The Blair Witch Project review

Heather Donahue: How's east? 

Michael Williams: East? 
Heather Donahue: Yeah, we've been going south all this time. How's east? 
Michael Williams: Wicked Witch of the West, Wicked Witch of the East. Which one was bad? 
Heather Donahue: Wicked Witch of the West was the bad one. 
Michael Williams: Then we should go east. 

Director: Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez
(1999)

No one in their right mind would state than 1999 wasn’t a stupendous year for movies. From American Beauty to Fight Club, audiences of a variety of tastes were certainly well catered for. Out of these great films though, only 2 changed the landscape of cinema, and both shook their respective genres to their core. The Matrix reinvented Sci-Fi with its perfect blend of cyberpunk, martial arts and philosophy, inspiring directors for years to come. The other, often forgotten game changer was The Blair Witch Project, the film that can be accredited with sparking off the craze for the ‘found footage’ genre that makes up the majority of today’s horror offerings.

The plot here is a simplistic, if functional one. A group of 3 young adults wish to make a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch, a paranormal entity that caused the deaths of many children in the 1940’s. The film takes place in Burkittsville Maryland as the three filmmakers Heather (Heather Donahue) Josh (Joshua Leonard) and Mike (Michael Williams) head off into the woods to gain footage for their project. And it’s not long before events take a turn for the worst and the trio become lost in the woods.

What freaked audiences out most when the film released was simply down to the opening title card. It stated that the events we see is from recovered footage from 1994, and everything is indeed real. While eagled eyed viewers will spot a few anachronisms to discredit this, for the most part, Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez does a fine job of making a realistic, involving film. This feels mainly due to working without a script, and instead leaving the cast rough notes at the various campsites that the actors travelled to. This isolation from cast and crew was a bold choice, yet it works wonderfully. The performances feel absolutely authentic, from the delivery of the ad libbed dialogue to the way each characters personalities conflict with each other.

The film is entirely shot via handheld cameras, and not once do we see any footage that isn’t from a first person perspective. Josh handles the black and white 16mm camera, while heather documents their trip on colour video. This design choice puts us right in the thick of the woods with the characters and the results are great. We as an audience never gets to leave the uncomfortable atmosphere of the group and this leaves us drained and fatigued; like a fourth member of the group. The film constantly ratchets up the tension in every passing shot, tempers rise as things start to go bump in the night. The first night it sounds like an owl and the crunching of a few twigs, but becomes far more malevolent as the nights pass. As heather sticks her camera out the tent to try and sight the cause of the disturbance, the image is pitch black and all we can make out is the sounds of something in the distance. It’s in these heart in the mouth moments that The Blair Witch Project truly shines. Myrick and Sánchez quite literally show us nothing, never resorting to cheap jumps or screaming monsters. The tension builds and builds and then, nothing. It’s undoubtedly an uncomfortable experience that the many imitators simply fail to top.

While lasting a slight hour and 20 minutes, TBWP does have some considerable problems that cause monotony, partly due to the unfulfilling script. The group becomes lost and then proceed to walk for days, complete with bickering and squabbles. Heather is an infuriating, self centred bitch, Mike whines continually, leaving Josh as the only member of the groups who even comes close to be likeable.   The camera is jerked around too much as well, many scenes succumbing to the limitations of such a style. It’s best to avoid this film completely if you suffer from motion sickness as a tripod is almost unheard of. By far the biggest negative that can be levelled at TBWP is that its most innovative aspect, being a ‘true’ story, has been rendered defunct by the ravages of time. 13 years ago people thought this footage was real; nowadays this is an easy charade to see through, resulting in a film that doesn’t retain that sharp edge that made it renowned.  While these faults are somewhat severe this is still a film worth watching, if only to witness a film the redefined a genre.

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