The Blair Witch Project Review
by Jon Popick (mailbot AT sick-boy DOT com)June 13th, 1999
PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com
Rarely does a film live up to its hype quite the way this one does. Blair Witch roared out of Sundance with buzz calling it the scariest movie ever made. I am prepared to not only back up that statement, but to add that it will likely be the scariest movie that will ever be made. At least in my lifetime. And I’m relatively young.
This isn’t your average teen slasher flick with a cast raided from the ranks of the WB. Blair Witch is an extremely low-budget experiment by first-timers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. Their premise is simple: Three student filmmakers venture into the woods near Burkitsville, Maryland to make a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. They are never seen again and what the viewer is watching is their film footage, which has just been recovered one year later.
Don’t let the trailers fool you – only the last five seconds of them are culled from the film. The rest has all been added to make the incident seem more dramatic and real, which it’s not. Well, it’s not really real. The film you’re watching is the actual film shot by these three kids. The directors sent them into the woods armed with a home video camera, a 16mm black-and-white camera and a DAT recorder, with only vague directions and no real idea of what might happen to them. So you see and hear everything that happens as it happens. It is more improvising then acting, and when these people are terrified, they are genuinely terrified.
The film begins slowly, but once it takes off, you’ll be on the ride of your life. Blair Witch opens with the kids interviewing local residents of the small town about their knowledge of the legend. Then they venture off into the forest with the intention of spending a couple of days and nights filming a few of the places where the Blair Witch was reported to have wreaked havoc on innocent townsfolk that dared venture into her woods. They see the graves of several children, and they find the rock from which several fishermen reportedly disappeared.
The first night is uneventful – Josh thinks he heard something, but the others (Heather and Michael) just laugh it off, thinking that he’s just trying to spook them. The next night, the sound is louder and heard by all three. By the third night, the group has lost their map, has no idea of their location are and literally run screaming from their tent as something appears to be attacking it from the outside. Then it gets really scary. Hell, “scary” isn’t a strong enough word. I don’t think a strong enough word exists. There are no scary monsters, splattered blood or musical crescendos to make you jump, but I still found my heart pounding out of my chest, my hands covering my mouth and my stomach nauseous. And I love scary movies.
The ending of the film is so disturbing that it can’t be described. It’s been several weeks since I’ve seen the film and I still can’t get Heather’s screaming out of my head. She doesn’t seem to be acting; it sounds like the actual screams of a person that thinks she’s going to die. It’s more than a little sick, but it’s more effective than anything you’ve ever seen or heard. When the credits rolled, I sat slumped on my seat with my mouth hanging open, thunderstruck from what I had just witnessed. It took me several seconds to realize that I wasn’t breathing. And I wanted to see it again. Immediately.
Do not miss this film for any reason. See it at night. Park in an isolated spot in the back of the theater and try not to soil yourself as you walk back to your car. This isn’t Scream, where you were laughing on the way home. This is serious, hardcore terror and is definitely not for the weak-hearted. (1:29 - R for language and psychological horror that you will never be able to escape. Ever)
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