THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
There is always a crowd of people that is willing to prove that urban legends and myths are real, but the last thing they would expect is whether or not they are risking their lives to do such.
PLOT
The Blair Witch Project is shown in the style of found footage. It takes place in 1994 Maryland and follows a trio of young adults set out to produce a documentary of the fabeled Blair Witch: Heather (Heather Donahue), Josh (Joshua Leonard) and Mike (Michael C Williams). While locals have heard of the name, they compare it to a hermit that kidnapped and killed children in pairs during the 1940s. When they enter the woods of North Burkitsville, they encounter a duo of fishermen that warn them that the woods may be haunted. They even share a story where back in 1888, a young woman was missing in the woods and when she returned, she claimed to have seen a woman floating from above. Once the group spends their first night, they start hearing twigs snapping. When they try to leave by morning, they're unable to find their car before it goes dark again. After another night of hearing snapping twigs, they see three different cairns the day after. When Heather soon realizes her map to be missing, Mike admits to have kicked it into a creek out of frustration, which makes them officially lost. With only a compass, they head south, which leads to them finding countless stick figures suspended from trees. On another night, they also hear the voices of laughing children and when an unknown force shakes their tent, they choose to hide in the woods until dawn. When they return to the tent by the next morning, their possessions are scattered around and covered in slime. After the group finds themselves in a circle, Josh goes missing overnight. Although they hear his screams the next night, he's unable to be found. As Mike and Heather search for him, the latter finds a bundle of sticks that carry things that assumedly belong to Josh: a fabric of his shirt, a thread of hair, a finger, a blood soaked tooth and a piece of a tongue. Despite being distraught upon discovery, she chooses not to tell Mike. In what appears to be their last night, Heather records an apology all of their parents to what has happened to them. Shortly after this, she and Mike hear Josh screaming again and they trace it down an abandoned house covered with demonic symbols and blood hand prints. The film/provided footage ends with the two being attacked by an unseen force.
THOUGHTS
When my father recommended this movie to me, I was caught off guard because he doesn't regularly watch horror movies like I do. But knowing that he saw it proved to me that it was worth the time. So when I made the time to see it in 2017, I was just as shook as the film's camera when it came to realizing how scary it got as the story progressed. Throughout, the Writer/Director duo of Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez provide something that was straight up freaky and disturbing. Due to it being shot in found footage, you're feeling the same isolation and anxiety the characters are going through. And because of that, you get this other feeling where witch is everywhere, which it is. In a way, the whole woods is the witch because more than one figure appears mysteriously. Due to how you don't see the actual witch, whether or not you want to, that only raises the suspension. Seeing the stick figures was a combination of ongoing fear yet fascination because while the characters are scared enough as it is, you're awestruck of how it looks. Because you don't see the actual threat, your imagination ensues whenever the screen goes to black and only hear all the screams. When I heard the laughter of what is indeed the ghosts of deceased children, I wasn't sure if I was gonna make to the end until I did. Because the actors are responsible for the film equipment and they choose to interview strangers, the authenticity behind that makes the film feel all the more real, when it in fact is not. Seeing every second of them interacting without the actual filmmakers and see them having legit reactions to what they find, made it even more naturalistic. When you see them become actually scared of the experience, you then create the sympathetic feeling where you just want to help them all, no matter how imperfect they are. That exact feeling kicks in whenever it came to Heather because she was the most overconfident and found out the hard way that some things are not worth pursuing. When she gives her apology monologue, it's so raw that you just wanna hug her. There are easily mixed emotions when it came to Mike & Josh because they choose to get aggressive as their experience worsens, which is only a result of how afraid they are. I was in a massive relief to discover that this film was not based on actual events, because a part of me wanted me to find them so bad. Even though I enjoyed this movie for what it is, I can still admit that it still had its own set issues that are noticeable when re watching. Like for instance, I can admit that it is badass for the group to steal a film camera for the documentary, but how did they not get arrested before heading into the woods? That item is as valuable as a house or a sports car. It is neat to see that some civilians have some kind of common knowledge like the crew, but how did the crew not about the Discovery Channel documentary? It blows my mind that Heather had no idea about it during the interview. Had she seen it, she probably would've been more alert that the witch was near. The tension starts kicking in once Josh admits to hearing strange noises, but why didn't he record that? That is way more important than the B roll footage of grocery shopping. I don't care how stoned out he was, he should've shot the noise and had he done that, they would be on alert. What bothered me a lot when it came to Mark admitting he lost the map is that he shouldn't have. Even if he is being careless, the last thing he needs while trying to escape the woods is his friends going off on him as they need to be on the same page in their crisis. I was getting chills when they get chased away by the witch, but how did neither of them turn around to get one clear shot of it? Yes they're running for their lives, but this urban legend is the reason they're out there, so they should've taken advantage despite the fear running down their veins. And why didn't the witch kill Josh when he kicked the rocks? Obviously she doesn't want to be seen, but if she really wanted them off her turf, killing him would've made the message more clear than it already is. I then wonder why doesn't Heather tell Mike about the tooth she found? Yes she is scared but if she is willing to instantly admit the map was missing, it makes sense for her to share that too. I'm even more distraught on the fact that they didn't have any flashlights and just stuck with the lights that came with the cameras. Even if it's having two things at once, they should've been prepared with spare flashlights and had they done that, that would've been another attempt to get a good look at the witch. Ignore all of this, and you're still in for a ride. In short, The Blair Witch Project remains to be one of the scariest movies ever made for putting you in the hot seat of something so erratic you'll never forget. If horror is your taste, then it would surprise me that you haven't seen this yet.
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