Last night I decided to watch The Blair Witch Project during the storm, hoping it would add an element of fear. Unfortunately, both the storm and the movie fell short of my expectations. While the thunderstorm turned into light rain, I quickly lost interest in The Blair Witch Project. I have heard many times that the film is hard to watch because of the hand held camera but that was far from my biggest problem with the movie. I actually enjoyed the beginning when they were interviewing people from town about the stories they had heard regarding the witch in the woods. As soon as they got to the woods, it got kind of boring actually. It was so dark throughout most of the movie that I couldn’t see what was happening and all I could hear was screaming. After that, I know one of the characters went missing but other than that, I was extremely confused. They found a piece of his shirt tied to stick at one point but was that supposed to mean he died? If so, I missed that completely.
At the end, they find an abandoned house (I think it was a house…), the screaming continues and eventually the camera hits the ground and it ends. I re-watched the last 10 minutes three times before turning it off. I was so confused I decided to search for other reviews of the film online hoping that I had missed something. I found review after review claiming that The Blair Witch Project is one of the best horror films of all time but nothing that convinced me to change my opinion.
When I was about to give up I FINALLY found a review titled “15 years beyond the hype and hatred of The Blair Witch Project” by Mike D’Angelo on The Dissolve. D’Angelo explains that the film was first shown at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Through word of mouth, its popularity skyrocketed and made close to $350 million. He also points out that America hated the film (I’m not alone!) Apparently, people felt that they had been tricked and The Blair Witch Project fell very short of their expectations. This caused anger, confusion and annoyance among viewers.
What D’Angelo also points out is that although the film may not be the best horror film, it does show how friends become desperate and turn on each other as they are tormented by the idea of a witch hunting them. If you watch the film and keep in mind that they have been missing for 5 years, it might be more likely to spook you whereas I was waiting for something to pop out of the woods the entire film. Although at times the screaming and arguing was annoying, I did like the acting. Even if I could physically see why they were scared, I believed that they were. The seemed terrified, vulnerable and desperate which is probably exactly how I would feel trapped in the woods with a witch on the loose. Therefore, after giving it some thought and doing a little research I give The Blair Witch Project a 7 out of 10. Not exactly my favorite, but it is original and I do like the story behind it.
sldonohue 