Poster for “The Blair Witch Project.” Courtesy: MovieposterDB
“Blair Witch,” directed by Adam Wingard, is a new addition to “The Blair Witch Project” film series.
The film gained its hype as a surprise release at Comic-Con, where fans were told a project known as “The Woods” was actually the sequel to “The Blair Witch Project.”
Critics consistently agree this horror sequel was a “flop,” only earning $16.1 million overall in the box office. Despite its terrible scores from Rotten Tomatoes (36 percent), “Blair Witch” produced many jump-scares and surprises.
The movie begins with James (James Allen McCune) and Lisa (Callie Hernandez) talking about an YouTube video that causes James to think he could solve the mystery revolving around his sister’s disappearance. His sister, Heather, disappeared when James was 4 years old in the Black Hills Forest in Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting footage on the legend of the Blair Witch. Heather’s documentary and disappearance is shown in “The Blair Witch Project.”
James and Lisa decide to gather friends Peter (Brandon Scott) and Ashley (Corbin Reid) to document and search for clues about Heather’s disappearance. The two locals who found Heather’s tape convince the group to let them join the trip to the Black Hills Forest.
Soon after spending the night in the woods, strange occurrences begin. Some of these occurrences include time warps, location shifts and a night that seems endless. After the locals play tricks on the group to scare them into believing the legends, the group kicks out the locals and decides to go home – only they can’t find their vehicles and end up in a time loop. Disturbing sounds and groans throughout the forest also play a large part in creating scares for both the audience and the characters.
During the 89 minutes, I was not overly impressed with the film. The uncut documentary feel caused me to dislike “Blair Witch.” Despite the disdain for the style the movie was shot in, it did send chills up my spine and caused me to think twice before walking through the dark alone.
Admittedly, I have not watched the previous movies in the series, and I found “Blair Witch” much more interesting after researching the prior film. The film includes a number of homages to the original, “The Blair Witch Project.”
There are many who believe the found footage style of movies has been outplayed, but I believe Wingard created a decent version of this by having the actors hold cameras during the filming. Some of the actors’ cameras created a nice feeling like the audience was a part of the character’s struggle, but it also caused a lot of the footage to be shaky and confusing. Although it is not my favorite style of film, the scares and adrenaline rushes I got out of it made the ticket to “Blair Witch” worth it.
