The Blair Witch Project Review
by Kent Johnson (kjohnson AT slip DOT net)July 31st, 1999
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
USA, 1999
Written and Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez Reviewed by Kent Johnson
All the hype and its resultant backlash have destroyed the conditions for the kind of pleasant surprise that caused initial reviewers to rave about this film, but the idea is clever (the film is supposedly found footage taken by a missing film crew that was investigating the legend of the Blair Witch) and the execution is reasonably good.
I felt the atmosphere would have benefited from an inclusion of the town's history, which I hear is what the "The Mythology of the Blair Witch" program on the SCI-FI Channel is about, but simply showing a chronology at the beginning of the film (which you can see on-line at http://www.blairwitch.com/mythology.html ) would have intensified the mood. (You can simulate the effect by printing out the chronology and reading it while waiting in line or sitting inside the theatre so it's fresh in your mind when the film begins.)
I found the first half of the film better than I expected and my interest was sustained by the touches of humor, mundane details of the trip and the banter between the three principals. In the second half, since the story was limited by the movie's structure and the filmmakers' budget, it was obvious there was only so much that could happen and I started to get a little bored, a little claustrophobic (they're going around in circles in the same featureless patch of woods) and annoyed by the characters' constant bickering. The final shot (or second to final shot, if you will) *was* rather chilling and while the film didn't actually scare me, my nerves were a little tense when I left the theatre. The film may play back better in your head than it does on the screen as your imagination edits out the weak parts and intensifies the creepy ones.
A nice effort for a small film and Worth Seeing. (Just don't expect to see "the scariest film ever made.")
[Note 1: If you're trying to see the film at the Bridge in San Francisco, get your tickets days in advance. I had no problem getting tickets to the Thursday 5:30 show an hour in advance, but the 7:40 and 9:50 shows were already sold out for both that night *and* the next night . Later that night I happened to pass the theatre and there was a huge line for the midnight show -- on a weeknight! As with any popular movie in San Francisco, even after you have tickets, get there an hour in advance in order to get a good seat.)
[Note 2: If you sit too close to the screen, as I was tipped off by a friend, the hand-held nature of the photography may make you dizzy and nauseous. I was quite a ways back and still had to close my eyes frequently -- for reasons other than fright!]
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Kent Johnson
San Francisco
[email protected]
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