Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 Review
by "Alex Ioshpe" (ioshpe AT online DOT no)November 6th, 2000
DIRECTED BY: Joe Berlinger
WRITTEN BY: Joe Berlingerand Andrew Birkin
CAST: Jeffrey Donovan, Erica Leerhsen, Tristine Skyler, Stephen Barker Turner, Kim Director
MPAA: Rated R for violence, language, sexuality and drug use.
Runtime: USA:90
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RATING: 7/10
"The Blair Witch Project" was perhaps one of a kind, a unique film
that played completely on its own merit, managing to scare even the
most experienced horror fans out of their senses. Its success made a
sequel inevitable, but this is not the sequel, I suspect, anyone much
wanted.
After the release of "The Blair Witch Project", tourists have
practically invaded the small town of Burkettsville, in order to get a
glimpse of the Blair Witch. Locals have turned this mass hysteria into
a great business opportunity, selling twig-sculptures, stones and dirt
like those in the movie, and the exasperated local sheriff patrols the
woods with a bullhorn, shouting, "Get out of these woods and go home!
There is no goddamned Blair Witch!". Jeff () is one of those people,
who has used the sudden popularity of the small town to his
advantage. After he got released from the mental institution, he
created a mobile business that attracts thousands of customers through
the Internet. As the movie starts he is leading one of these groups
into the woods, on the "Blair Witch Hunt". Among the five strangers is
Stephen and his girlfriend, the pregnant Tristen, who are writing a
book on the hysteria caused by the film called "The Blair Witch:
History or Hysteria?", and Kim, who dresses in black and has some
psychic powers. The last member of the crew is Erica, a young
beautiful witch-wannabe, who constantly quotes from the Wiccan lore,
saying "The first rule of Wicca is, do no harm, because whatever you
do will come back to you threefold." This strange group plunges into
the woods, where they begin to argue about their different approaches
to the experience. On the very first night that they decide to spend
under the stars amidst the ruins of Parr's abandoned house, strange
things start happening. When they wake up their equipment is gone and
only the tapes remain. After a while they discover strange markings on
their bodies. They are somehow lost in time, as it loops
uncontrollably back and forth. They are all haunted by hallucinations
and horrible nightmares and soon they can not see the difference
between dreams and reality. The only thing that they are sure of is
that they have brought something or someone with them from the woods..
Documentary director Joe Berlinger ("Paradice Lost") helms "Blair
Witch 2", leaving the creators of the first film (Dan Myrick and Ed
Sanches) in the background. The opening scenes--the documentary
showing the townspeople affected by the first film-- is a more
promising approach, because instead of trying to cover similar ground,
it goes outside the first film and makes its own stand. But soon the
movie gets confused and sidetracked by its own story, that is never
resolved and ends with a very anticlimaxic epilogue. In a way, this is
a typical Hollywood sequel. More money has been spent and more people
have worked on a project that was doomed to fail. The horror and
suspense of the original simply could not be repeated. Of course in
these situations, quantity is more important than quality and profit
is more important than the artistical values. From its opening scenes
when the camera gracefully panes over the bloody-red forest, with
Carter Burwell's ("Being John Malkovich" and "Fargo") musical score in
the background, you realize that with the exception of its title, this
film has absolutely nothing to do with "The Blair Witch
Project". "Blair Witch.." was filmed by handheld videocameras and
nfeatured acting that was mostly based on improvisation. In the sequel
the technical aspect of the film is close to perfection, creating a
completely different atmosphere. With its graceful cinematography,
production design and flashy editing, the film has a very polished
look, which is impossible to associate with the first installment. And
though Berlinger directs his film with an energy and pace that makes
the adrenaline rush through the body a couple of times, he has
obviously misunderstood the nature of his predecessor. The key is
simplicity. "Blair Witch Project" had a story which was incredibly
simple. That allowed the audience to fill the gaps with our own
imagination. The film was practically an empty screen, on which we
projected our most frightening nightmares. The effect was incredibly
powerful, lasting and entir e everyone, but in a different way. "Book
of Shadows" feels incredibly controlled and restrict. Here, very
little is left to our imagination and the story is so complex and
"clever" that the screenwriters are the first to get lost in it. There
is is no book of shadows and no conclusion that we can be satisfied
with. This is simply a less artistic film that doesn't have the talent
and originality of its predecessor. It resorts to fancy cinematography
and special effects to create the right effect and doesn't always
succeed. But most importantly: it stands on its own ground and has
almost no connection with the first movie, which doesn't allow it to
destroy the original. In the end, I can't call it a bad effort. It's
less artistic, not so scary and less original, but certainly not
bad. It's simply different. In fact, if you haven't seen "The Blair
Witch Project", you might like this film for what it is -- a cross
between "The Blair Witch Project" and the "Scream"-films. The only
element that remains constant and similar between the two films is the
solid acting (Jeffrey Donovan and Tristine Skyler should be mentioned)
and incredible sense of surrealism. But it's a common knowledge and
experience that, with a few exceptions, every movie sequel is worse
than the original and some are even not worth making. To me the story
of "The Blair Witch Project" seemed completed, but there are obviously
no limits to commercial success that "The Book of Shadows" is
certainly assured. And it's already time to look forward to "Blair
Witch 3".
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