Has it been ten years? It really doesn’t seem that long since this horror classic popped up out of nowhere. It was an unheard of concept; a theatrically-released movie where half of the footage looked like it came off a Sony Hi-8 camcorder. I know we all remember thinking at the time, “how did this one make it past the powers that be?” And now, ten years later, here comes Paranormal Activity. Same approach, similar concept, and blowing the box office out of the water. Who says the little guy can’t win?
Heather Donahue in "The Blair Witch Project."
Looking back at The Blair Witch Project, it’s fascinating to look at the way it works as a horror film. For those who don’t know the story, it’s about 3 student filmmakers who go deep into a Maryland forest in search of a legendary spook, the Blair Witch. As they search for the witch, they get lost, they fight amongst themselves, and things get creepier and creepier. The movie is shot like a documentary, and treated as such; a prologue suggests that the video to follow was all shot by the three students before they disappeared into the woods. The filmmakers (the real ones) employ the use of two different cameras, a 16mm film camera that the students are using for their film, and a home video camcorder, which the director (Heather Donahue) uses to document the process. The result is surprisingly frightening.
Many people didn’t like this movie when it came out. Your average horror movie lover is looking for big scares, gore, and probably some sex. Blair Witch has little, if any, of these regular horror movie staples. The film is instead about the characters and their downward spiral. The horror comes not from weird looking ghoulies or from disgusting blood and guts, but from putting us squarely in the middle of a very scary situation. It’s shot like it’s real, and it feels like it’s real. The more an audience believes what’s happening, the more they’re engrossed in the story – and this is why the film succeeds. And it isn’t just the weird things that happen that are scary either, it’s the way that the kids continue to stay lost. Who would have thought that the woods could seem claustrophobic?
The students give performances that lend perfectly to the realism. Their style and attitude is so believable, that you often forget you’re watching actors. The dialogue is for the most part improvised, and comes off so naturally; it often feels like they’re saying exactly what we ourselves might say in such situations. And there are clear and different objectives for all three, which quickly turn into one – get the heck out of Dodge.
The ending is an oft-debated topic between horror movie junkies. Heather and Mike find a broken down house in the middle of the woods, and go inside looking for Josh, who has gone missing. Each of them is now running with their own camera, separated, hearing strange noises, frantically searching. We see Mike’s camera go into the basement, and go out. Heather then follows down into the basement, and the last thing she sees (we assume) is Mike just standing there, ominously facing the corner.
"The Blair Witch Project" (1999).
It’s fascinating to look back and see what this little film was, and that it’s still frightening even ten years later. It’s an innovative concept, both well-executed, and employed for the right reasons. One sign of a truly good movie is that its effect goes beyond its time. Horror movies often fail in this regard because they’re so reliant on a specific, timely audience. But less is more with The Blair Witch Project, and the simplicity is one of the things that makes it just as effective today as it was in 1999.
Josh Long is a contributing writer for The Film Crusade.
Great article.