Happy Camp (2014) d. Josh Anthony (USA)
It’s hard to believe that The Blair Witch Project, the flick that launched an infinite number
of copycats, was released 15 years ago this summer. Harder still to believe, however, is that modern
filmmakers think they can follow that phenomenon’s template and recapture the
same lightning in a bottle, or that cinema fans with even the most rudimentary
knowledge of the genre won’t call them out for it. Witch
writer/directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick had the advantage of the
then-novelty of “found footage” working to their advantage, not to mention a
brilliant sense of how to build tension and execute chills. In this age of reality TV and every living,
breathing moment of any individual on earth being uploaded to YouTube a billion
times a day, artists have to think outside the box.
