits all the territory of the original; the wooden stick figures hanging from trees, strange sounds at night, and the ever increasing tension as the cast turn on each other. Some new twists are added but overall it feels more like a reboot of the original than a new movie. Personally I thought it was scarier than the original.