Cutting Edge Film Review The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is a low-budget independent film released in 1999. It is a psychological, supernatural horror film that was jointly written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, and was their first film. It did not use special effects, had no sets and was filmed by hand-held camera in the style of an amateur video recording, which was so convincing that it had audience members believing that what they had seen was a real, discovered documentary video film. The fact that the characters had the same names as the actors added to this belief. Some people have called it the ‘scariest movie ever made’. Plot: A message at the start of the film tells the audience that what they are about to see is video footage found a year after three students disappeared. The students, Heather, Mike and Josh, were making a documentary in Black Hills Forest in Maryland, at a place called Burkittsville, formerly known as Blair. The subject of the students’ film was the Blair Witch, a local legend, supposedly responsible for a number of gruesome murders. The townsfolk tell the students about Rustin Parr, a strange man who lived in the woods and murdered seven children. He claimed he was told to do this by the ghost of Elly Kedward, an 18th century witch. After entering the woods, the three filmmakers become lost and, as their video progresses, so the fear of being alone in the dark woods and the tensions between them increase.

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The way the film is made, using a hand held video recording camera, adds to the authentic feel. There are jumpy transitions as if someone had turned the camera off abruptly during filming, then on again later. Sometimes the screen is black and the audience can only hear what is going by way of creepy, supernatural noises or the panicky, frightened voices of the three people. The audience has to use their imagination and this is what adds to the scariness. - “At other times, the action depicted is chaotic and difficult to piece together, often because the person doing the filming is running or unsure what to capture. It's not hard to understand why these segments work so well - they rely on the imagination to fill in the pictures, and what our minds conjure up is always more horrifying than anything the filmmakers can put on screen (even with today's special effects technology). Also, this seemingly haphazard and "unprofessional" approach gives the audience a "you are there" feeling that draws them into the experience, making everything that transpires more shocking and immediate that it would seem in a conventional format.”

- J. Berardinelli, 2012

The film is not only about people getting lost in the woods and never being seen again. It is also about the psychological stress on a close group of friends, and the way their relationships and mental states begin to break down under the pressure of knowing they are in a desperate situation. - “The scenes as each of the three are gradually broken down contain a great deal of emotional rawness and a realism that one is never likely to see in your average stalker movie – like Heather Donahue’s hysteria at finding the same stream again and realising that they have just travelled in a circle, or her outburst at finding that Mike kicked the map away. Far more so than any psychological ghost story, the film is a study in the psychological pressures of a group lost in the wilderness.” - R. Scheib, 200?

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Although made on a very low budget, the Blair Witch Project ended up being a hugely profitable film. The hand held video camera technique, filmed in the dark forest setting, in an amateurish way, with improvised dialogue from unknown actors, gives the film the sense of being genuine, recently discovered video footage. The audience gets massive spine-tingling frights and scares as they try to work out what happened to the missing trio – the students who were warned about the haunted woods, but still went in there anyway. - “The Blair Witch Project is the manifestation of every scary childhood story and urban legend. The film’s rough edges made it seem entirely plausible and yet still fantastic. A pop culture phenomenon that inspired an entire generation of filmgoers, The Blair Witch Project will be fondly remembered for quite a long time. In addition, the film is a triumph of American Independent cinema, having been produced for about $750,000 and grossing $248,639,099 making it one of the most profitable films ever made.” - Ajay, 2011

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Illustrations Figure 1: http://ilovethatfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-blair-witch-project-and-top-10.html Figure 2: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/shaken-not-stirred-over-hand-held-cinematography/story-fn9n8gph-1226498434115 Figure 3: http://media.bluray.ign.com/media/081/081831/img_8121560.html Figure 4: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/blair%20witch Bibliography Berardinelli, 2012, Available at: http://www.reelviews.net/movies.php Review: http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=56 [Accessed online 24th February 2013] Scheib, 200?, Available at: http://moria.co.nz/ Review: http://0to5stars-moria.ca/horror/blair-witch-project-1999.htm [Accessed online 24th February 2013] Ajay, 2011, Available at: http://allmoviereviews.co.uk/ Review: http://allmoviereviews.co.uk/movie-reviews/horror-movies/the-blair-witch-project.html [Accessed online 24th February 2013]