The birth of a legend
Released in 1999, the movie begins with a simple, chilling premise : In October 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the Black Hills Forest near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary about a local legend : the Blair witch. A year later, their footage was found.
The Blair witch project is the official mother of the horror format known as “found footage,” or more commonly understood as being filmed with a hand-held camera.
It was the inspiration behind movies such as Paranormal activity, Rec, As above so below, Cloverfield, and many others of very uneven quality.
I could talk about it for hours, so I’ll try to be as succinct as possible, no promises though.
The Blair witch project is a masterpiece. That’s it. No negotiation possible.
Viral marketing before it was cool
Before the era of social media, the marketing ploy was simply phenomenal.
It sowed doubt in dozens of different countries, causing real fear for the lives of the actors.
In the 1990s, creating a global buzz was something incredible.
Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick chose this filming method due to a lack of resources.
Auditions were held with local theater actors. Once they found their 3 leads, the script was given in the form of improvisation notes delivered with the actors’ food in the evening, sealed in an envelope.
None of them knew where this was going.
Their improvisational work is just spectacular.
You can feel their anxiety and helplessness in an almost visceral way.
It still bothers me to this day that Heather Donahue was nominated for a Razzie (worst actress) in 1999.
Her performance was sadly parodied hundreds of times.
It’s a shame, honestly.
The battle for recognition
Behind the enormous success lies a darker story of exploitation.
The Blair witch project is also about Lionsgate completely destroying the lives of the film’s actors.
First bought by Artisan Entertainment, it was later exploited by Lionsgate.
The actors weren’t compensated as much as they should have been, and their real names were used in the movie, which meant they became the studio’s property.
After a long legal battle, Heather decided to change her name and leave the film industry altogether partly because of this. The movie grossed nearly 250 million dollars
I was able to meet them for the film’s 25th anniversary and chat with them a little.
In 2023, they embarked on a fight to get what they were owed, and the latest news is that negotiations for recognition were still ongoing at the end of 2024… I’m keeping my fingers crossed for these actors.
The aftermath of success
The film’s impact was so massive that the town of Burkittsville was inundated with tourists.
People were even selling branches and rocks from the forest online.
A computer game about the life of Rustin Parr took up a lot of my spare time back then as well…
The house from the final scene was destroyed shortly after filming due to its unsanitary condition, but also because of vandalism caused by the film’s success, sadly.
There were two sequels, or rather a sequel and a semi-requel?
The Book of shadows was released in 2000 to ride the wave of its predecessor’s success.
It received mixed reviews, which is understandable.
Nostalgia makes me see it through rose-colored glasses, but it really isn’t very good. Much of the original story is lost by casting doubt on the reality of the witch with questionable scenes.
I’ve always had an irrational fear of jerky movements like in The Ring or The Grudge, so the four seconds of the little girl talking to them on the bridge managed to haunt my nightmares for several months, which naturally gave the film bonus points.
As for The Blair witch project from 2016, it’s… mediocre ? I’d say mediocre, yes.
They pull a brother out of nowhere, a hellish loop, and finally show the Blair witch.
Hey guys, do you know why the first one is so perfect?
It’s precisely because we couldn’t see her.
They filmed the scene but didn’t include it, leaving our imaginations to run wild… And it worked !
Showing her didn’t.
If we have to watch 80 minutes of characters arguing in the woods, it would have been better to at least make them interesting too, but hey, that’s just my personal opinion.
To sum up, The Blair witch project from 1999 is a little gem that changed the horror industry forever.
Whether you love or hate the found footage format, you can’t take that away from it.
This is one of the rare 5/5 ratings
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