The Blair Witch Project

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

And I was given the week off, so I’ve been listening to music, playing video games, and doing many of the things that brought me back to a certain period of my childhood, one connected to myths and legends and to the vacations I spent with my grandparents. So I decided to watch a movie I had never seen before. The last movie I watched was the one previously reviewed here, and this time I decided to watch The Blair Witch Project. The movie impacted me in different ways, all of them positive. I give it 5 out of 5 stars, and below I’ll explain a series of factors that I found particularly interesting.




I had heard of The Blair Witch Project because of a similar, but more recent, project called Marble Hornets, centered around Slenderman and following the same concept. I don’t know how the movie originally came about. As far as I understand, it was originally footage that was found online, although I could be mistaken. Either way, having experienced the original phenomenon firsthand must have been amazing.

When the movie began, it reminded me of a film shot in the style of a mockumentary called The Black Door. However, this isn’t a mockumentary; it’s found footage, a format that has recently been getting some attention thanks to Kane Parsons, the Backrooms, and everything surrounding it. I don’t think it will last very long, though, and in any case, I don’t think it could have the same impact this movie had on me. As I mentioned, it reminded me of The Black Door, but above all, it brought back almost exactly the same feeling I had when I watched the first The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I didn’t know what area the movie was set in, but I could guess that it was either New England or Nova Scotia. It turned out to be the Appalachians, so, in a sense, New England. I recognized the elements of hoodoo, and, in fact, one of the characters who is portrayed as a “insane woman” easily reminded me of what wise women are in British folklore, as opposed to cunning men in the masculine tradition.

I would say this qualifies as folk horror, but no, because I’ve noticed that movies belonging to this so-called folk horror genre tend to take a different approach. Even so, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching something that could easily have taken place in a story by H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth, set in a contemporary Dunwich. It had that Sentinel Hill atmosphere, with its strange locals, but at the same time, it reminded me much more of The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood.

Even in scenes where it seemed like there might be a skinwalker, a mimic, or someone imitating the voices of one of the boys involved in the project, I couldn’t help but think about how even the concept of the mimic or shapeshifter has gained so much relevance on the Internet and in popular culture, inspiring several analog horror web series to make use of the concept. I found that very interesting.

To wrap things up, I just want to say that if anyone has anything they can tell me about this movie, or if they experienced it back when it wasn’t yet what it is today, I’d really appreciate hearing about it, because I liked it WAY TOO MUCH. Other than that, I understand there was a remake or something along those lines, but if that’s the case, honestly, I imagine it went the same way as the Leatherface movies...

The Blair Witch Project laid the groundwork for the contemporary horror that many young people enjoy today—horror that was born primarily on the Internet and has recently been picked up by Hollywood. I just hope they don’t ruin it.

P.S.: I originally posted this in the thread where I review the few movies I tend to watch, but I feel this film deserves a thread of its own.

 

[cannibal cop]

The opening section does play a little like a mockumentary, and many of the found-footage titles that have been almost constantly proliferating in its decades-old wake have expanded on that approach, sometimes with pretty decent results. See something like Horror in the High Desert, for instance.

It has been rumored for years that the makers of Blair Witch were inspired at least partly by Karl Edward Wagner’s short story Sticks, which has been reprinted a number times since its first appearance in the magazine Whispers way back when. But there seems to be no actual reason to believe this is the case beyond the fact that sinister stick figures feature prominently in both. Blackwood’s The Wendigo bears a much closer resemblance in terms of the actual story.

Keep in mind, this movie appeared before terms like “skinwalker” and “mimic” became commonplace in pop culture. Too much contemporary horror seems to me to labor under the notion that to name something means to understand exactly what it is. That’s why words like “vampire” and “zombie” are treated with almost casual disdain today by people in and out of the genre. It’s not actual familiarity, but the illusion of familiarity that these names give us, that breeds such contemptuousness. And this kind of arrogant attitude that the poorest genre efforts foster strikes me as exactly the kind of unthinking hubris that the best genre efforts—including Blair Witch— have always punished.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

The opening section does play a little like a mockumentary, and many of the found-footage titles that have been almost constantly proliferating in its decades-old wake have expanded on that approach, sometimes with pretty decent results. See something like Horror in the High Desert, for instance.

It has been rumored for years that the makers of Blair Witch were inspired at least partly by Karl Edward Wagner’s short story Sticks, which has been reprinted a number times since its first appearance in the magazine Whispers way back when. But there seems to be no actual reason to believe this is the case beyond the fact that sinister stick figures feature prominently in both. Blackwood’s The Wendigo bears a much closer resemblance in terms of the actual story.

Keep in mind, this movie appeared before terms like “skinwalker” and “mimic” became commonplace in pop culture. Too much contemporary horror seems to me to labor under the notion that to name something means to understand exactly what it is. That’s why words like “vampire” and “zombie” are treated with almost casual disdain today by people in and out of the genre. It’s not actual familiarity, but the illusion of familiarity that these names give us, that breeds such contemptuousness. And this kind of arrogant attitude that the poorest genre efforts foster strikes me as exactly the kind of unthinking hubris that the best genre efforts—including Blair Witch— have always punished.

I agree with your last point. There’s something about the ambiguity of The Blair Witch Project that really comes through when you watch it—the fact that you never really know what it is. I mentioned “mimic” or “skinwalker” simply as an attempt to explain what I took from it, and, as I said, it reminded me of Algernon Blackwood’s The Wendigo. I haven’t read Karl Edward Wagner’s story.

One question: was this film actually an internet phenomenon at the time? Did you experience it firsthand?

 

[cannibal cop]

Yes, it was a pretty big deal at the time, though it’s hard to say whether the fact there wasn’t a great deal else of interest happening movie-wise in the mid-to-late ‘90s had much to do with that.

You did get a few people who claimed they swore the whole thing was real and there were people in the audience freaking out and this and that, but some of that was almost as hard for me to believe as the actual movie was. It was nice to have a decent original horror movie making some waves after a near-decade-long dry spell, however.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

Yes, it was a pretty big deal at the time, though it’s hard to say whether the fact there wasn’t a great deal else of interest happening movie-wise in the mid-to-late ‘90s had much to do with that.

You did get a few people who claimed they swore the whole thing was real and there were people in the audience freaking out and this and that, but some of that was almost as hard for me to believe as the actual movie was. It was nice to have a decent original horror movie making some waves after a near-decade-long dry spell, however.

We had that same experience with the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but in the sense that we thought it was something that had actually happened. I saw that there’s some kind of sequel to The Blair Witch Project from 2016. I imagine they’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of what the first one did...

 

[cannibal cop]

Chainsaw was one of those great cinematic one-offs the likes of which we’ll never see repeated, no matter how much money they throw at it today. It also had some claim, however weak, to being based on real-life serial killers.

Blair Witch did have a sequel that probably was nowhere near as bad as it could have been, even though I’ve almost completely forgotten about its existence. There was also an attempted “remake” in 2016, however, which should be avoided at all costs, and I have just heard talk of another remake coming up, which I will do everything in my power to avoid hearing anything else about for the remainder of my time in this cursed sphere.

 

[Ironrose]

I'm certainly not an expert on this, and I'd think it's been well documented on the internet. But. I remember it was really hyped before it came out, and part of that was the notion that it was found footage. I think it was all mostly low budget home filming, with a handheld camera? It was a crude cheap movie made by novice actors and film makers that was the first (?) to use the idea of meta, which upped the horror factor, since there were plenty of people who believed that and were freaked out extra by it. As I understood it, this was mostly done by presenting itself as found footage, which was a clever way to reach an audience who preferred high production. Not everyone liked it, either. There was no gore, no monster. I did see it in the theater when it came out, and it was disturbing, in a good way. For me, it was better by being vague and not really showing anything, atmospheric and suggestive. And that ending. We don't get to see anything but the camera taking a dive and going black. Damn. I liked it.

PS. I've read that when it became huge, people with money and influence took control of it, and the original people who made it were cut out of the rewards (money and rights?)

PPS. I'm figuring there's someone who knows about all this, or someone who will do the research I'm too tired to do at the moment...

 

[Knygathin]

Chainsaw was one of those great cinematic one-offs the likes of which we’ll never see repeated, no matter how much money they throw at it today. ...

A bit off topic, but The King of Comedy* (1982) is also said to be the last of a certain form of on-location creativity, and spontaneous catching of the present moment, and tapping into the real, in film-making that was impossible to re-create afterwards; because total clinical control, and calculated profit, then started to rule the mindset of film production.

*The King of Comedy is not a horror film, but it is quite unpleasant and disturbing in its own right—and very funny too!

 

[cannibal cop]

PS. I've read that when it became huge, people with money and influence took control of it, and the original people who made it were cut out of the rewards (money and rights?)

I had the impression the Blair Witch creators did pretty well out of it. But that sounds a little like what happened with Night of the Living Dead, which I believe went straight into the public domain on release due to unresolved copyright issues.

A bit off topic, but The King of Comedy* (1982) is also said to be the last of a certain form of on-location creativity, and spontaneous catching of the present moment, and tapping into the real, in film-making that was impossible to re-create afterwards; because total clinical control, and calculated profit, then started to rule the mindset of film production.

*The King of Comedy is not a horror film, but it is quite unpleasant and disturbing in its own right—and very funny too!

I don’t recall ever hearing that, and that’s one of my favorite movies. Mind you, I don’t think clinical control in filmmaking or good films turning a profit are necessarily bad things, either. Look at The Color of Money, so much of the magic there occurs due to highly controlled filmmaking, and you don’t even realize that at the time because it is assembled with impeccable taste and seamless precision in the editing stage. I also don’t think there’s anything inherently superior about supposedly spontaneous, unplanned creation. It’s having the discipline to put the results together in a way that’s interesting to an audience that makes all the difference.

 

[Knygathin]

I also don’t think there’s anything inherently superior about supposedly spontaneous, unplanned creation. It’s having the discipline to put the results together in a way that’s interesting to an audience that makes all the difference.

I think both approaches are true. There is value in letting a situation organically develop itself, and being mentally flexible and open to the situation. A great painter, to use another example, needs, besides his expert craftsmanship, also have a sensitive hand and wide open mind to what enters his eyes. Not only complete control. Otherwise the result will be stiff.

 

[R. von Pnaklendorf]

Well, I’ve been fascinated by the film, and I’m actually waiting for my membership in the forum dedicated to the project to be approved. Here’s an Archive.org link to the English VHS version of The Blair Witch Project, all perfectly legal.

It’s a VHS rip with commercials and everything, which I assume made it feel even more realistic at the time.

• The Blair Witch Project 1999 VHS RIP