The Blair Witch Project (1999)

It might not be the original Found Footage movie but “The Blair Witch Project” made this style popular and profitable. It’s a story about three college students going out into the woods of Maryland with video equipment to film a documentary about the fabled Blair Witch. The three students, Heather, Michael, and Joshua, were never seen again but their video cameras were found and the film within reveals their final days.

 “The Blair Witch Project” begins innocently enough by showing the three would be film makers meeting up, driving to Burkittsville (formerly known as Blair), and shooting a few interviews with various locals and are told about the different odd events that have occurred in the past. On the second day the troupe enters the forest, interview two fishermen, and film the area known as Coffin Rock. They set up camp and sleep through the night. On the third day the trouble begins as they hike deeper into the woods and become lost. While they continue deeper into the woods, the three come across various unexplained oddities such as seven piles of carefully stacked piles of stones and then bizarre stick figures hanging from the trees. During the nights they begin to hear noises in the distance as if someone is walking around their camp. As their tensions build and horrible events begin to occur, the movie keeps the viewer curious until the end. I won’t lie, the ending is abrupt and it leaves you wanting answers but it stays true to the style; if they don’t film it, you don’t get to see it.

My only issue that I have with the “Blair Witch Project”, and a few moments in other movies of this style, is that they are filming when it doesn’t feel like it’s the best time to be doing so. It doesn’t feel natural but rather forced. This is an inherent flaw of this style and it’s hard to work around. Unless they have stationary cameras like they do in the films “Paranormal Activity” and in parts of “Ghost Encounters”, they should then be required to explain why they don’t drop the camera and run for their lives. I appreciate the moment in “Quarantine” when Angela tells her cameraman to record everything otherwise their boss and editors are going to be pissed off. On the other hand, I would try to record everything if I was running away from a giant monster attacking the city….

To this day I’m still highly amused to know that there are people out there who thought that this was a real event. The marketing for the movie included a TV special in a style of a news program talking about the discovery of the tapes and the mysterious disappearances of the three students. There was a similar promotion for the movie “Independence Day” three years before and I’m sure there are others as well. One reason why there was so much marketing for “The Blair Witch Project” is because it was so cheap to make, in the range of $50,000 to $75,000, and acquire the rights for. The studio knew that they had a hit after the stunning reviews it had earned at the Sundance Film Festival.

Favorite moment – When they are in the tent and begin to hear what sounds like children laughing outside their tent, in the middle of the night.