Review: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Directed by: Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez
Written by: Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez
Starring: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard

The found footage technique has become in a staple in the making of horror films since the dawn of the new millennium, whether that be the makeup of the entire movie or an isolated segment aimed at achieving a specific goal. The Blair Witch Project is the film that really brought the technique into the view of the mainstream. It's not the first movie to ever employ it. Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust made a great use of it almost twenty years earlier. However I don't think that fact should lead us to brush off it off. I feel its place in horror history is all too important to deny, and it's a unique film experience that holds up well against its imitators.

Heather, Josh and Mike are three film students who travel to Burkittsville, Maryland to make a documentary film on a local urban legend called the Blair Witch. After venturing deep into the woods, everything falls apart for them. They find themselves lost, hearing noises in the dead of night and strange arrangements of rocks and sticks around their campsite. They don't know what's following them and they're desperate to survive.

I really like its unorthodox approach to scares. There's no haunting score, spooky lighting or extravagant special effects. It's a film that's heavily reliant on the atmosphere of the natural environment and the interactions of its characters. However even I can admit that this doesn't always work for the full 80 minute run time. A solid portion of the film is spent on the characters arguing as opposed to cooperating and walking into a seemingly endless woodland with nothing of interest. I really wish this time was used to explore the mythology of the Blair Witch.  I must admit though that there is a duality to this approach. When the entity that's out there makes itself known through noise or leaving piles of stones, it becomes genuinely unsettling and the minimalism leaves everything up to your own imagination. Each viewing never had the same result for me. The characters also reveal their more honest, human traits beneath their youthful arrogance. Towards the end of the movie there's a fantastic scene where Heather apologizes for everything that's happened and accepts her fate. It's a genuinely chilling moment.

Of course one can't look past the film's marketing campaign, which undoubtedly renders the film less effective today than it was in 1999. Everything from fake police reports to the actors agreeing to stay out of the public eye was all geared to get audiences speculating whether or not their disappearance and their footage was real. It's hard to not appreciate the ambition of the campaign and all the discussion it inspired.

The Blair Witch Project isn't going to appeal to everyone. Many call it a great horror classic to lead the genre into the 21st century and others have criticized it for simply being a bore. I've found myself coming back over and over again. The experience has never been the same and I think that's the mark of a very well-made film.

My Rating: 8/10