The Blair Witch Project
Description
Made for $30,000 by two young filmmakers
from Florida, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT wowed festival audiences for
several months before finding distribution at the 1999 Sundance
Festival. It is an ingenious creation which makes effective use of
its lack of budget and cast of unknowns. The film is composed
entirely of reportedly "found" footage shot by three
missing college students who made a journey to the woods of
Western Maryland in 1994 with the purpose of making a documentary
about a "witch" of local legend who is linked to murders
and mysterious occurrences spanning 200 years. It begins with
footage of the crew leaving their homes and testing their
equipment, but before we know it, they are lost deep in the
endless woods, with the voices of screaming children piercing the
blackness from off in the distance. Things get worse from there.
The experience is disorienting and frightening as well as the most
rewarding horror film experience to come along in many years, as
it wisely chooses to prey on our vulnerable imaginations rather
than bombard us with graphic images.
"No redneck is this creative!"
- Michael to his fellow travellers upon finding yet another creepy
sign in the woods.
"Do we have any weed?"
- Heather, to Michael and Josh, during the night of revelry before
their trek.
"...I have seen the new face of movie
horror and its name is THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT..."
"...Works [even] better at home because
it's a tale told close-up....Believably unnerving..." --
Rating: B+
"...A nifty example of how to make
something out of nothing....A most inventive departure from
standard horror fare..."
"...Stylistically accomplished....THE BLAIR
WITCH PROJECT achieves a harrowing sense of subjective
dread..."
"...Low-budget horror at its resourceful
best, in the same innovative league as the original NIGHT OF THE
LIVING DEAD..."
"...Clever....BLAIR PROJECT's fakery is
utterly convincing..."
"...An extraordinarily effective horror
film....The movie is like a celebration of rock-bottom production
values..."
