review by David Valkenet
The Blair Witch Project 1999
Watched Mar 07, 2012
David Valkenet’s review:
Believe it or not I have gone 20 miserable years on this measly planet without ever having seen The Blair Witch Project. I had been put off by the vitriol on both camps, those who love it and hate it. There was the initial hype then the backlash then the anti-backlash and then the backlash all over again. Luckily for me, I am good at divorcing myself from all the things that are not the actual film when watching.
So, I watched it tonight. Alone. In the dark. And it was fucking scary.
I got a strong Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe, in the sense that it felt guerrilla, DIY and 'real'. By real I mean that there was a small crew and it was shot on location etc. And just like Texas Chainsaw Massacre there is a pervasive sense of atmosphere, madness and insanity.
Many times when a threat is implied in film it doesn't feel threatening, however, The Blair Witch Project gets everything right. I felt the external forces that were lurking in the woods, I felt my sanity slipping as the psychological taunts escalated in intensity, and I desperately craned my neck to look around corners during the amazing finale.
This will definitley be appearing on my Top 100 Films List once I've had some time to properly digest it. Don't get caught up in the hype, watch it for yourself and make up your own mind.
Good for you! I found it terrifying too. Get's everything right first time, I honestly don't think there's a foot put wrong in this movie.
I totally agree; it's rare to see a film without any missteps.
This is the last film to truly scare me, which, considering the films I watch on a routine basis, if really an accomplishment! :)
I finally watched it for the first time last year on Halloween. Terrified me to no end. One of the scariest things I've watched, no question. Glad to see someone else feels the same way.
I watched this when I was 14, in the dark, with my brothers. We all slept in our parents room that night.
I wish I could go back in time to recapture that magic, when one actually believed this was for real.
I didn't find it scary in the slightest. I can understand how you might have if you saw it as an early teen or younger, but to me it just felt like an empty movie.
I think it was scary because of how effective the suggestions were. Many films try and do this, where they imply that there is a threat lurking off-frame or in the shadows, with a varying degree of success. Personally I found this to be one of the most effective.
Exactly! The thing that scared me the
most was the stuff my own mind was making up.
I went on a date to see this movie... i got very scared...she fell asleep.
I managed to see this when it was released, avoiding most of the hype. The ending scared the fucking shit out of me!!
Yeah, Daryl, scared me too and I actually knew what was going to happen through being spoiled in general pop-culture.
I just watched again and sure it wasn't as scary as I thought it was but the first time I watched I was around 12 and I really thought the story was true so you can imagine how I felt when the movie ended.
I don't know, I think it holds up pretty well. I'm sure it must have been much scarier seeing it at the time, having no idea what you were getting into. And also being 12...