The Blair Witch Project... Is there any avid horror fan who does not know this movie? Well, sure there is a few, but there are more nodding ones who claim this  piece is really a true horror movie. What can cause such success in the film industry? If the new generation checks this today, it is almost for sure that the expectation would differ from the experience of the generation who had seen it on the silver screen back in the day. They may find it dated or they simply just got used to this type of movies – we all can admit that this is rightful, since today we are living in a (movie) world which brings found footage films all too frequently. Similar movies are released every year, and in these circumstances The Blair Witch Project cannot give more than ,for instance, Paranormal Activity. But what caused the hype in the first place? If we want to fully understand all aspects, we must sit back to the classroom for another history lesson.

Is there any avid horror fan who does not know this movie? Well, sure there is a few, but there are more nodding ones who claim this  piece is really a true horror movie.

What can cause such success in the film industry? If the new generation checks this today, it is almost for sure that the expectation would differ from the experience of the generation who had seen it on the silver screen back in the day. They may find it dated or they simply just got used to this type of movies – we all can admit that this is rightful, since today we are living in a (movie) world which brings found footage films all too frequently. Similar movies are released every year, and in these circumstances The Blair Witch Project cannot give more than ,for instance, Paranormal Activity. But what caused the hype in the first place? If we want to fully understand all aspects, we must sit back to the classroom for another history lesson.

It’s 1999, and most of the horror movies take advantage of their predecessors. Lots of sequels appear: Candyman 2, Children of the Corn 6, From Dusk Till Dawn 2. Their reviews were mixed and not so warm, and they ARE prequels and sequels, which shows lack of creativity.

Of course, we can find some refreshing moments with Stigmata and Sleepy Hollow, but overall no risk is taken, there’s no great revolution… And then comes The Blair Witch Project, and makes an impression which has its effect on movies for decades.

But what’s the movie about? Three young friends are running in the darkness screaming. This sums up the storyline – at least to those who got used to today’s horror movies. But let’s not forget the year. In 1999 the found footage genre wasn’t common at all.

Put ourselves in the 90’s people’s shoes: we are not used to films shot with one hand-held camera, looking like a realistic home-movie . And that is the point.

When it starts it has no credit roll and there is no end credits either. And it was shot with a couple of average cameras. And we got the information about the circumstances of the creation of the footage: „ In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.”

That’s it. And since the mockumentary as a style hardly existed, what could the cinemagoer think? Most likely that these guys are truly lost in the wild, and they really can hear the weird noises, which indicated that the viewers felt that it could happen to them as well.

But let’s say a few words about the atmosphere! If I say that its has no failure in it, then it suggests that the creators were on point during the whole process. Their goal was to grip the audience and let them believe that all they see is real. It is playing with our nerves more and more, but never goes over the thin red line –  there isn’t a moment when the realism could be questioned.

If they were using witches, zombies, vampires or any of the well known horror cliches, all the well built and precisely created concept and feeling would be lost. No one would have believed anything. The creators were aiming to have a feeling which felt real. This is why we see basicly nothing, this is why we have the conversation of the crew for half of an hour. Because „it happened like this”. The footage was found, nothing were touched or edited. And if someone is in doubt that this is very thin and not so much, then I’m pretty sure that this person knows nothing about the cult following of this piece.

Back on the storyline: there are three university students (nothing too revolutionary yet…), one girl, two guys, who are working on a documentary about the urban legend of the witch of Blair (now Burkitsville) and its forest. At first we see they are filming  the men on the street, asking them about the legend. Here we can see the now cult scene: a little baby tries to shut the mother’s mouth when she is talking about the witch – a little hint with a big impact on the forthcoming events!

A good half hour later the crew starts the journey in the wild forest – I’m not spoiling anything if I say that they won’t come out later on (as we all know this from the very beginning).

As I mentioned, we basicly aren’t shown too much – only darkness. There is no blood, no gore, no jump scares and no strange silhouettes. We only get impressions that these guys are not alone: statues made of stones in front of the tent, weird wooden sticks and someone was messing with their clothes too! And scary little noises every night…

As it can be expected, no one would return alive at the end…but it is just a wild guess, since we get no confirmation about the crew members’ lives. It is pretty cynical to finish a movie like this: „You really wanna know what is going on? You really wanna? Of course you won’t!”. And admit it: we can’t have hard feelings when a movie treats us like it’s treating Heather, Michael and Joshua.

This ending add another layer to the well built propaganda around the release date when the big movie databases and the news were fake as well, concerning the missing persons. There are people around who still think that for example Heather got lost – it didn’t matter she appeared in other movies since that.

We all can agree that it has started the avalanche, which gives no sign of slowing down – it gets bigger and bigger just like a rolling snowball. Since the original previews and the premiere, it has got a cult status and has its own cult following as well. It had influence on such iconic movies in this genre as [REC] and Paranormal Activity.

Some of you won’t like it, some of you won’t understand why it was great, why it is still great today, but I hope that with my review I could answer some of the questions, and if you haven’t seen it yet, please check it, give it a chance.The Blair Witch Project... Is there any avid horror fan who does not know this movie? Well, sure there is a few, but there are more nodding ones who claim this  piece is really a true horror movie.What can cause such success in the film industry? If the new generation checks this today, it is almost for sure that the expectation would differ from the experience of the generation who had seen it on the silver screen back in the day. They may find it dated or they simply just got used to this type of movies – we all can admit that this is rightful, since today we are living in a (movie) world which brings found footage films all too frequently. Similar movies are released every year, and in these circumstances The Blair Witch Project cannot give more than ,for instance, Paranormal Activity. But what caused the hype in the first place? If we want to fully understand all aspects, we must sit back to the classroom for another history lesson.

It’s 1999, and most of the horror movies take advantage of their predecessors. Lots of sequels appear: Candyman 2, Children of the Corn 6, From Dusk Till Dawn 2. Their reviews were mixed and not so warm, and they ARE prequels and sequels, which shows lack of creativity. Of course, we can find some refreshing moments with Stigmata and Sleepy Hollow, but overall no risk is taken, there’s no great revolution… And then comes The Blair Witch Project, and makes an impression which has its effect on movies for decades. But what’s the movie about?

Three young friends are running in the darkness screaming. This sums up the storyline – at least to those who got used to today’s horror movies. But let’s not forget the year. In 1999 the found footage genre wasn’t common at all.Put ourselves in the 90’s people’s shoes: we are not used to films shot with one hand-held camera, looking like a realistic home-movie . And that is the point.When it starts it has no credit roll and there is no end credits either. And it was shot with a couple of average cameras. And we got the information about the circumstances of the creation of the footage: „ In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.”That’s it. And since the mockumentary as a style hardly existed, what could the cinemagoer think? Most likely that these guys are truly lost in the wild, and they really can hear the weird noises, which indicated that the viewers felt that it could happen to them as well.

But let’s say a few words about the atmosphere! If I say that its has no failure in it, then it suggests that the creators were on point during the whole process. Their goal was to grip the audience and let them believe that all they see is real. It is playing with our nerves more and more, but never goes over the thin red line –  there isn’t a moment when the realism could be questioned. If they were using witches, zombies, vampires or any of the well known horror cliches, all the well built and precisely created concept and feeling would be lost. No one would have believed anything. The creators were aiming to have a feeling which felt real. This is why we see basicly nothing, this is why we have the conversation of the crew for half of an hour. Because „it happened like this”. The footage was found, nothing were touched or edited. And if someone is in doubt that this is very thin and not so much, then I’m pretty sure that this person knows nothing about the cult following of this piece.

Back on the storyline: there are three university students (nothing too revolutionary yet…), one girl, two guys, who are working on a documentary about the urban legend of the witch of Blair (now Burkitsville) and its forest. At first we see they are filming  the men on the street, asking them about the legend. Here we can see the now cult scene: a little baby tries to shut the mother’s mouth when she is talking about the witch – a little hint with a big impact on the forthcoming events!A good half hour later the crew starts the journey in the wild forest – I’m not spoiling anything if I say that they won’t come out later on (as we all know this from the very beginning).

As I mentioned, we basicly aren’t shown too much – only darkness. There is no blood, no gore, no jump scares and no strange silhouettes. We only get impressions that these guys are not alone: statues made of stones in front of the tent, weird wooden sticks and someone was messing with their clothes too! And scary little noises every night…As it can be expected, no one would return alive at the end…but it is just a wild guess, since we get no confirmation about the crew members’ lives. It is pretty cynical to finish a movie like this: „You really wanna know what is going on? You really wanna? Of course you won’t!”. And admit it: we can’t have hard feelings when a movie treats us like it’s treating Heather, Michael and Joshua.This ending add another layer to the well built propaganda around the release date when the big movie databases and the news were fake as well, concerning the missing persons. There are people around who still think that for example Heather got lost – it didn’t matter she appeared in other movies since that.We all can agree that it has started the avalanche, which gives no sign of slowing down – it gets bigger and bigger just like a rolling snowball. Since the original previews and the premiere, it has got a cult status and has its own cult following as well. It had influence on such iconic movies in this genre as [REC] and Paranormal Activity.

Some of you won’t like it, some of you won’t understand why it was great, why it is still great today, but I hope that with my review I could answer some of the questions, and if you haven’t seen it yet, please check it, give it a chance.

9/10

IMDb l mafab