The Blair Witch Project

Released:  July 16th, 1999

Rated:  R

Studio:  Artisan

Staring:  Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard

Directed by:  Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

Written by:  Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

Personal Bias Alert:  easily scared, likes things left to the imagination

9.5 of 10

            Three college students go into the woods…  It’s a classic scary story setup, perfectly at home being told around a campfire, whispered at a sleepover, or projected on a theater screen.  I first saw “The Blair Witch Project” in a dorm room, late at night, and it scarred the hell out of me.  It was years after the film had been released, and from the cultural firestorm it had kicked up I knew how the story would end.  At the time its effectiveness surprised me, but sitting at breakfast the next morning, groggy from a fitful night, I chuckled at the simplicity of it.  It was folklore, urban legend, a tried and true method of scaring the sleep out of people.

            The students in the film allegedly went into the woods to make a documentary about a local legend called the Blair Witch and never returned.  We are told that the footage we are seeing was recovered a year after their disappearance, sans bodies.  This claim of truth is the first in a long list of urban legend hallmarks that the film utilizes, all subtly adding layers of dread during what is an otherwise uneventful start.  The next step is a series of interviews with locals regarding the legend, which because the interviewer, Heather (Heather Donahue), lacks experience, comes off as stiff and awkward.  This is the key part of the entire movie, though.  The local’s stories vary, but they manage to cobble together a loose idea of the horrors that have taken place in the woods.  That way, when things start to go down later in the film, the viewer knows enough to be plenty scarred, but not enough to know what will happen next.

            Despite the beginning claims, you aren’t supposed to believe that this story is real any more than you are supposed to believe in Bloody Mary or Hookman.  Its claim is there simply to make it possible, to make some little part of your brain pipe up with a “but what if it is” every once in a while.  You’ll quickly tamp that thought back down, but fear thrives on possibilities, and that little voice will make enough room for fear to fester in your brain.

            This film was famously made for very little money, so don’t expect any effects or fancy camerawork.  The movie is about three people who disappear in the woods, and that is what you get.  Three people, two crappy cameras, and a very muffled audio track.  Writer/directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez have a firm enough grasp on horror to know how to work this into a positive, though.  The found footage spin circumvents the need for a large crew and also whittles down the audience’s world to that of the trio.  We feel their strain, their frustration, and their growing fear as the days wear on, aided by the fact that we are often picking up these emotional signals from the disembodied voice of the cameraperson.  In a way, it’s very much like life.  We hear our own voice, see our hands and feet moving around in front of us, and because that’s all we see of the cameraperson, it feels as if we are moving around in their world.

            I recommend watching this film at night, with all the lights turned out, and the sound at a normal level.  Resist the urge to turn it up so you can hear every whisper and scratch.  Let the mystery play out, and you’ll be treated to one of the most effective horror movies out there.

            Other Notes:

Ø  I liked that they used very common names for all three characters (Heather, Michael, and Joshua).  It really lends to the “this could happen anywhere” feel.

Ø  Why did Heather take the time to sew up those pants?

Ø  I’ll be keeping the lights on tonight.