THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999): 25 YEARS IN THE WOODS!!!

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) d. Daniel Myrick/Ed Sanchez (USA)
BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2 (2000) d. Joe Berlinger (USA)
BLAIR WITCH (2016) d. Adam Wingard (USA)

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Low-budget horror filmmakers take note: You can make an original and frightening film for barely any money; it simply requires a fresh approach and more imagination than Karo syrup. Witness 1999’s groundbreaking sensation from co-creators Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, The Blair Witch Project. The slender premise sees three college students go into the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland in October 1994 to record footage for their documentary about the mythical Blair Witch. They are never heard from again. One year later, their footage is discovered, and later assembled by authorities in an attempt to learn their fate and potential whereabouts. What we are presented... is that footage.

HAPPY CAMP (2014) movie review

 

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. 

Fool's Views (2/14 – 2/20)

Ah, welcome back, my friends to the show that never ends. Come inside. Come inside. (Imagine Boris Karloff speaking those words in his inimitable dulcet tones… wouldn’t that have been a great spooky intro to something?)

It’s been another weird and wild week, balancing the real life horrors of the world outside with the spirits and spooks of the alternate universe existing within the flat screen. Not too outlandish a mix of flicks this time out, with Week #3 of the ongoing Tohofest hitting its sweet spot (my favorite period of the big G) sharing space nicely with a couple dandy haunted house films and a pair from 2010 (one great, one not so much).

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!