Still scary 10 years later! (The Blair Witch Project (DVD))

Member Name: foxylou1980

Product:	The Blair Witch Project (DVD)
Date:	03/02/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original, frightening

Disadvantages: Far too much hype around it

"In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary... A year later their footage was found."

This is the tag line for the incredibly hyped, and in my opinion incredibly scary, 1999 film, The Blair Witch Project.

I can still remember the first time I saw this film; I was living with the ex and he was working nights, a guy from his work had lent him the video and rather stupidly I decided to sit up and watch the film. Alone. In the dark. Big mistake!

I can honestly say that I was absolutely terrified; so scared that i slept with all the lights on in the house that night! I had heard about the film; everyone had I think, there was so much hype about it all over the place; an official website, people saying that they'd been so scared they'd run out of the cinema screaming etc. Well I don't think I would have humiliated myself in public like that, even at the tender age of 19, but I still found the film very very frightening.

The scariest thing about The Blair Witch Project is that it all seems so real! Incredibly low budget, hand-held cameras, pretty much unknown actors at the time, a story which is quite convincing if you're into your American folk legends, and some really edge-of your-seat moments. By far the most frightening part of the entire film for me was when the group were in the tent and "something" outside was shaking the canvas, and you could hear children's laughter. There's always something very spooky about children's laughter in a horror film! The film also taps into the universal human fears of being lost in a strange place and being trapped.

The lead actress in the film, Heather Donahue (playing a character called, er, Heather Donahue!) is very convincing, especially in the much-parodied scene where she's talking to the camera after being left all alone in the woods. Let's just say there's snot!

The ending of the film was quite anti-climatic I felt, but it was very effective in that it didn't really give you a definite conclusion. Unfortunately this left the way open for the truly dire sequel, Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows, which lacked all the charm and feat factor of the original; a complete cash-in I felt with no substance whatsoever.

I have seen the film a couple of times since then (in company!) and also the spoof documentary that accompanies the film, "The Curse of the Blair Witch". If you're going to watch the film i would really recommend watching this as well, as it gives some great background to the story of the Blair Witch and the unfortunate main characters in the film. The website is still up and running and well worth a look.

Summary: A great film for Halloween, but I wouldn't advise watching it alone!