July 30, 1999
"Revel in the joy of being in a great film!"
Heather to one of her cameramen shimmying across a fallen log perched across a raging riverbed in The Blair Witch Project.
For those not in the know, The Blair Witch Project is a faux- documentary about three young filmmakers who venture into the Maryland Black Forest woods to research the, you guessed it, Blair Witch. After getting lost almost immediately, they dig in and camp. Upon awakening the next morning, they find outside their tent seemingly man-made piles of rocks. Packing up and trekking further, they soon come across a large grouping of eerie stick-figures made out of twigs hanging from almost every tree in that clearing. When the next morning finds them inexplicably missing their map and finding even more ghostly souvenirs, they begin to realize they're in the middle of this myth much deeper than they ever wanted to be.
In my mind, the only thing more damaging to an unreleased film than bad buzz is superhype and Blair Witch had the latter in spades. Completed more than six months ago, this $60,000 independent film first showed at Sundance last January and was immediately snapped up by Artisan for a cool $1.1 million. Since its release two weeks ago in only 27 theaters, the film's already made almost twice the studio's purchase price back. And it's my pleasure to tell you all that you should believe everything you've heard: Yes, Artisan showed good business sense in paying that much. Yes, this film really does live up to almost a year's worth of critical hoopla. And YES, it really is as scary as all those smart people are saying it is. At one point two-thirds of the way into the film, my eyes were tearing with fear and yet I was giggling with respect and admiration at the artistry on the screen in front of me. Soon after that, I actually grabbed the arm of the man sitting next to me out of fright. On the way out of the theater, I was almost hyperventilating as I tried to find the proper words to describe to my friend how well-done I thought this film was. I can only remember four past times leaving a movie theater this excited: Pinocchio (the 1st film I ever remember seeing), Goodfellas (199?), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Leaving Las Vegas (1995).
Despite the fact that the film is shown to us entirely from the filmmakers two video cameras (remember, it's a fake documentary we're watching), we never have trouble understanding exactly what is going on at any given moment. The many shots of blurred scenery (when the kids are running), just blackness (when they're lost at night and don't know what to do) and still trees (beautifully illuminated and outlined in pure white) all contribute to the seduction of our attention. The film draws you in and then grabs you by that corner of your sweatshirt at your elbow and brings you along for the ride. It doesn't give the viewer any choice or a chance to catch their breath. And when two of the three kids finally do get to a house, you're as relieved and thankful as they are. What you end up actually see take place in that house will haunt you forever.
While the film's two directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez will rightfully see their names in all the ubercool movie mags, I'll be wondering why the kids didn't get more credit. After all, they were the ones thrown into the woods all alone with camcorders during the making of this film, given a scant outline of the script and told to point and shoot while improvising. What's impressive is that during all this hardship, the three actors found it in themselves to act. The leader from the start is Heather (imagine Janeane Garofalo crossed with David Letterman's sarcastic, funny asides) followed by her two trusty cameramen: Josh (the inevitable Hollywood remake will cast Matt McConaughey) and Mike. Improvising for the camera supposedly through almost the entire shoot, it's their natural interaction between themselves that gets us to care for them and that which causes us so much stress when things go from bad to worse for the group.
Is this the "scariest film ever made?" No one can answer that one but I can tell you the film is an instant classic and will give the horror genre a much-needed shot in the arm and some of it's respect back. It's good enough in that I believe it will transcend and expand the genre much like the ironic Scream did a couple of years ago. Does it deserve a place among classics such as Psycho, The Exorcist and Jaws? Yes and no. Yes because it accomplishes exactly what it wants to (scare the hell out of you) with an amount of money that wouldn't even pay for the catering on one of those other films. But I don't think it'll hold up over time as well as them because once you've experienced Blair's final gut- wrenching trump card, there's really no reason for a second or third viewing. So, while I won't rush back to the theater anytime soon, I will never forget that first time.
A 2nd opinion from Thom:
"I have never been so scared at a movie in my life!!! I was on pins and needles the whole second half. Great freaking movie. My Brother was scared and his friend was scared, too. It was great! I heard a lot of people saying it sucked because of the ending but I thought the ending was great. Man, that was a great film!!!"
"Revel in the joy of being in a great film!"
Heather to one of her cameramen shimmying across a fallen log perched across a raging riverbed in The Blair Witch Project.
For those not in the know, The Blair Witch Project is a faux- documentary about three young filmmakers who venture into the Maryland Black Forest woods to research the, you guessed it, Blair Witch. After getting lost almost immediately, they dig in and camp. Upon awakening the next morning, they find outside their tent seemingly man-made piles of rocks. Packing up and trekking further, they soon come across a large grouping of eerie stick-figures made out of twigs hanging from almost every tree in that clearing. When the next morning finds them inexplicably missing their map and finding even more ghostly souvenirs, they begin to realize they're in the middle of this myth much deeper than they ever wanted to be.
In my mind, the only thing more damaging to an unreleased film than bad buzz is superhype and Blair Witch had the latter in spades. Completed more than six months ago, this $60,000 independent film first showed at Sundance last January and was immediately snapped up by Artisan for a cool $1.1 million. Since its release two weeks ago in only 27 theaters, the film's already made almost twice the studio's purchase price back. And it's my pleasure to tell you all that you should believe everything you've heard: Yes, Artisan showed good business sense in paying that much. Yes, this film really does live up to almost a year's worth of critical hoopla. And YES, it really is as scary as all those smart people are saying it is. At one point two-thirds of the way into the film, my eyes were tearing with fear and yet I was giggling with respect and admiration at the artistry on the screen in front of me. Soon after that, I actually grabbed the arm of the man sitting next to me out of fright. On the way out of the theater, I was almost hyperventilating as I tried to find the proper words to describe to my friend how well-done I thought this film was. I can only remember four past times leaving a movie theater this excited: Pinocchio (the 1st film I ever remember seeing), Goodfellas (199?), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Leaving Las Vegas (1995).
Despite the fact that the film is shown to us entirely from the filmmakers two video cameras (remember, it's a fake documentary we're watching), we never have trouble understanding exactly what is going on at any given moment. The many shots of blurred scenery (when the kids are running), just blackness (when they're lost at night and don't know what to do) and still trees (beautifully illuminated and outlined in pure white) all contribute to the seduction of our attention. The film draws you in and then grabs you by that corner of your sweatshirt at your elbow and brings you along for the ride. It doesn't give the viewer any choice or a chance to catch their breath. And when two of the three kids finally do get to a house, you're as relieved and thankful as they are. What you end up actually see take place in that house will haunt you forever.
While the film's two directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez will rightfully see their names in all the ubercool movie mags, I'll be wondering why the kids didn't get more credit. After all, they were the ones thrown into the woods all alone with camcorders during the making of this film, given a scant outline of the script and told to point and shoot while improvising. What's impressive is that during all this hardship, the three actors found it in themselves to act. The leader from the start is Heather (imagine Janeane Garofalo crossed with David Letterman's sarcastic, funny asides) followed by her two trusty cameramen: Josh (the inevitable Hollywood remake will cast Matt McConaughey) and Mike. Improvising for the camera supposedly through almost the entire shoot, it's their natural interaction between themselves that gets us to care for them and that which causes us so much stress when things go from bad to worse for the group.
Is this the "scariest film ever made?" No one can answer that one but I can tell you the film is an instant classic and will give the horror genre a much-needed shot in the arm and some of it's respect back. It's good enough in that I believe it will transcend and expand the genre much like the ironic Scream did a couple of years ago. Does it deserve a place among classics such as Psycho, The Exorcist and Jaws? Yes and no. Yes because it accomplishes exactly what it wants to (scare the hell out of you) with an amount of money that wouldn't even pay for the catering on one of those other films. But I don't think it'll hold up over time as well as them because once you've experienced Blair's final gut- wrenching trump card, there's really no reason for a second or third viewing. So, while I won't rush back to the theater anytime soon, I will never forget that first time.
A 2nd opinion from Thom:
"I have never been so scared at a movie in my life!!! I was on pins and needles the whole second half. Great freaking movie. My Brother was scared and his friend was scared, too. It was great! I heard a lot of people saying it sucked because of the ending but I thought the ending was great. Man, that was a great film!!!"
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