5:52 "From a lot of people, one of the scariest things in the world is the idea of just one day you're walking in the woods and you disappear." That legitimately gave me chills.
Me too. I spend a lot of time in the woods and it's without a doubt scary sometimes. I like to scare myself, but one time I was running in some woods near my house during a rainstorm and I came across a scary looking guy who was literally digging in the woods during the storm. It was right out of some Lovecraft book. He looked at me dead-on and I just sprinted away. When I went back to that spot I found some rope that could have been ligatures, but I wasn't able to find the hole he dug.
This movie gets SUCH a bad rap, pretty unfairly in my opinion. Yes, there have been a ton of found footage flicks released in its wake, some pretty dreadful. But, when this type of film works, it can be EXTREMELY effective.
It seems like most of the hate is from younger generations. Most Gen Xers and older seemed to get this film and at least gave it its due for doing something pretty effective with such a low budget.
I alway thought that "The Witch" in this movie must not be intended in the literal sense. A character tells us that she once saw this very scary figure and the idea remained in the local folklore. But I always intended the supernatural element of the movie as an area of deep woods were "something" is very, very wrong. Something beyond our understanding and our inadequate ways to describe it - and this is much more scary. For some reason, the thing that hit me the most in this movie was how the trees were (on B/W footage) stark dark against the clear sky during the day, but white against the dark during the night - like if during the night, while everybody was supposed to be sleeping, they revealed a hidden aspect of themselves. The two directors, BTW, made up all the lore surrounding the Witch and her history. Back in the day I thought that they had based the movie on some already existing superstitions, but they created everything from scratch - a wonderful creative feat.
Listening around the 6 minute mark makes me wonder whether you've seen Picnic at Hanging Rock, feels like you'd get a lot out of it (I don't really like the concept of 'favourites' but I'll say this one hit me quite unlike anything else had). Love where you took this review, fitting for something like this that's right on the cusp of postmodernity
I have mentioned Peter Weir pretty consistently in the comments on this TH-cam channel. From the responses seen..I think he is not considered a top tier filmmaker which of course he is...Picnic is a masterwork.
Same here I'm currently living right in Black Hills Regional Park but used to live very nearby. The woods and trail behind my house are so eerie and creepy at night. Have loved this movie since it first came out:)
@@Shah-of-the-Shinebox I haven’t watched it in a long time so idk if it holds up, but like I said, I was a kid. 5th grade I believe. The sequels to the remake were for sure jokes though
Don't forget that many of us thought that this movie was real back then. That was how it was marketed, how it was talked about and what everyone thought. It was extremely disturbing in a way that probably can't be replicated by another movie. It didn't last very long, it was eventually widely know that it was just a movie, but i still hold my first viewing of this movie as one of my strongest horror related experiences.
to think ppl were convinced it was real footage and its creators were (very deftly and very presciently) able to cultivate all this intrigue and mystery surrounding it by using media that was just developed enough but also just *not* developed enough to allow it. Something similar being pulled today is unthinkable. Those were more innocent, less savvy times
I’ve always said BWP had one of the greatest promotions ever. The theater I saw it in opening night was in MD less than an hour from Burrkitsville. Anyways, they had missing posters of the characters in the film plastered all over the pillars and everything. I live in Pa but not too far from MD. Christ, you even had people who thought that movie was real even though the actors appeared on various talk shows. I remember reading about BWP in Fangoria a good while before it’s release so I knew what I was getting into. Easily one of my favorite theater experiences.
Agree with every word, often found myself defending it to people who nothing but disdain for it and I typically used the same arguments, though most likely not as well phrased. I do have one difference of opinion, to me Heather's obsession to look at the world indirectly through the lens of a camera is to me not motivated by escapism, but a means of protection. She can't deal with the reality of what is happening, so she holds on to this artificially constructed barrier between the reality she can't face, because it scares her senseless, and herself. And of course the camera cannot, in the end, protect her from reality, it's an illusion. Art can only imitate life, but not substitute it. Now you made me want to see the movie today ...
REC and Lake Mungo are both terrifying, some of the best that found footage has to offer. There's also one called The Borderlands which is never talked about. It has one of the best endings to a horror film that I've ever seen.
One of the most wonderful things about REC is how far the camera is away from the action. It would be more easy if we were either not anywhere near it at all (most ideal), and barring that, and strangely enough, more comforting if we were right up on the action. Being just far enough away but not close enough to me made the tension that much worse. It felt like you were frozen in fear. You got away but you'll never get fully away.
I absolutely love your interpretation here, you perfectly explain why this film is such a fantastic drama. So many horror fans accuse it of not being scary while completely ignoring the fact that most of the film is meant to be a character study
I am curious, Joseph -- did you think that she adopted an accent for that scene? It felt like when you read a report in front of the class in school, you change your tone to sound more serious and scholarly, like trying to sound like what you think and adult teacher would sound like, even though they don't sound like that...
Nice to see someone else appreciating "Noroi" - even if technically is not all "found footage" (they recreated fake TV shows for it, for example). Over the years I liked only a few FF movies. "Lake Mungo" (2007) was great, and "Grave Encounters" can be intended as the definitive satire on the genre (beside showing how uncreative the "Paranormal Activity" movies actually are). On the sub-genre of "computer found footage" I really liked "Unfriended" when no one gave it two cents (a movie shot in a single 1h 30m take BTW).
A few thoughts: I saw this in the Summer of '99 and it was one of those movies that worked really well in a theater full of people. It was dead quiet -- everyone was transfixed, until the end, at which point nearly everyone yelled out "Aieeee!" One of my favorite parts of this was the presentation of the rural setting. I am curious what other people, from non-East-Coast-Rural-Areas felt while watching the scenery presented here. It made me feel comfortable, but did the woods immediately terrify people from less-rural areas, not just the night scenes? Heather was brilliant in this movie, we all knew a Heather in school, very earnest kids who are smart but not yet world-wise and who had a very much unearned sense of self-importance. One of the best scenes is where she is narrating a scene and she adopts a ridiculous accent. I really liked Josh (you know, "JOSH? JOSSSSSSSSSH??? JOH OH OH OH SHHHH!!!") and I never saw a representation of that kind of person in a movie before this. I was a bit younger than the cast, and Josh felt like that cool older kid that was not seen as successful by adults but who you felt was even tempered and funny and cool, someone that you wanted to be like when you got to that age. Thank you for covering this movie, and I am curious how you felt about the direct sequel. I hated it, but I am wondering if there's an argument for it being a fun campy horror movie once you divorce it from the original.
@@Yasmine-mm1yc I had that same thing when a kid at school told me about this "really weird scary movie I saw on HBO where a guy was hiding in a bedroom and he was all bloody and this girl would bring people to the bedroom him to eat" -- I later found out he was talking about Hellraiser. But that description scared the hell out of me haha.
I saw it when I 20. I met some friends after work and caught a late showing with a theater full of people. It was quite a experience. I was not expecting to see what I was watching. I’m remember being shook afterwards. And everyone trying to figure out what we just watched.
I'm normally not a fan of film theories, and I know that's not something you discuss on your channel, but I do like the theory that Josh and Mike plotted to kill Heather in the woods and stage it as the Blair Witch. I don't know if that theory has been debunked or not, but it definitely adds a much more sinister tone when rewatching that is much more unsettling than the idea of a witch or paranormal activity.
The theory falls apart considering the events in the film. The crying children, the figures Heather was screaming about seeing when fleeing from the tent, the screaming baby, the bloody teeth and tongue wrapped in the cloth etc.
@@dyntromp4921 I think the theory is that Josh and Mike planted all of those items while Heather was asleep, or before they even got there. The crying children could have been a recording with speakers hidden in the woods.
@@yashnigam6 too many things happened while all three of them where together. And Josh and Mike planting everything is too far fetched. It's actually one of the most disliked theories in the fandom.
While Blair Witch was by no-means the first movie to do Found Footage as a concept, it pulled it off the best. A movie made with no money, no real acting talent and not particularly talented directors. I love the gritty and raw feeling, the flash in the pan making rather than the work or some auteur director. They had this great concept and it came together in the editing room. There’s something fascinating about movies like this, they can’t be replicated ; most film makers with a movie like this never go-on to do anything special again. But they had this one incredible idea that will live on forever… I get it’s not for everyone but the movie just feels so damn real. It really did invent an entire genre because the movies that came before (Alien Abduction, Ghost Watch, Cannibal) don’t have the same tropes this movie put into place. It’s the Halloween versus the Psycho or the slasher genre. Psycho came first, but is own thing entirely. Blair Witch (and Paranormal Activity) is what spawned all of the many clones of the genre.
The latter half of the 90's was rough for American horror. A lot of overly polished Scream rip-offs. This movie really shook things up. It was far from polished. It feels authentic. The performaces aren't "Hollywood" performances and the cast isn't made up of a bunch of WB regulars. It empasises atmosphere over post modernism. A nice change of pace for the time. It's also a far scarier film than most, and I say this a fan of the genre who has seen just about everything.
I personally didn’t find it that scary so I was disappointed by it. But it was cool in concept and it was very well made for what it was. And yeah Scream wasn’t very good lol
God I don't know how I missed this review/analysis. I came here from a recent video in which you mentioned this. Yours is the best description of Heather's character I've ever seen. It made me realize that Heather is akin to Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos in a way, but not nearly as sociopathic. By the end I really did feel badly for Heather because she obviously did care about her companions and felt horribly for getting them lost. I still love this film and go back to it every few years. I saw it in the theater and it didn't really touch me because I was roughly the same age they were at the time and didn't see my own narcissism in the characters yet. In fact I don't remember noticing Heather much at all, besides the interrupting/leading the witnesses part. : )
*"I'm scared to close my eyes, I'm afraid to open them"* --pretty much me Monday mornings. 😵🥴😂 The Blair Witch project is my all-time favorite found footage film. Also As above, so below is pretty underrated. In my opinion 💀🙂
Thanks Maggie. I think we are far enough away from the hubbub to appreciate this in a new way. (Except for a couple of random downvoters who are still living in that superior "I knew it was just a movie" mode.)
I loved it when it came out and I think it still holds up now. The 1000s of found footage films have tarnished its impact a bit but it was really special at the time. I could totally see it being an A24 movie today.
I saw it when I was 9 or 10, we had woods behind our house that we would hang out in all day until the sun started to go down, and this movie was terrifying….. it felt so real watching it. I could smell the woods and feel the leaves and the cold. I showed it to some of my college friends years later and it was like nothing to them. I guess you had to see it within a certain context.
I think I'll come back to this Blair Witch video every Halloween from now until my old age.. It's perfect. I'm watching the movie again right now, and I wanted to get in the proper mood.
Always look forward to your videos and hearing your thoughts... love your depth and insight! 🎞❣ Also, your jacket is absolutely wonderful 🖤 gives me David Lynch vibes!
I think your point about us being "closer to the concept of death than we think" was particularly apropos for the pandemic. I couldn't help but think people freaked out so much with the masks and lockdowns because people really don't think they are going to die anymore, or at least they only think about it in a very abstract way, just as you said. I think our risk-assessment of the pandemic was twisted by arrogance and new scientism.
Good review. This is a love-it-or-hate-it movie (and a lot of the people who hate it seem to have been unable to handle the unsteady-cam aspect), but I'm firmly in the love-it camp. It played perfectly on building dread and not showing you much, making your imagination fill in the blanks. And it was fearless about not having to have likeable characters, instead going with realistic characters. Heather is annoying... but also sympathetic. Josh is more likeable... but crumbles first and becomes annoying because he could help more but doesn't. It's well done, and knowing that it was pretty much all ad-libbed, it's amazing that it worked out so well.
The best thing about The Blair Witch Project is that when the human race is wiped off the face of the Earth and all that's left is our film archives an alien race will discover Blair Witch and think it's 100% real.
Funny detail: one of the characters dropped to the ground with exhaustion from hiking…. He had the 16mm camera in his backpack and wrecked it. They had to switch to DV video from that point.
I am old enough to actually have seen this in Theaters opening weekend where my friend and I went to buy tickets and we had to buy them for the following night last show because they where SOLD OUT, very strange for a little film to do that back then
You mention how TBWP is scary even though it doesn't show us what's scaring us. I think I read or heard somewhere that we WERE supposed to see the witch. It's in the scene where they're running through the woods and Heather is screaming, "Oh, my God, what the fuck is that???" Apparently the camera was supposed to quickly pan up the the left, giving us our only glimpse of the witch.., but whoever was shooting it didn't pan up. Missed opportunity. Somehow not seeing the witch almost makes it even scarier. The power of imagination.
I just watched your Shutter Island review from 11 years ago. It would be interesting to see you revisit this and some other movies you reviewed a while ago to see how your opinion has changed and how some of these movies aged. Just a thought. 🙂
I remember seeing this in early release back in 1999. Loved it then and love it now. I met the cast years ago and a horror con (met The Shining twins too). All were absolutely awesome and incredibly humble.
I still remember seeing this movie when it came out in 1999. I wished the actors did not do tv appearances when the movie was out. It would have gave the impression the movie was real.
i saw blair witch in the theatre without knowing anything about it. at one point i realized i was clenching the arms of my seat so hard my knuckles were turning white
always got the impression that online film reviewers who like TBWP always treat it like a guilty pleasure...so refreshing to hear someone who loves the film as much as I do and articulate it. This film is as haunting and impactful as the first time I saw it.
Personally I LOVE Blair Witch Project. It's a movie I go back to every year at least 1 time, and although it DOES get a bad wrap i think it's an innovative movie in it's own right. It's realistic, scary (specially the last 15 min when they are in the house) and it brought forth a new genre of horror, "found footage". Although this also spawned many crappy sequels and many shitty horror movies in the same style, it still holds up as one of the scariest movies ever made.
I was 29 when this movie came out but I didn't see it until I rented it on DVD in Oct of 99 (perfect timing). I dug it on first view but subsequent views weren't as effective. Years later tho, I watched it again and it mostly held up. I still dig it overall but the incessant yelling at eachother is a lil grating. Because of that, I'd give it a 7 of 10 (now) 24yrs later. It's a mood and a vibe more than anything else. Classic tho, and overall very good!. PS, yeah, I never thought it was "real" (did anyone?, really?? Lol), but the hype was definitely fun and elevated it a ton. Happy Halloween! 🎃
Thanks for discussing. I remember all the hype around the film when it was released. I wanted to see it and didn't get the chance. The other day, I caught part of it (near the end) on FXX. I hope to finally watch it within the next few weeks. Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular (and movie buff)
Even now I can recall polarized reactions from the audience. There was some groaning, as if we had just seen a public service film "How to have a Dysfunctional Hike," while I saw one young man console a woman "We're never going anywhere near Maryland." I find the movie hard to gauge without adding the TV special "The Curse of the Blair Witch," which people got to see ahead of the movie and adds to the build-up of intriguing mythology behind the movie. I always thought the movie might have made better sense as simply "The Blair Witch Cult Project," with the activity blamed on active cultists of the witch.
That is true, William. I described my theater experience as a hushed crowd that finally yelled out at the end. That said, my theater mate hated this movie -- he was quiet because he was annoyed with the characters and was bored with the plot! And yes, the lead up to this was great fun. There was also the fake website that purported to make this out to be a real story.
The movie used this new media called a website. My office co-workers thought it was real footage. Brilliant use of new technology. That will probably never happen again.
I remember when this movie came out. I was 8 years old and people talked about how freaky it was. I saw it for the first time 6 years ago and I was definately impressed, definately an October staple.
A straight banger. Every time I see this it feels like the first time. What a situation to be in. For me the Blair Witch and Matrix always felt like a cap on the end of a certain period of movies. Timeless stuff has came out since the 2000’s but it’s not as special
One of the best horror movies ever, such isolating atmosphere and otherworldy feeling. Btw, i keep repeating myself but please make a review of eXistenZ (1999) by David Cronenberg, very curious what you whave to say about. Being a movie about Reality, Dreams, subconscious and whatnot.
I think the original Halloween had the best profit margins for a low budget film...until Blair Witch blew that outta the water. Absolutely amazing from a capitalist perspective. I love the original BW film and that marketing strategy was genius.
Only saw it once at the flicks (some time ago) but it didn't do much for me at the time. Maybe like you, I will appreciate it more now, on a smaller intimate screen when I am by myself
Hmmmm...something has changed. There is a very subtle joy in this video I haven't seen from you before. You seem extra relaxed and happy. Fun review...I enjoyed the movie for what it was. 😊🙏
I think Heather's character was partly inspired by the film crew characters in Cannibal Holocaust (who were way more unlikable than Heather of course). The controversy about CH possible being snuff also helped inspire the marketing strategy of BW to sell it as real found footage.
Paranormal Activity did nothing for me, personally...I found The Blair Witch Project to be much more effective in generating a creepy atmosphere and being generally scarier.
The found footage is way more realistic in this when compared to Cloverfield. Still, I think Blair Witch Project is a missed opportunity. I wish the witch documentary aspect was way more fleshed out
'fleshed out' is the last thing it needed to be. The whole strength of the movie is in how implicit and vague the ever-present threat is - the terror of not knowing what's out in the darkness making those sounds is infinitely scarier than any witch-shit they could have come up with
@@helvete_ingres4717 oh, I meant they should have fleshed out the documentary aspect, not the witch/supernatural stuff. In the beginning they just interviewed two or three people and that was it. The point of them making the documentary was a bit too vague
This is a film I just don’t get. It just feels like a film that just exists to me. It just feels like a filler movie to fill up theaters to make a profit on a low budget.
I find this film a bit slight, and artless. This genre as a whole hasn't achieved any new height nor broken any new grounds over the years, after the promising start by the first Blair Witch film. The "found footage" style of storytelling can't seem to sustain a whole film, although it can serve as a supporting element in other films or other endeavor, such as video games. Many horror games have borrowed heavily from the found footage idea. A game called Fallout 76 is set in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans have died and left behind various journals and logs for you to find and uncover their mysteries.
"Nothing and I mean absolutely nothing scary about Blair Witch" One day you might notice that there are other people who exist that aren't you. And, they sometimes have different perspectives.
@@mattmcgrath25 The reason why man has survived is because of - when trapped, faced with danger and even death - we were able to abandon preconceived plans and fight for survival, something this weakly plotted, visually stunning film ignores. It not only insults the intelligence of the protagonists, but the audience. I respect your view, but this film is flawed to it's very core.
5:52 "From a lot of people, one of the scariest things in the world is the idea of just one day you're walking in the woods and you disappear."
That legitimately gave me chills.
Me too. I spend a lot of time in the woods and it's without a doubt scary sometimes. I like to scare myself, but one time I was running in some woods near my house during a rainstorm and I came across a scary looking guy who was literally digging in the woods during the storm. It was right out of some Lovecraft book. He looked at me dead-on and I just sprinted away. When I went back to that spot I found some rope that could have been ligatures, but I wasn't able to find the hole he dug.
This movie gets SUCH a bad rap, pretty unfairly in my opinion. Yes, there have been a ton of found footage flicks released in its wake, some pretty dreadful. But, when this type of film works, it can be EXTREMELY effective.
Agreed. A lot of the negative feedback this movie gets is really lazy.
It seems like most of the hate is from younger generations. Most Gen Xers and older seemed to get this film and at least gave it its due for doing something pretty effective with such a low budget.
I alway thought that "The Witch" in this movie must not be intended in the literal sense. A character tells us that she once saw this very scary figure and the idea remained in the local folklore. But I always intended the supernatural element of the movie as an area of deep woods were "something" is very, very wrong. Something beyond our understanding and our inadequate ways to describe it - and this is much more scary.
For some reason, the thing that hit me the most in this movie was how the trees were (on B/W footage) stark dark against the clear sky during the day, but white against the dark during the night - like if during the night, while everybody was supposed to be sleeping, they revealed a hidden aspect of themselves.
The two directors, BTW, made up all the lore surrounding the Witch and her history. Back in the day I thought that they had based the movie on some already existing superstitions, but they created everything from scratch - a wonderful creative feat.
Wow, this is the most thoughtful review of this film I've seen.
Agreed~
@@JarodM Yeah! I think I'm gonna watch it again tonight.
@@claborn79 Enjoy, cheers!~🍻
Listening around the 6 minute mark makes me wonder whether you've seen Picnic at Hanging Rock, feels like you'd get a lot out of it (I don't really like the concept of 'favourites' but I'll say this one hit me quite unlike anything else had). Love where you took this review, fitting for something like this that's right on the cusp of postmodernity
I have mentioned Peter Weir pretty consistently in the comments on this TH-cam channel. From the responses seen..I think he is not considered a top tier filmmaker which of course he is...Picnic is a masterwork.
@@kdcndw1 Peter Weir is one of the masters. A real commander of cinema.
This was filmed right by my house and I've passed these woods throughout my entire life so I have a soft spot for this.
And you think that the woods near your house is haunted by the Blair Witch?
I heard the city destroyed the house. Is that true?
Same here I'm currently living right in Black Hills Regional Park but used to live very nearby. The woods and trail behind my house are so eerie and creepy at night. Have loved this movie since it first came out:)
The last sequence is one of the most terrifying I’ve ever seen
I remember watching this movie in the actual woods with like three of my friends at night lol going back to my cabin afterwards was terrifying as shit
Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake & Blair Witch Project were two movies that fucked me up as a kid. The found footage/based on a true story shit got me
That Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake was a joke. The original is pretty freaky tho.
@@Shah-of-the-Shinebox I haven’t watched it in a long time so idk if it holds up, but like I said, I was a kid. 5th grade I believe. The sequels to the remake were for sure jokes though
Don't forget that many of us thought that this movie was real back then. That was how it was marketed, how it was talked about and what everyone thought. It was extremely disturbing in a way that probably can't be replicated by another movie. It didn't last very long, it was eventually widely know that it was just a movie, but i still hold my first viewing of this movie as one of my strongest horror related experiences.
to think ppl were convinced it was real footage and its creators were (very deftly and very presciently) able to cultivate all this intrigue and mystery surrounding it by using media that was just developed enough but also just *not* developed enough to allow it. Something similar being pulled today is unthinkable. Those were more innocent, less savvy times
I’ve always said BWP had one of the greatest promotions ever. The theater I saw it in opening night was in MD less than an hour from Burrkitsville. Anyways, they had missing posters of the characters in the film plastered all over the pillars and everything. I live in Pa but not too far from MD. Christ, you even had people who thought that movie was real even though the actors appeared on various talk shows. I remember reading about BWP in Fangoria a good while before it’s release so I knew what I was getting into. Easily one of my favorite theater experiences.
Agree with every word, often found myself defending it to people who nothing but disdain for it and I typically used the same arguments, though most likely not as well phrased.
I do have one difference of opinion, to me Heather's obsession to look at the world indirectly through the lens of a camera is to me not motivated by escapism, but a means of protection. She can't deal with the reality of what is happening, so she holds on to this artificially constructed barrier between the reality she can't face, because it scares her senseless, and herself. And of course the camera cannot, in the end, protect her from reality, it's an illusion. Art can only imitate life, but not substitute it.
Now you made me want to see the movie today ...
REC (2007) is another pretty good found footage horror! Also Lake Mungo and The Bay!!
The sequel to REC is pretty good too.
REC and Lake Mungo are both terrifying, some of the best that found footage has to offer. There's also one called The Borderlands which is never talked about. It has one of the best endings to a horror film that I've ever seen.
One of the most wonderful things about REC is how far the camera is away from the action. It would be more easy if we were either not anywhere near it at all (most ideal), and barring that, and strangely enough, more comforting if we were right up on the action. Being just far enough away but not close enough to me made the tension that much worse. It felt like you were frozen in fear. You got away but you'll never get fully away.
the best one
I absolutely love your interpretation here, you perfectly explain why this film is such a fantastic drama. So many horror fans accuse it of not being scary while completely ignoring the fact that most of the film is meant to be a character study
The Coffin Rock scene was spooky for me.The way Heather read the accounts of what happened there was really well done.
I am curious, Joseph -- did you think that she adopted an accent for that scene? It felt like when you read a report in front of the class in school, you change your tone to sound more serious and scholarly, like trying to sound like what you think and adult teacher would sound like, even though they don't sound like that...
I've always really enjoyed this one. "Noroi" (2005) is even better.
I've not seen 'Noroi'. I don't know what to do now! Do I rewatch 'Blair Witch' or watch 'Noroi' first?
'Noroi' wins the vote ❎
Noroi is great, also love Occult (2009) by the same director.
Nice to see someone else appreciating "Noroi" - even if technically is not all "found footage" (they recreated fake TV shows for it, for example).
Over the years I liked only a few FF movies. "Lake Mungo" (2007) was great, and "Grave Encounters" can be intended as the definitive satire on the genre (beside showing how uncreative the "Paranormal Activity" movies actually are). On the sub-genre of "computer found footage" I really liked "Unfriended" when no one gave it two cents (a movie shot in a single 1h 30m take BTW).
A few thoughts:
I saw this in the Summer of '99 and it was one of those movies that worked really well in a theater full of people. It was dead quiet -- everyone was transfixed, until the end, at which point nearly everyone yelled out "Aieeee!"
One of my favorite parts of this was the presentation of the rural setting. I am curious what other people, from non-East-Coast-Rural-Areas felt while watching the scenery presented here. It made me feel comfortable, but did the woods immediately terrify people from less-rural areas, not just the night scenes?
Heather was brilliant in this movie, we all knew a Heather in school, very earnest kids who are smart but not yet world-wise and who had a very much unearned sense of self-importance. One of the best scenes is where she is narrating a scene and she adopts a ridiculous accent.
I really liked Josh (you know, "JOSH? JOSSSSSSSSSH??? JOH OH OH OH SHHHH!!!") and I never saw a representation of that kind of person in a movie before this. I was a bit younger than the cast, and Josh felt like that cool older kid that was not seen as successful by adults but who you felt was even tempered and funny and cool, someone that you wanted to be like when you got to that age.
Thank you for covering this movie, and I am curious how you felt about the direct sequel. I hated it, but I am wondering if there's an argument for it being a fun campy horror movie once you divorce it from the original.
@@Yasmine-mm1yc I had that same thing when a kid at school told me about this "really weird scary movie I saw on HBO where a guy was hiding in a bedroom and he was all bloody and this girl would bring people to the bedroom him to eat" -- I later found out he was talking about Hellraiser. But that description scared the hell out of me haha.
I saw it when I 20. I met some friends after work and caught a late showing with a theater full of people. It was quite a experience. I was not expecting to see what I was watching. I’m remember being shook afterwards. And everyone trying to figure out what we just watched.
I'm normally not a fan of film theories, and I know that's not something you discuss on your channel, but I do like the theory that Josh and Mike plotted to kill Heather in the woods and stage it as the Blair Witch. I don't know if that theory has been debunked or not, but it definitely adds a much more sinister tone when rewatching that is much more unsettling than the idea of a witch or paranormal activity.
The theory falls apart considering the events in the film. The crying children, the figures Heather was screaming about seeing when fleeing from the tent, the screaming baby, the bloody teeth and tongue wrapped in the cloth etc.
@@dyntromp4921 I think the theory is that Josh and Mike planted all of those items while Heather was asleep, or before they even got there. The crying children could have been a recording with speakers hidden in the woods.
@@yashnigam6 too many things happened while all three of them where together. And Josh and Mike planting everything is too far fetched. It's actually one of the most disliked theories in the fandom.
While Blair Witch was by no-means the first movie to do Found Footage as a concept, it pulled it off the best. A movie made with no money, no real acting talent and not particularly talented directors.
I love the gritty and raw feeling, the flash in the pan making rather than the work or some auteur director. They had this great concept and it came together in the editing room. There’s something fascinating about movies like this, they can’t be replicated ; most film makers with a movie like this never go-on to do anything special again. But they had this one incredible idea that will live on forever…
I get it’s not for everyone but the movie just feels so damn real. It really did invent an entire genre because the movies that came before (Alien Abduction, Ghost Watch, Cannibal) don’t have the same tropes this movie put into place.
It’s the Halloween versus the Psycho or the slasher genre. Psycho came first, but is own thing entirely. Blair Witch (and Paranormal Activity) is what spawned all of the many clones of the genre.
The latter half of the 90's was rough for American horror. A lot of overly polished Scream rip-offs.
This movie really shook things up. It was far from polished. It feels authentic. The performaces aren't "Hollywood" performances and the cast isn't made up of a bunch of WB regulars. It empasises atmosphere over post modernism. A nice change of pace for the time. It's also a far scarier film than most, and I say this a fan of the genre who has seen just about everything.
I personally didn’t find it that scary so I was disappointed by it. But it was cool in concept and it was very well made for what it was.
And yeah Scream wasn’t very good lol
God I don't know how I missed this review/analysis. I came here from a recent video in which you mentioned this. Yours is the best description of Heather's character I've ever seen. It made me realize that Heather is akin to Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos in a way, but not nearly as sociopathic. By the end I really did feel badly for Heather because she obviously did care about her companions and felt horribly for getting them lost. I still love this film and go back to it every few years. I saw it in the theater and it didn't really touch me because I was roughly the same age they were at the time and didn't see my own narcissism in the characters yet. In fact I don't remember noticing Heather much at all, besides the interrupting/leading the witnesses part. : )
*"I'm scared to close my eyes, I'm afraid to open them"*
--pretty much me Monday mornings.
😵🥴😂
The Blair Witch project is my all-time favorite found footage film. Also As above, so below is pretty underrated. In my opinion 💀🙂
I recall the first time I watched this:
Someone at work handed me an unmarked tape. Watched it at night. Best way to watch!
Thanks Maggie. I think we are far enough away from the hubbub to appreciate this in a new way. (Except for a couple of random downvoters who are still living in that superior "I knew it was just a movie" mode.)
I loved it when it came out and I think it still holds up now. The 1000s of found footage films have tarnished its impact a bit but it was really special at the time. I could totally see it being an A24 movie today.
I wish A24 would buy the rights from Lionsgate
I saw it when I was 9 or 10, we had woods behind our house that we would hang out in all day until the sun started to go down, and this movie was terrifying….. it felt so real watching it. I could smell the woods and feel the leaves and the cold. I showed it to some of my college friends years later and it was like nothing to them. I guess you had to see it within a certain context.
Damn I love your midriff. Your reviews are good too.
One of the few films seen with a large crowd that made me loose sleep for a few nights afterwards..a collectively frightening cinema going experience.
I think I'll come back to this Blair Witch video every Halloween from now until my old age.. It's perfect. I'm watching the movie again right now, and I wanted to get in the proper mood.
Always look forward to your videos and hearing your thoughts... love your depth and insight! 🎞❣ Also, your jacket is absolutely wonderful 🖤 gives me David Lynch vibes!
I think your point about us being "closer to the concept of death than we think" was particularly apropos for the pandemic. I couldn't help but think people freaked out so much with the masks and lockdowns because people really don't think they are going to die anymore, or at least they only think about it in a very abstract way, just as you said. I think our risk-assessment of the pandemic was twisted by arrogance and new scientism.
Good review. This is a love-it-or-hate-it movie (and a lot of the people who hate it seem to have been unable to handle the unsteady-cam aspect), but I'm firmly in the love-it camp. It played perfectly on building dread and not showing you much, making your imagination fill in the blanks. And it was fearless about not having to have likeable characters, instead going with realistic characters. Heather is annoying... but also sympathetic. Josh is more likeable... but crumbles first and becomes annoying because he could help more but doesn't. It's well done, and knowing that it was pretty much all ad-libbed, it's amazing that it worked out so well.
me and my buddy just laughed through the whole thing watching it at home on vhs when it came out. of course by then we knew it wasnt real.
The best thing about The Blair Witch Project is that when the human race is wiped off the face of the Earth and all that's left is our film archives an alien race will discover Blair Witch and think it's 100% real.
A review of Ben Wheatley's early movies (Kill List/A Field in England) would be cool. Both very unique movies I think.
When the characters are just ordinary relatable people, that always makes it all the more terrifying and disturbing.
OFFICIAL SUPER HOT SPICY TAKE: i agree with you
Funny detail: one of the characters dropped to the ground with exhaustion from hiking…. He had the 16mm camera in his backpack and wrecked it. They had to switch to DV video from that point.
I am old enough to actually have seen this in Theaters opening weekend where my friend and I went to buy tickets and we had to buy them for the following night last show because they where SOLD OUT, very strange for a little film to do that back then
The Movie that started a Genre
You mention how TBWP is scary even though it doesn't show us what's scaring us. I think I read or heard somewhere that we WERE supposed to see the witch. It's in the scene where they're running through the woods and Heather is screaming, "Oh, my God, what the fuck is that???" Apparently the camera was supposed to quickly pan up the the left, giving us our only glimpse of the witch.., but whoever was shooting it didn't pan up. Missed opportunity. Somehow not seeing the witch almost makes it even scarier. The power of imagination.
I just watched your Shutter Island review from 11 years ago. It would be interesting to see you revisit this and some other movies you reviewed a while ago to see how your opinion has changed and how some of these movies aged. Just a thought. 🙂
I saw this in the theatre when it first came out, and everyone in the cinema was totally tripped out after the ending.
I saw it in a matinee with an almost empty theater.
YES!!! Let me just say (before watching).... this is like my favorite horror film, so seeing that you are doing a review makes the heart so happy! ♥
what about the stalker's 'incident' ..the scene where they come to find out they're in a 'loop' thing ..
I remember seeing this in early release back in 1999. Loved it then and love it now. I met the cast years ago and a horror con (met The Shining twins too). All were absolutely awesome and incredibly humble.
I still remember seeing this movie when it came out in 1999. I wished the actors did not do tv appearances when the movie was out. It would have gave the impression the movie was real.
Aw, I always found Heather to be very likable. Maybe that says something about me lol.
i saw blair witch in the theatre without knowing anything about it. at one point i realized i was clenching the arms of my seat so hard my knuckles were turning white
always got the impression that online film reviewers who like TBWP always treat it like a guilty pleasure...so refreshing to hear someone who loves the film as much as I do and articulate it. This film is as haunting and impactful as the first time I saw it.
This movie gave me such a weird and dark feeling that no other horror film has.
Personally I LOVE Blair Witch Project. It's a movie I go back to every year at least 1 time, and although it DOES get a bad wrap i think it's an innovative movie in it's own right. It's realistic, scary (specially the last 15 min when they are in the house) and it brought forth a new genre of horror, "found footage". Although this also spawned many crappy sequels and many shitty horror movies in the same style, it still holds up as one of the scariest movies ever made.
One of the most intense experiences that I had in cinema
I was 29 when this movie came out but I didn't see it until I rented it on DVD in Oct of 99 (perfect timing).
I dug it on first view but subsequent views weren't as effective. Years later tho, I watched it again and it mostly held up. I still dig it overall but the incessant yelling at eachother is a lil grating. Because of that, I'd give it a 7 of 10 (now) 24yrs later. It's a mood and a vibe more than anything else. Classic tho, and overall very good!.
PS, yeah, I never thought it was "real" (did anyone?, really?? Lol), but the hype was definitely fun and elevated it a ton.
Happy Halloween! 🎃
Thanks for discussing. I remember all the hype around the film when it was released. I wanted to see it and didn't get the chance. The other day, I caught part of it (near the end) on FXX. I hope to finally watch it within the next few weeks. Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular (and movie buff)
Even now I can recall polarized reactions from the audience. There was some groaning, as if we had just seen a public service film "How to have a Dysfunctional Hike," while I saw one young man console a woman "We're never going anywhere near Maryland." I find the movie hard to gauge without adding the TV special "The Curse of the Blair Witch," which people got to see ahead of the movie and adds to the build-up of intriguing mythology behind the movie. I always thought the movie might have made better sense as simply "The Blair Witch Cult Project," with the activity blamed on active cultists of the witch.
That is true, William. I described my theater experience as a hushed crowd that finally yelled out at the end. That said, my theater mate hated this movie -- he was quiet because he was annoyed with the characters and was bored with the plot!
And yes, the lead up to this was great fun. There was also the fake website that purported to make this out to be a real story.
The movie used this new media called a website. My office co-workers thought it was real footage. Brilliant use of new technology. That will probably never happen again.
I remember when this movie came out. I was 8 years old and people talked about how freaky it was. I saw it for the first time 6 years ago and I was definately impressed, definately an October staple.
There is a 80s horror movie that is sort of a pre blair witch projectcalled Cannibal Holocaust.
I respect the hell out of people who enjoy this film. You’re all troopers
The Blair Witch was a prequel to Grizzly Man.
That blazer is too cool
A straight banger.
Every time I see this it feels like the first time. What a situation to be in. For me the Blair Witch and Matrix always felt like a cap on the end of a certain period of movies. Timeless stuff has came out since the 2000’s but it’s not as special
I love this movie and it just keeps getting better the older I get . . . .
One of the best horror movies ever, such isolating atmosphere and otherworldy feeling. Btw, i keep repeating myself but please make a review of eXistenZ (1999) by David Cronenberg, very curious what you whave to say about. Being a movie about Reality, Dreams, subconscious and whatnot.
I think the original Halloween had the best profit margins for a low budget film...until Blair Witch blew that outta the water. Absolutely amazing from a capitalist perspective. I love the original BW film and that marketing strategy was genius.
I love this film. I even like the sequel (2016).
The 2016 film was way better than that Book of Shadows garbage.
Only saw it once at the flicks (some time ago) but it didn't do much for me at the time. Maybe like you, I will appreciate it more now, on a smaller intimate screen when I am by myself
Hmmmm...something has changed. There is a very subtle joy in this video I haven't seen from you before. You seem extra relaxed and happy.
Fun review...I enjoyed the movie for what it was.
😊🙏
Or, had something changed in you. . . . . :-)
You should review Lake Mungo
I think Heather's character was partly inspired by the film crew characters in Cannibal Holocaust (who were way more unlikable than Heather of course). The controversy about CH possible being snuff also helped inspire the marketing strategy of BW to sell it as real found footage.
Please also review blair witch ii book of shadows. Thanl you for this one
A bunch of those themes make it into the sequel, albeit in a much more blunt way. While not a great movie (BW2), there are things to appreciate in it.
2016 right? Not Book of Shadows.
it was also the year when we would get Kubrick last film
this and the original paranormal activity are genuinely good horror films
Paranormal Activity did nothing for me, personally...I found The Blair Witch Project to be much more effective in generating a creepy atmosphere and being generally scarier.
@@toddpinkstonisgod I could see that. I just like it because of the same sort of “you never see the witch/ghost” type of thing
That movie was Creeeeeepyyyyyyy….😲
One of my favorite horror movies.
Great review Maggie and take care and stay safe 👍.
Often emulated , never bettered. 4 🌟 film 👍
Speaking of horror, could you review Phenomena from 1985 sometime?
I haven't seen this sinse around the time it came out. I think I will revisit it!
Off topic, but was that tattoo on your wrist painful to get?
Which one? The blue one?
@@deepfocuslens I was referring to the one on your right wrist. Asking because I heard that is a painful place to get a tattoo.
@@HBICTiff I have one on each wrist. The blue one hurt, the black one was fine for the most part.
@@deepfocuslens Ah, okay. Thanks for letting me know. 👍 Also, is one of them a spider web? Like from Night of the Hunter?
The found footage is way more realistic in this when compared to Cloverfield. Still, I think Blair Witch Project is a missed opportunity. I wish the witch documentary aspect was way more fleshed out
'fleshed out' is the last thing it needed to be. The whole strength of the movie is in how implicit and vague the ever-present threat is - the terror of not knowing what's out in the darkness making those sounds is infinitely scarier than any witch-shit they could have come up with
@@helvete_ingres4717 oh, I meant they should have fleshed out the documentary aspect, not the witch/supernatural stuff. In the beginning they just interviewed two or three people and that was it. The point of them making the documentary was a bit too vague
The men in this movie never picked up a stick or branch as a Club …. That fact made this film poopy and unrealistic.
This review got me.
The movie was a great concept but a lousy movie.
Thanks
This is a film I just don’t get. It just feels like a film that just exists to me. It just feels like a filler movie to fill up theaters to make a profit on a low budget.
Agree 100%
I find this film a bit slight, and artless. This genre as a whole hasn't achieved any new height nor broken any new grounds over the years, after the promising start by the first Blair Witch film. The "found footage" style of storytelling can't seem to sustain a whole film, although it can serve as a supporting element in other films or other endeavor, such as video games. Many horror games have borrowed heavily from the found footage idea. A game called Fallout 76 is set in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans have died and left behind various journals and logs for you to find and uncover their mysteries.
What
Pleeeeeeeease review The Exorcist (1973)
What ever he keeps her in that top I'm listening
I can´t never the first to comment. Today i am the10th. in 28 minutes. sorry for being silly. Lovely video
The porn parody was tremendous. Talk about a deconstruction. Yeesh.
ever consider doing a BTS episode
Psssss;
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Heather is the witch.
Try an Adam Sandler movie. So awesome!
This was a break out movie. You wer probably 4 years old
Bare midriff. Just sayin’.
Watch the movie today it didn’t age well and still boring and stupid robcop 2 is way better
Overrated piece of shit film. Nothing and I mean absolutely nothing scary about Blair Witch.
It's works most for how it got off the ground through It's campaign. But in my opinion Book of Shadows works better as a narrative.
"Nothing and I mean absolutely nothing scary about Blair Witch"
One day you might notice that there are other people who exist that aren't you. And, they sometimes have different perspectives.
Plot wise deeply flawed.. follow the damn river... technically it breaks new ground...
But would that be realistic to expect of these characters to make sensible decisions?
@@mattmcgrath25 The reason why man has survived is because of - when trapped, faced with danger and even death - we were able to abandon preconceived plans and fight for survival, something this weakly plotted, visually stunning film ignores. It not only insults the intelligence of the protagonists, but the audience. I respect your view, but this film is flawed to it's very core.
They did walk south following the river for entire day and they somehow went in a circle.