The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Runtime: 81 minutes

Directed by: Daniel Myrick/Eduardo Sanchez

Starring: Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams

From: Haxan Films

Yes, it was about time I saw this movie again so I could review it online. I talk all about this infamous polarizing movie below via my Letterboxd review:

Before I get into the review proper, I have to note the obvious that when this movie first came out the summer of '99, due to my name I did hear comments about the movie and me; there were mild things from people I knew, but as I was never a popular kid in high school, I had haters and I heard “brilliant” comments along the lines of “The Blair Witch is your mom!” I do wish the movie would have had a title character with a different name...

This is a movie I've seen more than once before, but as typical with me, the last viewing was a long time ago. You guessed it, it was a messageboard discussion that inspired me to finally give it a revisit. It's a rare movie that I thought differently about each time I saw it; I do understand those that never cared for it. After all, when I saw it on the big screen w/ a sold out crowd back in 1999, most of them did not seem too happy once it ended. I don't know if it was the whole “motion sickness” thing either; I just know that it happened to a few people I know who watched it theatrically. I can't be helped but colored by how the movie scene is now compared to then, where found footage has long been a thing people are tired of and at least to me, this movie looks great when you compare it to most entries in that category.

I am sure everyone knows the plot of how three young inexperienced filmmakers investigate a local Maryland legend known as the Blair Witch and things quickly grow wrong. The two young men and a woman seem like real life characters and the filmmakers were rough on them so that there could be authenticity, and putting them through hell worked. You do feel bad for them, even if they can act stupid or like A-holes to each other. I have heard people complain that they were laughably not prepared for their trek... to me that was the point, that they were foolhardy and should have learned to read the maps they were using beforehand, or have a map that includes the location where they left their vehicle.

As is, everyone can relate to being terrified of being lost in the woods and experiencing weird things or hearing things you can't explain. And the final few minutes are greatly effective. The setting of 1994 is appropriate for such a tale, a world without GPS that everyone could use, and not even cell phones were common in those days. As their plight gets worse and worse, you feel it due to the performances, a sense of helplessness being more and more dominant.

What a simpler time 1999 was; I say that as Artisan went all out to try and make people think this was legit (even to the point of making a great documentary for cable TV that purported the events of this picture to be true) and there were a number of people who were initially fooled. I am glad I gave this another viewing, as now I finally fully appreciate how through a simple premise and all extraneous BS except the remote woods and that trio, through spooky happenings seen in the daytime and scary sounds at night, created something truly unsettling.